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Sky highlights online services to fend off YouView and BT

Announcing its latest results Sky wants you to know it's more than a dish -- but seems rattled by rivals like YouView and BT.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Sky has announced its latest results, emphasising that there's more to Sky than a dish -- but highlighting the growth of online services like Sky Go suggests Sky is rattled by rivals like the fast-growing YouView.

Sky hit a quarterly operating profit of £285m this summer, during which time 50,000 customers a week were unlocking On Demand services. The total number of connected Sky homes reached 3.4 million by September, while online service Sky Go for watching Sky channels on your laptop, tablet or phone now has 3.3 million users.

As a f'r'instance, the dedicated Ashes channel on Sky Go recorded over 16 million views with cricket fans catching the thwack of leather on willow as it happened, even if they were away from home or supposed to be working in the office.

Meanwhile Sky Broadband's banned Bruce Willis advert helped add 111,000 new customers in the quarter, to top 5 million total subscribers.

But Sky is facing its stiffest competition for a long time from rivals including YouView, which is given away free with BT and TalkTalk broadband contracts. And BT has also launched its own sporting channels, complete with a slice of live Premier League footballing action. 

Sky recently introduced its Sky+HD 2TB set-top box, the first with Wi-Fi built-in. And this week, Sky's dish-free online service hits shops with the bargain-tastic Now TV Box, giving those of us without a dish Sky Movies and Sky Sports on the cheap.

Is Sky the best TV package, or do you prefer Virgin, Freeview, or YouView? Tell me your thoughts in the comments, or tune in to our Facebook page.