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Sky Q is a
subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...
-based television and entertainment service operated by
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...
provider
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, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q
set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...
. Sky Q launched in 2016 replacing the previous Sky+ and Sky X services. Sky Q has been referred to as a "multimedia platform" that combines conventional television with on-demand and catch-up services, as well as third-party services. It includes a PVR set top box, a multiroom set top box, a dedicated
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
-connected "hub", and applications for mobile and desktop devices. As of April 2018, Sky Q was in 2.5 million homes in the UK, Ireland and Italy. In July 2018, Sky reported that there were 3.6 million Sky Q customers.


Launch

Sky Q was first announced by
Sky UK Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...
in January 2016, and was released in the UK in March 2016. Sky did not roll out Sky Q in Germany, Austria and Italy immediately, but released a modified version of the Sky Q set top box by Autumn 2016, named Sky+ Pro in Germany and Austria, and My Sky in Italy. Like Sky Q, the box is capable of UHD resolution and has a built-in Wi-Fi router, but it omits significant Sky Q features.
Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24. Pay TV services on the Sky ...
later launched Sky Q in Italy in November 2017, and
Sky Deutschland Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital su ...
did so in Germany and Austria in May 2018. In contrast to the UK, Ireland and Italy (especially where Sky Italia launched Sky Q separately from My Sky), existing customers in Germany and Austria could receive Sky Q through a free software update on existing Sky+ Pro receivers.


Hardware

The Sky Q "Silver" set top box (called "Platinum" in Italy) has a 2
terabyte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
hard disk and 12
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tuners, allowing up to six live TV channels to be recorded while watching a seventh. The box is capable of receiving and displaying 4K resolution " ultra-high-definition" (UHD) broadcasts, which were started by Sky in the UK in August 2016. The standard Sky Q box has 1 terabyte of storage and 8 tuners, supporting broadcasts up to
1080p 1080p (1920 × 1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the sc ...
("Full HD"). A third box, Sky Q Mini, acts as a secondary device without tuners or hard drives that merely networks to the main box to allow the Sky Q service to be used in other rooms, and can also be used as a
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
"extender" to provide stable broadband connections. The Sky Q
remote control A remote control, also known colloquially as a remote or clicker, is an consumer electronics, electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operat ...
is fully redesigned compared to the earlier Sky+ and
Sky+ HD Sky HD may refer to: * Sky+ HD, a high-definition television service provided by British Sky Broadcasting Group in the United Kingdom and Ireland * Sky HD (Italy), a high-definition television service provided by Sky Italia in Italy * Sky HD (South ...
versions, and has a large touchpad for scrolling and selecting within the
user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...
. The latest version of the remote does not feature a touch interface anymore.


Software

Using the Sky Q apps designed for the Android and
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operating systems, Sky Q recordings at home can be watched on mobile devices on the go. Sky Q also offers access to
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
s on Sky Store. In 2019, Sky teamed up with
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
to offer that service with Sky Q for £3 per month, cheaper than a standard Netflix subscription, called "Ultimate On Demand".
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
is also fully integrated in Sky Q. In August 2017, Sky added Dolby Atmos sound support on Sky Q. High-dynamic-range (HDR) broadcasts began on 27 May 2020. Sky Group signed the deal with ViacomCBS (now
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
) to launch
Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria by 2022. The app is available on Sky Q, with
Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...
subscribers having access to Paramount+ at no charge.


Sky Q over Internet

In January 2017, Sky plc's earnings report for 2016 indicated that it would launch a dish-less version of Sky Q service delivered through broadband Internet, with UK rollout projected for 2018. No further developments on the UK rollout have emerged since then. The Austrian version, named Sky X, was launched in March 2019, replacing a version of Now TV operated in the country as Sky Ticket. The Italian version, named Sky Q Fibra, was launched in September 2019; unlike the Austrian Sky X, the Italian Sky Q Fibra co-exists with Now TV. Both Austrian and Italian Internet television services slightly differ from Sky Q satellite service in terms of features. On 27 September 2019, Sky announced a new streaming box called Sky Stream, which launched on 18 October 2022.


Reception

Sky Q mostly received positive critical reception in the UK. ''Alphr.com'' in April 2018 called the service "pure brilliance" and that it "keeps getting better", rating it 5 out of 5. '' TrustedReviews'' in April 2019 rated it 4.5 stars out of 5, praising the interface, on-the-go recordings, UHD resolution and Netflix integration, while criticising that it isn't cheap. Another review from 2019, by '' T3'', also rated it 5 stars out of 5, with the verdict stating "Sky Q was already the best viewing experience money could buy and now, with Netflix seamlessly integrated into its UI, it has powered even further away from its rivals." The cons were stated to be lack of
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
and HDR. ''
Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...
'' also rated it 5 stars out of 5 as of January 2019, commenting that it "works flawlessly and could change the way you watch TV", although adding that "Sky Q isn't for everyone (at least not yet)" and that for some people its "extra features will look like luxuries that might not be worth the extra expense". ''
TechRadar ''TechRadar'' is an online technology publication owned by Future plc. It has editorial teams in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia that provide news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2008 and expanded t ...
'' rated it 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it the "best TV subscription service on the planet", with its main criticisms being lack of Amazon Prime Video and HDR. A '' What Hi-Fi?'' review from April 2019 gave it 5 stars out of 5, praising the content and multi-room ability, while criticising it for being expensive and the touchpad remote being "fiddly".


Awards

''TrustedReviews'' named Sky Q the "Home Entertainment Product of the Year" in 2016, beating
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
and Xbox One S. Sky Q was rated "Best TV platform" by ''T3'' in its 2018 awards. Sky Q was the 2019 award winner by the '' What Hi-Fi?'' magazine.


Advertising

Actor Idris Elba is used by Sky UK for its advertising campaigns.


See also

* Now * Digibox (Sky's older set-top boxes)


References


External links

{{BSkyB Sky Group Digital video recorders Products introduced in 2016 Audiovisual introductions in 2016 Video storage Broadband