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NOW will be refreshed from the ground-up in a bid to bring the "latest technologies and innovations" to the streaming service. Formerly NOW TV, the streamer offers contract-free access to Sky TV channels live and on-demand over the internet, rather than via a traditional satellite dish.
The shake-up is scheduled to begin on February 18, 2025.
Sky Stream has never been this affordable. The broadcaster has just launched an affordable new bundle of channels and on-demand services, dubbed TV Essentials. It includes its plug-and-play Sky Stream box, over 100 live channels including Sky Atlantic — the exclusive home of shows like Game of Thrones, And Just Like That, and The White Lotus. You'll also find a subscription to Netflix and Discovery+ included too and can upgrade to Sky Cinema and Sky Sports at an extra cost.
Sky Stream
£15
The upgrade will bring a fresh look to NOW's user interface, designed to help viewers find their favourite content faster across supported platforms, including Smart TVs, tablets and smartphones. To do this, NOW will now feature Top 10 carousels highlighting the most popular shows and films with other subscribers.
Parent company Sky TV has also promised to bolster the search functionality in the NOW app. That's going to be important as the overhaul to NOW will also bring more content to sort through than ever before.
NOW will slowly roll-out the redesign across its many platforms, starting on February 18 and finishing sometime the following month. Viewers in the UK and Ireland will be treated to the redesign before their counterparts in Italy and Germany
NOW PRESS OFFICE
In the coming weeks, NOW will introduce dedicated Kids profiles to deliver over 10,000 episodes of award-winning children's content, like Sky Kids' Ready Eddie Go! or Boomerang’s What’s New Scooby-Doo, available ad-free.
The redesign to NOW will roll-out in stages starting on February 18 and continuing to gradually roll-out until March, so it's possible you'll see the new look on your tablet or phone before it becomes available on your Roku or Fire TV Stick. The update should be available everywhere by the end of next month.
For the first time, NOW Sports Members will benefit from curated collections of SkySports+ streams, making it easier to access events like The Miami Open tennis tournament in one place.
Carli Kerr, Managing Director of NOW and Sky TV content, said: “Migrating to NBCU’s Global Streaming Platform means NOW members will benefit from the ongoing delivery of customer features that enhance the viewing experience and leverage the latest technologies and innovations across the platform."
The redesign to NOW is only part of the story — under the bonnet, the streaming service will be moved to the Global Streaming Platform technology developed by NBCUniversal. This same software is already being used by streamers like Peacock in the United States, SkyShowtime in mainland Europe, and Multichoice in Africa.
The platform, which reaches over 70 countries worldwide, has demonstrated its technical capabilities through significant streaming events. With a single platform powering all of these services, NBCUniversal can focus all of its efforts on developing new features once before rolling them out worldwide.
The rollout will begin in the UK and Ireland from February 18, focused on NOW-enabled devices including Smart TVs and tablets. After that, Italian NOW members can expect the update to arrive in Spring 2025. The platform upgrade will reach German WOW members at a later, unspecified date.
NOW is a streaming service that delivers Sky TV content live and on-demand over the internet.
The service offers flexible viewing options with shorter 6-month contracts and monthly payment plans, allowing customers to cancel at any time.
Viewers can customise their experience by choosing from different memberships, including Sports, Cinema and Entertainment packages, each available at different monthly rates.
NOW offers access to live and on-demand content from Sky TV, including Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, and Sky Kids. Its IPTV offering is available contract-free or with longer-term subscriptions
NOW PRESS OFFICE
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However, with the launch of Sky Glass and Sky Stream, NOW has lost its unique selling-point, since both of these devices offer cancel anytime 30-day rolling plans and stream live and on-demand content using only a Wi-Fi connection.
Many of the features coming to NOW with the latest shake-up — like improved search, rails with Top 10 shows — are already found in Sky Stream and Sky Glass TVs.
Sky Stream has never been this affordable. The broadcaster has just launched an affordable new bundle of channels and on-demand services, dubbed TV Essentials. It includes its plug-and-play Sky Stream box, over 100 live channels including Sky Atlantic — the exclusive home of shows like Game of Thrones, And Just Like That, and The White Lotus. You'll also find a subscription to Netflix and Discovery+ included too and can upgrade to Sky Cinema and Sky Sports at an extra cost.
Sky Stream
£15
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