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What is Sky Anytime+?

Our digital TV expert says...

Hi Alex, thanks for your email about Sky Anytime+ - the new on-demand TV service from Sky (www.sky.com).

Sky Anytime+, which launched in October this year, is available to all Sky+HD customers with Sky broadband. It uses your Sky broadband connection to give you access to thousands of on-demand TV entertainment, documentaries and kids’ programmes, as well as more than 600 on-demand movies.

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

What’s on Sky Anytime+?

Sky Anytime+ offers over 1,000 hours of free content from a variety of channels, including Sky Arts, Sky1, the Sky Movies channels and the Sky Sports channels every week. The line-up changes daily, and as well as content from Sky’s own channels, there are also programmes from:

• The History Channel
• National Geographic
• The Biography Channel
• Disney
• Nickelodeon
• Cartoon Network
• ESPN.

Over 600 films are also available on-demand, in both standard and high-definition (HD), as well as complete runs of popular series from HBO.

What you’ll be able to watch will depend on your Sky TV subscription however, so if you don’t subscribe to the Sky Sports channels you will not be able to watch the on-demand sports content, for example.

How does Sky Anytime Plus work?

When you choose to watch something on Sky Anytime+, it will download to your set-top box via your Sky broadband.

The new Sky Anytime+ service works on a “progressive download” basis, which means content will become available to view before it has fully downloaded. Ideally, this could be in just a few minutes, though it will depend on your broadband speed and connection. You’ll then be able to pause, rewind and fast-forward all the movies and programmes using your Sky+ remote, and store them on your set-top box to watch at a later date if you wish.

Sky Anytime+ requirements

Sky Anytime+ is available at no extra cost, however it is only offered to Sky broadband customers with a Sky+HD box. Sky TV and broadband packages are available from £19.50 a month.

Sky TV only		Sky TV + Broadband + Calls
More info	More info	More info	More info
from £12.50 a month + Sky+ box + £25 M&S voucher	from £17.62 a month + Sky+ box + £25 M&S voucher	from £12.50 a month + Sky+ Box + £25 M&S voucher	from £20 a month + Sky+ Box + £25 M&S voucher
Online exclusive 1/2 price TV for 6 months Sky TV - Sky Entertainment extra pack	Online exclusive 1/2 price TV for 6 months Sky TV - Sky Entertainment extra pack 1/2 price Sky HD pack for 6 months	Online exclusive 1/2 price TV for 6 months Sky TV - Sky Entertainment extra pack Up to 14Mb speed 2GB monthly usage Inclusive UK evening and weekend calls	Online exclusive 1/2 price TV for 6 months Sky Entertainment extra pack Up to 14Mb speed Unlimited downloads Inclusive UK evening and weekend calls
More info	More info	More info	More info
Visit Sky.com or call 0844 241 1407	Visit Sky.com or call 0844 241 1407	Visit Sky.com or call 0844 241 1407	Visit Sky.com or call 0844 241 1407

It’s important to note that using Sky Anytime+ will eat into your broadband download allowance, so it’s essential you are aware of your limit. Sky offers two broadband packages:

1. Sky Everyday Lite - Designed for customers that hardly use the internet, and use it just for casual surfing and emails
2. Sky Broadband Unlimited - Designed for people that use the internet a lot, to play games, download films and music and watch internet TV services.

Sky Everyday Lite comes with a low 2GB download allowance and isn’t really suitable for use with the Anytime+ service. Sky advises that Sky Broadband Unlimited is the best deal for customers who want to download a lot of television content using Sky Anytime+, as it comes with unlimited downloads.

As a rough guide, a 90min standard definition film will use around 900MB of your download allowance - or nearly half the monthly limit on the Everyday Lite package.

What’s the difference between Sky Anytime and Sky Anytime+?

Sky Anytime Plus+ is a step up from the existing Sky Anytime service, which is still available to Sky TV customers without Sky broadband.

The existing Sky Anytime service gives users on-demand TV via their satellite dish, offering a choice of just 40 hours of programmes a week. The new Anytime+ service however, is delivered through your broadband connection, so it can offer users much more.

If you’ve got Sky TV but not got Sky broadband, read our guide to Sky Anytime to find out more about the on-demand content available to you.

I hope this helps you understand a bit more about Sky’s on-demand services Alex, and that you’re able to use the Sky Anytime+ service to watch some of your favourite shows.

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