IT’S taking Sky “much longer” than the company originally expected to shift satellite fans to streaming, a TV expert has revealed.
Sky has been pushing ahead with TV that relies on the internet instead of a satellite dish since 2021.
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Next week, yet another Sky Glass model goes on sale, while the beloved Sky Q satellite box hasn’t seen a hardware update since 2016.
Sky Glass Air is a thinner model without the built in soundbar that’s cheaper than the previous models, in a bid to win people over.
The firm says 90 per cent of new customers opt for Sky Glass or Sky Stream – but winning over Sky Q loyalists seems to be tricky.
Paolo Pescatore, an expert for PP Foresight, previously told The Sun it is “highly unlikely” Sky will ever release a new satellite box.
In an update, he says the arrival of a more affordable slimmer model “should strongly resonate with customers” but it “does show a clear razor sharp focus on new sales”.
“The majority of its existing subscribers are still on the tried and trusted Sky Q platform which relies on a satellite dish,” he explained.
“Converting this base is taking the company much longer than it originally expected.
“On this basis Sky Glass has not been as successful as the company had anticipated.
“Despite this, the move in general made sense given the direction of travel with what I’m calling the big TV switch off; likely to happen now in the 2030s and to defend against the rise and threat of streamers by allowing Sky to control the experience and manage customer relationships which it has successfully been able to do.
“Also and more importantly, it has allowed Sky to secure retail distribution agreements for products like Sky Stream with others.”
He warned Sky is still “hugely reliant” on its core and lucrative Sky Q base which it “must avoid upsetting as there are a slew of cheaper alternative TV platforms and services in the market”.
Last year, Sky signed a contract extension with satellite operator SES that takes the service up to 2029.
Sky Q’s biggest difference is its ability to record on a box, whereas on Sky Glass it’s recorded to the cloud.
This means on Sky Q you will always have something to watch if there’s ever an outage.
And a limited number of programmes and movies can’t be recorded to the cloud because of rights issues – whereas on Sky Q you can record what you want.
The upside of Sky Glass and Sky Stream recording is that there is no storage limit unlike Sky Q.
MY THOUGHTS ON SKY GLASS GEN 2
By Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
Sky Glass Gen 2 successfully improves from the previous model in three key areas: visuals, audio and set-up (I can’t tell you enough how much easier it is to assemble that stand plate).
The same wonderfully easy user interface continues to get better and better – not to mention Sky’s unmatched content.
But it’s really not necessary or enough for users of the first Sky Glass to upgrade to this new model.
Instead, this is very much aimed at those new to Sky Glass.
I can’t see many Sky Q subscribers being swayed due to the recording storage differences, among other things.
Make no mistake – while Sky has assured that it is still committed to Sky Q, streaming is very much the future and will get the lion’s share of new features in the years to come.
Read the full review here
