Sky Is Shaking Up Its Subscription TV Model

Sky Is Shaking Up Its Subscription TV Model, today unveiling Sky Q, a new high-end pay-TV service to rival the likes of Netflix and Apple TV.

Sitting above, not replacing, the company's current Sky+ HD service, Sky Q better merges live broadcasts with on-demand content, pairing a completely reworked interface with new hardware.

It's not just about the living room TV, either. Sky Q, through the use of additional 'Mini' set-top boxes and dedicated tablet apps, lets households enjoy both live and on-demand viewing across three TVs and two tablets simultaneously. Thanks to Sky Q Sync, you can even take your recordings out of the house.

What's more, adding 4K UHD support for the first time, Sky's bringing itself in line with the latest offerings from BT Sport and Amazon Fire TV.

"Sky Q is the biggest reimagining of Sky in our history," Sky's president said. "Customers want TV to be more flexible and seamless across more screens. Our ambition was to reimagine TV for the way people consume content today."

With a new platform comes a new set-top box, and here Sky Q has something special. The Sky Q Silver box is half the size of the existing Sky+HD boxes and plays host to 12 tuners.

This allows you to record up to four separate shows simultaneously, without interfering with what you're watching live.

With this many recording options, you're going to need plenty of storage. Here Sky has bestowed the new Sky Q box with 2TB of internal storage. That's five times more space than today's standard HD box.

It's not just about Sky's services either - the Sky Q box offers Apple Air Play support to let you cast your own content and features a number of online apps, including YouTube, GoPro and Red Bull channels.

Sky Q is a fully connected service that offers what Sky is dubbing 'Fluid Viewing'. Integral to this is the new Sky Q Mini box - a compact, connected set-top box that syncs to your new home system as opposed to the dish on the outside of your property.

Playing nice with the new Sky Q Hub router, the platform, as well as supporting all the latest Wi-Fi standards, can send internet over your home's electrical network to every device. This turns any Sky Q Mini boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots.

The remote's changed too - and dramatically. Adding touch controls and an integrated mic for voice searches, the remote is more attuned to navigate the reworked, picture-heavy interface.

But the wait for Sky Q continues, as the broadcaster has confirmed the new service will be made available to consumers in "early 2016". Pricing and a more specific release window are yet to be confirmed.

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