Sky’s Now TV launches to rival Netflix
SKY launches its own internet television service Now TV today in an attempt to compete with film-streaming rivals Netflix and LoveFilm.
The broadcasting giant, which is trying to reach the 13m British households without a paid TV subscription, will charge £15 a month for on-demand access to hundreds of movies, and offer a pay-per-view service for between 99p and £3.49 a film.
The service will expand to include sports coverage later in the year, followed by shows from Sky’s entertainment channels. Now TV will launch on PCs, Android phones and Macs today before becoming available for iPhone, iPad, games consoles and the forthcoming YouView set-top box later in the year.
Sky has seen its dominance of pay television threatened by internet services such as Netflix and Amazon’s LoveFilm, which charge £5.99 and £4.99 a month respectively for on-demand films. A Sky TV package with movie channels costs at least £37.50 a month.
BSkyB’s managing director of sales and marketing Stephen Van Rooyen said Now TV is “purposely designed to attract new customers”.
The broadcaster is betting on customers being willing to pay extra for Now TV’s offering of exclusive content, with new films available to subscribers a year before they appear on other services.