Bad news if you’re getting Paramount+ for free with your Sky Cinema subscription – you’re about to be moved down to the cheaper, ad-supported tier, with Sky announcing a major downgrade to their streaming partnership.
Starting January 21, Sky will begin moving ALL Cinema subscribers from the ad-free Standard Paramount+ tier to the new Basic with ads tier.
And yes, that includes existing customers who have been enjoying Paramount+ without adverts since it first launched in the UK.
According to Sky, there’s no way to avoid this change, unless you’re willing to pay extra by subscribing to Paramount+ separately (see more on that below).
Wait, What’s Paramount+ Again?
If you haven’t been keeping up, Paramount+ is the streaming service that launched in the UK back in 2022, bringing with it shows like the new Star Trek series, Yellowstone and its numerous spin-offs, and new blockbuster films.
When it first launched, Sky struck what seemed like a great deal for their customers – anyone with a Sky Cinema subscription would get Paramount+ (then a single tier at £6.99/month) completely free.
But the streaming world never stands still, and just a couple of months ago, in November 2024, Paramount+ revamped its pricing structure in the UK, introducing three separate tiers:
The new Basic with Ads tier came in at £4.99/month, promising the full content library but with – you guessed it – adverts thrown in, and streaming limited to a single device.
The Standard tier (which is what Sky customers had until now) went up to £7.99/month, keeping things ad-free with streaming on two devices.
And for the quality enthusiasts, a new Premium tier launched at £10.99/month, finally bringing 4K streaming to UK customers, along with support for four concurrent streams.
So What Exactly Is Changing?
Starting January 21, Sky Cinema subscribers are being moved to that Basic tier – which means you’ll start seeing adverts in the middle of shows.
The change will take effect at the end of each customer’s current billing period, with Sky saying that changes might appear on accounts from February 16 onwards.
In other words, you’ll keep your current ad-free access until your next billing date, at which point you’ll be moved to the ad-supported tier.
If you’re already a paying Paramount+ subscriber through Sky Marketplace, and you add Sky Cinema to your package, you’ll automatically be moved to the Basic (with ads) tier at the end of your current billing period.
Sky says they can’t switch you sooner or offer refunds for any remaining time on your paid Paramount+ subscription.
Also, your Paramount+ login details will stay the same throughout this change.
The most annoying part? Sky has confirmed they’re “not able to offer other plans at the moment”.
That means if you want to keep watching without adverts, or step up to 4K, you’ll need to cancel your Sky-provided access and pay full price for a separate Paramount+ subscription.
This is particularly frustrating when you consider that other streaming services bundled with Sky – like Netflix – at least give you the option to upgrade to a better tier by paying a reduced additional fee.
Unsurprisingly, Sky customers haven’t taken this news lying down. Social media and Sky’s forums have been buzzing with complaints from subscribers who are understandably miffed about having adverts forced upon them.
Is This a Sign of Things to Come?
Interestingly, this move follows a similar pattern to Sky’s recently announced deal with Max (the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max).
When Max finally launches in the UK in 2026, both Sky and NOW customers will get access to it – but only to the ad-supported tier.
We don’t know at this point whether Sky subscribers will be able to upgrade to a higher Max tier or not.
The way things are going in the streaming world, with more and more services pushing their ad-supported tiers, this probably won’t be the last time we see this kind of change.
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Very annoying. Paramount was great. Now it’s with adverts, I’ll put up with it till I’ve watched Blue Bloods series and then bin it.
Its disgusting to be “railroaded” into Ads.. it is my rite to choose what I want to pay for.. !!
Will be leaving sky as soon as contract is up in May. What a rip off. Have stopped watching Yellowstone half way through season 3. Won’t be continuing as can’t bear the ads.
This is exactly the kind of move that typifies SKY and the way they do business these days…how can we find another way to screw our loyal customers, some of whom have been with us for 20+ years?
Another good reason not to subscribe to Sky. They continually downgrade everything.
100%. Their service and their hardware is getting slowly but progressively worse.