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Sky TV goes the Extra mile: Connected Sky+HD boxes, on demand and Sky Go Extra see growth

Sky TV subscriptions have grown by 37,000 in the last quarter, representing a 151,000 total growth from a year ago. 

The latest quarterly results from Sky reveal a big jump in the number of subscribers connecting their Sky+HD boxes, which can be attributed to the launch of WiFi-enabled TV boxes and free hardware for loyal customers

In the last three months, 642,000 customers connected their Sky+HD boxes to the internet, allowing access to the Sky On Demand library. This takes the total number of homes with connected Sky+ HD boxes to 3.4 million, roughly a third of Sky’s 10.4 million TV customers. 

Sky TV goes the Extra mile: Connected Sky+HD boxes, on demand and Sky Go Extra see growth

Check our UK TV Customer League TableAs more Sky customers connect their Sky+HD boxes, the demand for movies and catch-up content has increased. Sky Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said: 

“The number of connected Sky+HD boxes grew by almost 50,000 a week, faster than in any previous quarter, and we are seeing an immediate increase in usage as customers get connected. Weekly downloads through our On Demand service grew fourfold in the quarter while the number of movie rentals through Sky Store doubled on last year.” 

“A fourfold increase in weekly usage of On Demand with customers making the most of the UK’s biggest Catch Up TV service, with 6 new channels added in the quarter, and an increase of 25 per cent more hours of TV Box Sets. 

“Sky Store movie rentals doubled last year-on-year as customers took advantage of hundreds of movies to rent without moving from their sofa.” 

The number of customers taking Sky Go Extra has shot up from 166,000 to 385,000 and take up of Multiroom, recently rebranded as Sky Multiscreen, has also increased by 80,000. 

Darroch puts this down to Sky’s sporting coverage over the summer: 

“On screen, we enjoyed a fantastic summer of sport with the excitement of the Ashes and the Lions tour followed by our best ever start to the football season. 

“Total viewing to our Sky Sports channels is up almost 15 per cent on last year, including growth of over 40 per cent in viewing through our mobile TV service Sky Go.” 

Sky Go Extra launched in June and doubled the number of devices you can access content on. Sky Go is a standard feature of a Sky TV subscription and lets you access shows on up to two other devices, like your laptop, phone or a tablet. 

Sky Go Extra costs £5/month or is available as a free feature when taken with Sky Multiscreen. Sky recently added E4 and Film4 to the Sky Go line up, taking the number of available channels to 49. 

Elsewhere, the number of HD viewers has increased by over 100,000 in the last three months. In total £4.9 million Sky TV subscribers take HD channels compared to £4.4 million a year ago.

As with the last quarterly report, there’s little new information on the state of Now TV, Sky’s on-demand streaming service aimed at non-Sky TV subscribers.

The launch of Sky’s new £9.99 Now TV box, which will soon be sold bundled with a day’s access to Sky Sports, could drive up the number of subscribers, but until Sky says how many people are taking the service, we won’t know for sure how well its doing. 

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