Sky Glass And Stream Prices Skyrocket Across The Board

Brace yourselves, Sky fans: As of today, new customers signing up for Sky Glass and Sky Stream will face a bitter pill to swallow: price hikes across the board.

From the standard ‘Ultimate’ plan to various content add-ons, your wallet is about to feel the squeeze.

Existing customers already knew this was coming – but now, whether you’re a loyal, long-time subscriber or a newcomer to the Sky family, your monthly bill is set to rise.

For instance, the Sky Ultimate plan, which bundles Sky’s Entertainment channels with Netflix Standard (with ads) and Freeview, has seen its monthly cost on a rolling contract jump from £29 to £31.

Similarly, the Sky Cinema add-on, beloved by movie enthusiasts for its extensive library and inclusion of Paramount+ at no extra cost, has increased from £13 to a whopping £16/month on a rolling contract.

At the moment, Sky is offering a few limited-time discounts that make these increases a bit easier to swallow – but whichever way you look at it – prices have gone up (see full details below).

Sky Stream (see my review), a 4K streaming box (also referred to as the “puck”), has been a major turning point for Sky since its introduction – in more ways than one.

Unlike Sky’s old-school boxes (such as Sky Q), Stream doesn’t require a satellite dish. Instead, it uses broadband to stream TV shows (including Freeview channels), positioning itself alongside the likes of Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Google’s Chromecast in the streaming device market.

What sets Sky Stream apart is its unique value proposition: it offers both the hardware and Sky’s TV service under a single subscription.

Sky Glass (see my review) works in much the same way, and is also based on broadband – but it’s a full 4K TV set with a QLED HDR display and a built-in Dolby Atmos soundbar with six speakers.

Sky Glass And Stream’s Pricing Explained

With Sky Glass, customers need to first buy the TV itself (by paying outright or via instalments) and then pay for the content on top. With Sky Stream, customers get the box as a loan – and then only pay for the content.

A major difference between Stream / Glass and Sky Q, is that Sky Stream and Glass do not require a long-term contract. The basic contract is a rolling 31-day agreement that you can cancel at any time without penalty charges.

However, an 18-month contract option is also available, which can lower your monthly subscription costs.

As of now, the basic content package for both Sky Stream and Sky Glass users is the Sky Ultimate plan, which includes a variety of Sky Entertainment channels, Freeview, and Netflix’s standard ad-supported plan.

On top of that, subscribers can add additional paid content plans, such as Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, Sky Kids, and TNT Sports, along with 4K and Dolby Atmos capabilities, fast-forwarding through adverts, and the “Whole Home” option for multi-room viewing – and all of these incur extra monthly charges.

Sky TV Prices Going Up Across The Board

Earlier this year, we reported that Sky’s prices will increase for existing subscribers – including those currently under contract – from April 1.

But now it’s time for new customers to feel the burden of increasing prices, as starting today, prices have gone up on most of Sky’s Stream and Glass content packages and add-ons.

There’s some good news, however – as of this writing, Sky is running a promotion, with most prices discounted. 

So – and this gets a bit confusing – the current special offer keeps prices the same as they were before the recent price increase.

However, until yesterday, the discounts were applied on top of the previously lower prices, resulting in even deeper discounts. As a result, some of today’s discounted prices are equal to yesterday’s full prices.

Confused yet? Let’s dig into the actual numbers.

Sky Ultimate 

The standard bundle, which includes Sky’s Entertainment channels, Netflix Standard with Ads and Freeview-over-broadband, is mandatory with either Sky Stream or Sky Glass

Until now, Sky Ultimate was £29/month on the rolling contract and £26/month on the 18-month contract.

Starting today, Sky Ultimate is £31/month on the rolling contract, and £28/month on the 18-month contract.

This is the first time the full Sky Ultimate price for the 18-month contract has gone up since Sky Glass and Sky Stream launched.

Sky Ultimate Discounts:

As mentioned, however, Sky Ultimate is currently available for £29/month or £26/month as part of a limited-time deal. 

However, some affiliate sites – Cord Busters included – can give you access to an even lower price – £23/month for the 18-month contract, via this link.

It’s obviously better than £28 or £26 – but up until a few days ago, the discounted price was £19/month. So there’s a price increase whichever way you look at it.

Sky Cinema

The add-on, which includes all of Sky’s movies channels (and on-demand movies), and also includes Paramount+ at no extra cost, used to cost £13/month on the rolling contract, and £11/month on the 18-month contract.

Starting today, the full price for Sky Cinema is £16/month on the rolling contract, and £13/month on the 18-month contract.

As part of the limited-time offer, you can get it for £10/month or £8/month.

Sky Sports

This add-on includes all of Sky’s sports channels, including the new Sky Tennis channel. It used to cost £27/month on the rolling contract, and £25/month on the 18-month contract.

Starting today, Sky Sports’ full price for new customers is £30/month on the rolling contract, and £28/month on the 18-month contract.

As part of the limited-time offer, you can get Sky Ultimate and Sky Sports for £43/month.

TNT Sports

The sports platform that replaced BT Sport, and also includes Eurosport, did not go up – and the price has remained at £30/month on Sky Glass and Sky Stream (but it has gone up to £30/month – from £28/month – on Sky Q).

You can get TNT Sports for £28/month with the current limited-time deal.

Sky Kids

The kids’ bundle, which includes a number of live channels as well as on-demand content, used to cost £6/month on either contract.

Starting today, Sky Kids’ full price is £7/month.

As part of the limited-time offer, you can get it for £4/month for up to 18 months.

Sky Stream / Glass Add-ons

If you want to add 4K and Dolby Atmos to Sky’s content, the price hasn’t changed, and it is still £6/month – but you can currently get it for £4/month (for up to 18 months).

If you want to be able to fast-forward adverts on some apps/channels – that’s £5/month – and the price hasn’t changed.

And lastly, if you want to add more Sky Stream boxes in other rooms, you’ll have to add the “Whole Home” pack. It used to cost £12/month, but from today, it’s £13/month.

As part of the special offer, you can currently get it for £10/month (and there is no setup fee for the first extra Stream puck).

One important thing to remember about all these prices – is that they can – and most likely will – go up every year, around March/April, even if you’re under contract (much as they did this year).

Sky Glass Offer: Up To 3 Free Months

With Sky Glass, you’re also paying for the TV set itself (depending on the size) – but those payments are separate from the content pricing, and have not gone up.

The content prices are identical to those of Sky Stream, and have therefore gone up for new (and existing) customers, as specified above.

However, the special limited-time deal for new Sky Glass customers is a bit different.

Instead of getting Sky Ultimate at a discounted price, new customers can get it totally free for up to three months (remember you will still be paying for the TV itself though).

After those 3 months are over, you will pay the new, higher prices – £28/month on the 18-month contract, and £31/month on the rolling contract.

• For more news and updates on Sky, TV and streaming, Subscribe to our free newsletter.