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What is Sky Anytime?

Our digital TV expert says...

Dear James, thanks for your email about Sky Anytime. Sky Anytime is satellite TV provider Sky’s on-demand TV service, available to all Sky+HD and some Sky+ customers. It shows up to 200 hours of some of the best programmes that Sky has to offer each week, giving you a choice of entertainment, films, documentaries and kids programmes.

The best thing about Sky Anytime is that it is completely free; you don’t have to pay to watch any of the content on Sky Anytime, including the films.

Here is some more information about Sky Anytime, how to get it and what you can watch on it…

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What’s on Sky Anytime?

If you have a Sky+HD box or a Sky+ box that’s been bought after 2005, you’ll be able to watch a range of programmes and movies on-demand on Sky Anytime, depending on your Sky TV subscription. Every week you’ll be able to choose from a selection of top movies and TV entertainment in either standard or high-definition (HD), to watch them when you want. However, if you have a HD box, you will need a subscription to the HD Pack to enjoy the high-definition Sky Anytime programmes.

The line-up changes daily, with content from Sky’s own channels as well as others, including the History Channel, National Geographic, the Biography Channel, Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network - all available to watch at anytime.

How to watch programmes on Sky Anytime

All you need to watch programmes on Sky Anytime is a new Sky+ or a Sky+HD set-top box. Your box doesn’t have to be connected to the internet, and using Sky Anytime will not affect your broadband. Whether you’re a Sky+HD or Sky+ customer, just follow these instructions to access the programmes available on the Anytime menu:

1. Press TV Guide on your Sky remote control
2. Press the “Anytime” red button in the bottom left hand corner of the TV Guide screen
3. Alternatively, you can access the service via the “Anytime” icon from the TV Guide top menu.

Once you have accessed Sky Anytime, simply choose a programme to watch by pressing Select on your remote.

The Anytime service uses space on the Sky set-top box memory, downloading programmes to the box overnight. This means that there’s always a selection of programmes ready to watch on-demand.

Programmes and films on the service will generally be available to view via the Sky Anytime menu for one week. The exact duration is shown in the Available Until column.

If you want, these programmes can be recorded onto your Sky Personal Planner. To place a programme in your Personal Planner, highlight the programme and press Record. This will let you keep programmes for as long as you require, if you have sufficient disk space to record them onto.

Disabling Sky Anytime

If you want to disable Sky Anytime, follow these steps:

1. Press Services on your Sky remote control
2. Select Anytime TV Setup
3. Set Enable Anytime TV to NO
4. Highlight Save New Settings
5. Press Select
6. Press Select again to confirm you wish to opt out of Sky Anytime.

You can resume the Sky Anytime service by reversing these steps but it will take a few days for the programmes to be recorded onto your set-top box again.

What is Sky Anytime+?

In 2010 Sky launched a new and improved Sky Anytime service called Sky Anytime+, to all Sky broadband customers.

The Anytime+ service offers customers over 1,000 hours of the week’s best telly and movies, on-demand to watch whenever you want. However, unlike the original Sky Anytime service, which gives customers on-demand TV via their satellite dish, Anytime+ is delivered through customers’ broadband connection.

The Sky Anytime+ service works on a “progressive download” basis, which means content is available to view before it has fully downloaded. Ideally, this is within a few minutes, though it depends on your broadband speed and connection.

I hope this helps answer your question James, and that you’re able to use the Sky Anytime service to watch some of your favourite programmes.

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