Digital TV News

TV fans rush to sign-up for Sky+HD

Thursday 28 January, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Sky+HD homes have almost tripled in a year, with over 2 million customers now subscribing for high-definition TV in their living rooms.

Sky (www.sky.co.uk) attracted 482,000 households, both existing and new Sky customers, to take up Sky+HD in the last quarter 2009 - double the figure compared to the same period in 2008.

The Sky+HD service allows customers to watch TV in high-definition, with a clearer picture and sharper sound, while the Sky+ package lets consumers record, pause and rewind live TV.

Chief executive of Sky, Jeremy Darroch, said of the company’s latest results: “[Our] standout performance came in high-definition TV with almost half a million customers choosing Sky+HD for our best home entertainment service.”

Sky has said that, from today, it will begin selling its HD set-top boxes as standard, and customers will receive the box for free when they subscribe to Sky’s HD pack of channels. The HD channel pack costs an extra £10 a month.

Sky+HD customers can watch high-definition content on 37 different channels, spanning sports, films, drama, kids and documentaries.

Sky also said nearly 2 million households are now taking the Sky multiroom option, letting them watch Sky TV in more than one room in the house.

In a bid to attract new customers, Sky will launch its dedicated 3D TV channel in April later this year.

A demonstration of Sky’s new technology will be broadcast this weekend at nine pubs around the UK, with the satellite TV provider showing the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Manchester United in 3D.