Sky Player brings Sky TV to the Internet

by Parm Mann on 4 December 2008, 15:08

Tags: Sky Player

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Sky's video-on-demand service, Sky Player, has today introduced its own subscription packages.

The web-based service, rebranded to Sky Player in May 2008, was previously available to existing Sky customers and is now available to anyone willing to take out an online-only subscription.

Sky Player allows anyone with a broadband connection to watch Sky channels at their computer - without the need for an aerial or satellite dish. The service includes popular channels such as Sky One and National Geographic, and one-month subscription packages start from £15 per month.

Bolster your package with the inclusion of premium channels such as Sky Sports, however, and you'll soon find subscription costs amounting to £34 per month - just £6 less than Sky in your living room.

The Sky Player service is accessible via a web browser on PC or Mac, and utilises Microsoft's Silverlight technology - as opposed to the Flash format used by rival services such as BBC iPlayer. By doing so, it claims to offer better video quality using bit rates of up to 1.8Mbps.

It's a useful extension to Sky services for existing subscribers, but the high costs, we feel, are unlikely to attract new users. Though, it could be a means to contract-free single-month football via Sky Sports over the busy Christmas period.

Mike Darcey, chief operating officer at BSkyB, said:

We want to give customers as much choice as possible not just in what they watch, but in how they watch it. Sky Player TV recognises that for some, the computer screen is now the preferred screen through which to watch TV.

In developing a standalone subscription to a secure online platform, we are responding to the diverse needs of today's customers. We look forward to making the service more compelling with the addition of even more great pay-TV entertainment in the new year.

Official product page: sky.com/skyplayer



HEXUS Forums :: 17 Comments

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Thats pretty cool, i've been waiting for Sky to come out with something like this for a long time now..its the logical extension for them.

This finally means that people living a property unsuitable for Sky can get a subscription with the main channels, and if you have a htpc or similar you can watch all the content on your TV screen :)

Personally I don't think that the costs are unreasonable either - sky are still having to pay for the content they show, and they will still have to pay for content delivery (not strictly pay cash for transit, but there is a cost involved) to your computer. There is not a huge difference in ongoing cost (I don't think) between airing content to peoples living rooms or to their computers.

One of the big things with this (for me) is if it will work outside of the UK - I would have *loved* this service when i lived abroad for a year, would have been great..

Well done sky anyway :)
I'm going to look into this for my HTPC. Wouldn't mind viewing a sample of the video quality beforehand though…
Any chance of them doing the HD channels via online, or is that unlikely with the average uk broadband speed and usage allowance.
What bandwidth would be required for say 720p and 5.1 dolby?
I'm interested in their choice of “silverlight”. I take Major League Baseball every year, last year they used “silverlight” for the single channel feed for the reason Sky quoted, ie better quality. At the same time MLB have a six screen package (called Mosaic) possibly using “flash”. The “silverlight” feed was nothing like as good at delivering streaming video, there were many occasions where I could get a good feed from the old player and not from the “silverlight” based player. When I could get both I felt there was no difference in quality, frankly the ability to actually receive a reliable stream was the primary choice for which player I used. I notice that MLB have dropped “silverlight” for next year and are concentrating on “flash” for their player.Brian
Bah!

It's NOT FREE! And it costs the same to subscribe whther you wtahc onlinr or via your TV :angst: