Sky Stream is the latest addition to Sky TV’s offering, joining Sky Q and Sky Glass. Sky Stream offers the most affordable way to watch Sky TV and Netflix, offering 120 channels and the option of a 31-day term. We look at everything you need to know about Sky Stream.
What is Sky Stream?
Sky Stream is a small palm-sized puck (box) which plugs into your existing TV via an HDMI cable. This little device uses your broadband connection to stream content direct to your TV, removing the need for a satellite dish or a Sky Glass TV. Sky Stream is the perfect choice for those who can’t have a Sky dish, but don’t want to replace their perfectly good TV with Sky Glass.
Sky Stream offers ultimate flexibility with a 31-day rolling plan you can cancel at any time, or an 18-month contract for the best value.
Prices start from £26 a month with next-day delivery as standard, and since there is no need for an engineer installation you can get up and running within 24-hours.
What content is on Sky Stream?
The Sky Stream basic TV package (Sky Ultimate TV) has 120 channels, including their flagship Sky Atlantic channel, alongside a Netflix Basic plan.
Channels
The Sky Stream service does have less channels than Sky Q, but still includes over 120 channels, including Sky's hugely popular Sky Atlantic channel, which shows Sky Originals like House of the Dragon and Gangs of London. Sky Q has around 400 channels. However, it’s worth noting that a lot of the difference is due to Sky Stream not splitting out the SD and HD channels, as everything you watch on Sky Stream is in HD as standard, and because content can accessed any time the +1 hour channels are not needed.
Most of the channels that are missing are pretty niche, but the most notable ones are:
- GREAT! TV
- Clubland TV
- POP
- POP Max
- Tiny POP
- BoxNation
- Premier Sports 1
- Premier Sports 2
- MUTV
- LFCTV
- Racing TV
- GREAT! Action
- GREAT! Classic
- GREAT! Movies
You can view the full TV channel list on Sky Stream to check if your favourites are available.
On Demand Apps
Sky Stream offers the same on demand apps as Sky Q and Sky Glass. Although this list is not as comprehensive as other streaming devices like the Fire TV or Roku, most of the major UK streaming services are there.
The current list includes:
- Amazon Prime Video
- Apple TV+
- Disney+
- Netflix
- BBC iPlayer
- ITV Hub
- All4
- Paramount+
- discovery+
- YouTube
- YouTube Kids
- Spotify
- BBC Sounds
- RadioPlayer
- Global Player
- XITE
- Vevo
- Peloton
- Sky Kids Games
- Plus PlayWorks, GolfPass, Tastemade and Highbrow
Of course, some of the apps above require their own subscriptions at additional cost.
Sky TV packs
Sky Stream customers can customise their package with Sky’s TV packs:
- Sky Sports (complete pack)
- Sky Cinema
- Sky Kids
- BT Sport
- Netflix Standard
- Netflix Premium
- Sky Ultra HDR and Dolby Atmos®
Unlike Sky Q, Sky Stream gives you the option to take Sky Sports and Sky Cinema on either a 31 day rolling or 18 month term. BT Sport is only available on a 31 day term on Sky Stream, as are the Sky Kids, UHD packs and Netflix upgrades.
Sky Stream features
The Sky Stream puck measures just 10.8 (height) x 10.8 cm (width) x 1.8cm (depth) and comes in Anthracite black embossed with the Sky Logo. You have 1 x HDMI v2.1 port, 1 x Ethernet port and 230V AC power cable port.
Sky Stream Puck supports Dolby Atmos sound and Ultra HD, though you’ll need the Sky Ultra HDR and Dolby Atmos® monthly subscription.
The remote you get with Sky Stream is the same voice remote you get with Sky Glass. The voice remote lets you control your TV with your voice, you can search for programmes, channels and apps. ‘Play Stranger Things' and 'turn up the volume' just by asking. The remote also has backlit buttons to make adjusting volume and channels in a dark room much easier.
Sky Stream also supports the handy Restart feature. If you start watching a show mid way though, the Restart feature lets you go back and watch from beginning.
Sky Go
Sky Stream customers get access to Sky Go. With Sky Go you can stream live, on demand and catch up content from Sky on your phone, tablet, laptop or computer with the Sky Go app. Watch around your home or while you’re out and about at no extra cost to your TV subscription.
Ad Skipping
Ad skipping also comes included at no extra cost for the first 18 months (£5 a month after that). It lets you fast forward adverts on Catch Up or on demand TV, but not on Live TV.
