TELLY fans may notice a huge change on their screens today as a popular streaming service kick starts a major overhaul.
Sky has been busy of late, unveiling a Sky Glass Gen 2 TV just last week.
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But today it’s time for a shake-up to the company’s sister product, NOW – formerly known as NOW TV.
The streaming platform has received a complete revamp in a bid to make it easier for viewers to find their favourite shows.
NOW is home to much of Sky’s most popular content, including the new series of The White Lotus which returned to Sky Atlantic on Monday.
The overhaul will also mean some changes for Sky Sports subscribers too.
Sky is moving NOW’s underlying technology across to the NBCUniversal system used by its counterpart in the US.
The firm says the move will “further enhance” the viewing experience, providing people with a more personalised approach overall.
A new-look user interface makes it easier to jump into the shows you want to watch.
This includes new rails showcasing content such as Top 10s and smoother search options.
For those who have the NOW Sky Sports package, SkySports+ streams will be housed as curated collections.
This should make it easier to get to what users want to watch in one place, such as The Miami Open tennis tournament.
Sky says there is more choice and control for families too, with the introduction of Kids profiles.
This allows little ones to access more than 10,000 episodes of children’s content, including shows like all ad-free.
The update is being rolled out to NOW devices, as well as smart TVs and tablets, in the UK and Ireland from February 18 and through March.
NOW members in Italy will see the same changes in spring, followed by Germany at a later date.
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Stream swapping – the easy way to cut your bills?
Here’s what Sean Keach, The Sun’s Head of Technology and Science, thinks…
It’s no secret that TV streaming apps are costing more and more.
Not only are prices shooting up, but we find ourselves asked to pay for an increasing number of apps and services.
And when you combine those TV bills with your music streaming, mobile and internet fees, and every other drain on your bank account, it all starts to get a bit much.
One of the best ways to cut your TV bills is to simply cancel all of your streaming subscriptions and only sign up to one per month.
Pick an app like Netflix, Disney+, or Apple TV+ and smash through all of the content you want to watch on that app.
Then the next month, swap to something else.
And once you’ve done them all, you can cycle back to the start again.
It’s an easy way to avoid forking out for a rolling library of streaming apps with more content than you could possibly watch.
Also don’t forget that paid-for streaming isn’t the only game in town.
There are loads of apps that don’t cost a penny to enjoy, and downloading a few will unlock thousands of live TV channels plus tens of thousands of movies and shows.
Try apps like Tubi, The Roku Channel, Plex, and Pluto TV to get some ad-supported television without having to pay any monthly fees.
