Sky’s chief marketing and digital officer, Stephen van Rooyen has announced a number of developments to online streaming service NOW TV, including the launch of the Sky Sports Month pass, a new box and improve user interface.
The pass is aimed at fans of major golf, international cricket and Premier League football, will cost £31.99 per month with no subscription required, and will be available in time for the new football season. NOW TV customers currently have the choice of a day pass for £6.99 or a week pass for £10.99. The online streaming service was launched in July 2012, and in the most recent quarter, the company reported NOW TV customer growth was up 30 per cent versus the same period in the previous year. The service allows customers to dip in and out of Sky offerings, without the commitment or higher costs of a subscription and offers a range of movies, sports and entertainment.
The next generation NOW TV Box announced by van Rooyen this week will go on sale in August for £14.99. It will include an Ethernet port to support a wired as well as wireless connection and a processor that is five times faster. Changes to the user interface will be rolled out across NOW TV supported devices over the coming months, and further updates will be rolled out later in the year which will include an improved search function as well as enabling customers to automatically play next episodes as well as the ability to tag, save and find favourite shows.
Speaking at the Future of Broadcasting Conference in London, van Rooyen also revealed Sky’s other findings about its NOW TV customers: They don’t crossover with the Sky customer base, as over 90 per cent of customers had never considered Sky before signing up; almost 30 per cent of NOW TV customers buy more than one pass each month; and almost 40 per cent of NOW TV customers also subscribe to Netflix and around 20 per cent use it alongside Amazon Prime.
“NOW TV has established real momentum since it launched nearly three years ago,” commented van Rooyen. “The acceleration in our customer growth shows NOW TV is attracting customers in a way that is complementary, not at odds, with the Sky TV service. As with the Sky platform we are committed to constant improvement so we can produce the best experience for customers as well as developing exciting new services and features for them to enjoy.”