After a very long wait, and a few false starts, BT Sport Ultimate – which airs sporting events in Ultra HD (4K) / HDR, is finally available on Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream devices.
Back in August, BT Sport Ultimate was supposed to get added to Sky through the Red Button function – but that plan was cancelled at the very last moment.
Instead, BT Sport Ultimate launched a full standalone channel on Sky today, so it’s even easier to access than with the previously planned red button functionality.
Starting today (November 14), Sky customers (with the appropriate subscription) will be able to enjoy BT Sport Ultimate’s 4K sports programming by going directly to Sky Channel 493.
- If you’re not seeing the new channel on your Sky device yet – see below for our workaround instructions, and the subscription level you need.
Having a separate channel also means that customers will presumably be able to pause and rewind live broadcasts mid-game, as well as record content (either locally or to the cloud on devices like Sky Glass and Sky Stream), but we’re waiting for final confirmation on that.
BT Sport On Sky
For years, BT Sport was only available as an add-on to traditional pay-TV subscriptions like Sky, or BT’s own BT Broadband customers.
In 2019, a monthly, contract-free streaming version of BT Sport was finally introduced, at a monthly cost of £25 (See our complete guide on how to watch BT Sport online – even for free).
Sky’s customers, however, do not get the full BT Sport app – the one which is available on 3rd party streaming devices, or on BT Sport’s own set-top boxes.
Instead, BT Sport’s channels are “baked” into your regular TV channels on both Sky Q and Sky Glass / Sky Stream, assuming you’re subscribed to it via Sky.
BT Sport Ultimate, however – the channel that adds 4K (UHD) / HDR and Dolby Atmos to select BT Sport broadcasts – was never available for Sky customers – until now.
How To Get BT Sport Ultimate On Sky
If you’re subscribed to BT Sport via Sky (normally it costs £30/month, but check Sky’s current offers), you will now be able to access the new BT Sport Ultimate channel on Sky Channel 493.
As always, for a 4K broadcast, you also need a TV that supports 4K, and the appropriate 4K Sky device (either Sky Q, Sky Glass or the new standalone streaming puck, Sky Stream).
However, in addition to the BT Sport subscription on Sky – you’ll also need Sky’s Ultra HD add-on if you want to watch the 4K version of BT Sport.
On Sky Glass and Sky Stream, the 4K add-on costs (as of this writing) £6/month.
- Note: If you’re not seeing the new BT Sport Ultimate Channel (493) on your Sky Glass or Sky Stream device yet, you may have to do a hard reboot – meaning, unplug the device, plug it back in after 20 seconds – and the channel should appear (it worked when I tested it).
Keep in mind that BT Sport Ultimate is not an identical, 4K version of any of the other BT Sport channels – it only airs certain games and events in 4K – such as some Premier League games, UEFA Leagues, boxing matches and more.
BT Sport Changing Soon
BT Sport UHD coming to Sky is happening a couple of months after the completion of the big merger between BT Sport and Eurosport/Discovery+
For now, the merger didn’t bring any big changes to Sky’s subscribers, as BT Sport and Eurosport are planning to leave their separate brands intact, for now.
In the future, however, the two services will be merged into a single platform – and it remains to be seen how that will affect BT Sport on Sky.
Furthermore, BT Sport customers are due to receive a Discovery+ subscription for free at some point – but customers who subscribe to BT Sport via 3rd party platforms – such as Virgin Media and Sky – will not be part of this deal, and will not be getting Discovery+ and Eurosport for free (at least as far as we know at this point).
