Sky is giving the free TV upgrade households have been begging for
by Shawna Healey · Manchester Evening NewsIt's common knowledge that Sky is trying to get customers to switch over to streaming rather than watching TV via an-old fashioned satellite dish. A quick browse on the firm's website shows countless deals on its Sky Glass and Sky Stream packages while offers on the older Sky Q box are almost impossible to find.
There's plenty of upsides to streaming. You don't need an ugly dish stuck on the chimney and there's no need to wait in all day for an engineer to set it up the device.
Once the gadget arrives in the post, simply plug it in, enter your Wi-Fi password and go. You'll then be ready to watch live and on-demand content. While there's plenty to like about switching to streaming, it does have one major drawback which is especially annoying if you love watching sport.
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As you may have noticed - if you've ever watched shows on services such as iPlayer - streaming is always around 30-40 seconds behind standard over-the-air signals. That means when a Premier League goal hits the back of the net, those with streaming devices might not find out until almost a minute later, reports the Mirror.
It's a frustrating quirk but Sky is starting to solve the problem. Early this year, the firm promised it would speed up its streams and it seems the company is being true to its word. Those with a Sky streaming device including Sky Glass TVs can now tune into a new low latency sports channel which cuts the lag down by a whopping 22 seconds.
This update is starting with the Sky Sports Main Event but expect more channels to follow in the future. Fancy giving it a go? To view the all-new low latency sports channel, you can either:
- Opt in on the Live Sync button on Sky Sports Main Event
- Tune into the dedicated channel on the TV Guide – 921 for HD customers and 922 for UHD customers
- You can also voice search by saying " Sky Sports Main Event Low Latency" or "Sky Sports Main Event Live Sync"
(Image: Sky)
If that update has made streaming sound more enticing then Sky has just launched its big Black Friday sale event. This includes a swathe of offers such as a Sky Stream box at the lowest-ever price. That means you can sign up and watch TV for just £19 per month.
Elsewhere, Virgin Media is also gearing up for its Black Friday sale, with an official date to be confirmed. Once the deals are live, they will be available on the Virgin Media site here.