Playlists & Recordings
Sky Stream and Sky Glass replaced the ability to record shows with their new Playlist feature.
Those who are familiar with Sky Q, or Sky+ will be used to being able to record live TV and keep it stored on their box indefinitely. With the new Playlist feature, nothing is stored on your actual box, instead shows are streamed from catch-up or on-demand services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and All4.
If you have a program you want to ‘record’, instead of a record button, you just add shows to your Playlist using the + button on your Sky remote. This creates a sort of shortcut which, when you then come to watch the program later, will take you to the on demand app - not a recording saved on your box. As an example, you add the next EastEnders episode to your Playlist, and when you come to watch it tomorrow, it won’t be recorded anywhere – instead, BBC iPlayer will open and the episode will be streamed directly from there.
This is is a pretty big change that has both advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, the introduction of Playlists mean you don’t have to worry about running out of space on your box, since nothing is saved directly to it. Secondly, ‘recordings’ will not be interrupted should there be a power cut or signal problem due to bad weather.
Another great feature of Playlists is that it brings all episodes of a show together from a number of streamers. Say you add the first episode of the new season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Channel 4 to your Playlist, Sky Stream will then search all the available apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos and bring all previous seasons and episodes together into your Playlist so you can easily catch up, no matter which streamer is hosting them (subscriptions may be required though).
The main problem with Playlists is that they are time limited and you won't be able to keep anything indefinitely. Shows could be removed from the on demand service at any time meaning you will no longer be able to watch them.
Some shows are only available for a very short amount of time due to licensing agreements. You could find yourself coming back from holiday to find episodes missing.
Whole Home Pack
If you want to have Sky in more than one room then you will need to add Sky’s Whole Home Pack for an additional cost, currently £12 a month. There is also a one time cost of £39.95 for each extra box you get. This one time cost is the same whether you are on the 18 month or the 30 day contract.
If you want to watch your Netflix on additional screens then you will also need to upgrade your Netflix plan. Netflix Basic is included as standard but this only allows you to watch on 1 device. Upgrade to either Netflix Standard for an additional £4 a month and watch on 2 devices, or Netflix Premium for £8 a month to watch on 4 devices.
How much does Sky Stream cost?
Sky Stream starts from £26 a month for the base TV package on an 18 month contract, which is the same as Sky Q. If you want more flexibility then the 31 day rolling contract will cost a little more at £29 a month. This gives you the Sky Ultimate TV package, which includes Sky Entertainment, Freeview TV and Netflix basic.
You do also need to pay a one of fee for the device itself which is £20 on the 18 month contract, or £39.95 on the rolling contract.
As mentioned above, customers can choose to upgrade to premium channels like Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, as well upgrade their viewing experience to Ultra HD.
Although Sky Q and Sky Stream both cost the same £26 on the 18 month contract, with Sky Stream 1080p High Definition (HD) is standard. If you want to watch in HD on Sky Q it will cost you an extra monthly fee, so this is defiantly a plus for Sky Stream.
You’ll also need to upgrade your Netflix basic plan if you want to watch that in full HD too. The Netflix Basic plan lets you stream content in 720p on one device at a time.
- Netflix Standard – Full HD (1080p), on up to 2 devices at a time – for an additional £4 a month
- Netflix Premium – UltraHD (4K), on up to 4 devices at a time – for an additional £8 a month
| 31-days | 18-months | |
|---|---|---|
| Sky Sports | £27 | £25 |
| Sky Cinema | £13 | £11 |
| BT Sport | £30 | - |
| Sky Kids | £6 | - |
| UHD & Dolby Atmos | £6 | - |
| Netflix Standard | £4 | - |
| Netflix Premium | £8 | - |
If you want to be able to fast forward adverts – that’s £5 a month (but free for the first 18 months). And the Whole Home Pack is currently £12 a month, plus the cost of the extra boxes, which is £39.95 regardless of contract length.
Sky Stream and Broadband
You do not have to be a Sky Broadband customer to enjoy Sky Stream, though you can get some great savings by bundling them together. Plus the benefit of only one bill. The amount you will pay depends on the broadband speed you choose, as well as the offers at the time. It’s also worth pointing out that Sky Broadband is on an 18 month contract, there is no option for 31 day rolling contracts.
Sky Stream + Entertainment + Netflix + Superfast
1
£37 per month
(prices may change during contract)
£10 up-front costHow is Sky Stream different from Sky Glass and Sky Q?
Whilst Sky Stream and Sky Glass are very similar, they both have key differences compared to Sky Q.
Sky Stream Vs Sky Glass
Sky Glass and Sky Stream offer almost exactly the same viewing experience as they use the same interface. The difference is Sky Stream is a small box that can be plugged into your existing TV, whereas Sky Glass is your new TV, with Sky already inside. If you are looking for a new TV then you might decide to go with Sky Glass, but if you are happy with your current TV then Sky Stream would be the better and cheaper option.
Sky Stream Vs Sky Q
Probably the biggest difference between Sky Stream and Sky Q is the dish. Sky Stream uses WIFi to stream content direct to your TV, so there is no need for a satellite dish like Sky Q. This opens up Sky TV to those who are unable to instal a dish. Sky Stream also offers a lot more flexibility with their 31 day contracts.
In terms of viewing experience, the significant difference is when it comes to recordings. Sky Q users will be used to recording shows directly to the Sky box, which can be kept forever, or at least until you run out of storage space that is. Sky Stream removes this recording ability and replaces it with Playlists. The Playlist features allows you to add programs to your Playlist to watch later. When you watch later, you are actually streaming from the on demand service, such as ITV Hub, and not a recording from your box.
This leaves you at the mercy of the on demand service and their catalogue, if a show is removed then you will no longer be able to watch it.
There is a slight lag between Sky Stream and Sky Q. Sky Stream lags between 25 and 30 seconds behind Sky Q boxes. This probably won’t be an issue unless you’re watching live sports and hear your neighbours cheering before your Sky Stream catches up.
Sky Q has more channels than Sky Stream which we discussed earlier. Sky Stream has 120 channels, whereas Sky Q comes with 400.
Sky Stream Vs NOW TV
You might be reading all this and thinking ‘but doesn’t Sky already have a streaming service?’, and you’d be right. NOW TV was Sky’s first way to stream Sky content without a Sky subscription (and the satellite dish), but there are a few differences to Sky Stream.
NOW TV isn’t tied to a box/puck from Sky, instead you can access it on most streaming devices like Chromecast and Amazon Firestick, and Smart TVs.
NOW TV doesn’t include any Freeview channels or a Netflix plan. It just offers Sky's premium channel packs including Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema, and Sky Sports.
The NOW Entertainment membership is £9.99 a month and is the equivalent to Sky Stream’s Ultimate pack for £26 (or £29 for the 31 day contract). The key difference is that with NOW Entertainment you get Kids channels which costs an extra £6 on stream. NOW also doesn’t include the three Sky Sports channels that are part of Sky Ultimate (Racing, Mix and News).
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need a satellite dish with Sky Stream?
No, you don’t. Sky Stream uses your broadband connection to stream content. Simply connect the Sky Stream Puck to your existing TV and you’re good to go.
What is the minimum broadband speed for Sky Stream?
As all content on Sky Stream is streamed via your broadband, a minimum speed of 25mbps is recommended. This is increased to 30Mbps if you want to stream in UHD and with Dolby Atmos.
The Whole Home Pack requires a minimum broadband speed of 30mbps for Whole Home plus one Sky Stream Puck. Each additional puck then requires a further 5mbps.
Can I record live TV with Sky Stream?
With Sky Stream you can pause and rewind live TV for up to 30 minutes, but you cannot actually record to keep forever. Instead, Sky Stream uses what they call Playlists. When you add something to your Playlist you are essentially streaming it from the relevant service, such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. If that particular show or episode gets removed from the streaming service then it is gone.
Can I Use Sky Go If I Have Sky Stream?
Yes. Sky Go is a separate streaming service available to all Sky TV customers. Sky Go lets you stream live, on demand and catch up content from Sky on your phone, tablet, laptop or computer.
Can I take my Sky Stream to different houses?
No, it is not possible to use your Sky Stream anywhere other that the address it is registered to. So there is no taking it to a family members house, or on holiday. If you want to watch content away from the home then you can use Sky Go and watch on your smartphone or laptop.
Can I get Sky Stream without Sky Broadband?
Whilst you will need a broadband connection for Sky Stream to work, you are free to get this from any provider. Sky do not force you to take Sky Broadband. Though you can get some really great deals if you bundle Sky Stream with Sky Broadband so it is always worth checking the current offers.
How long are Sky Stream contracts?
You can choose from either an 18 month or a rolling 31 day contract making Sky Stream super flexible, although you can expect to pay slightly more for the 31 day contracts.
Do I own the Sky Stream puck?
No, you don’t own the Sky Stream Pucks. Sky Stream Pucks are loaned to you and must be returned when they are no longer registered on your account.