Yesterday was officially the first day that Sky customers will be charged an extra £5 for skipping advertson any of the channels that show them. The satellite broadcaster first announced the change last year but the update has only just arrived this week.
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The additional fee will obviously displease many customers who are already paying hefty subscriptions for television services but there are ways of reducing the impact depending on what you watch and the package you have, as per The Sun.
Who will it impact?
All new customers who purchase Sky Glass and Sky Stream packages will now be charged the additional £5 a month if they want to skip ads during live TV. It will also affect those who were given the add-on for a free trial, for either 12 months or 18 months, once their offer ends, as per the Daily Express.
Since Sky Glass was released in the autumn of 2021, many customers will be coming to the end of their free trials though Sky Stream was launched only a few months ago so that will take a little longer. It is worth making a note of when your trial started so you can decide whether to cancel the add-on otherwise you will be charged the £5 monthly fee.
Not just Sky
Describing the feature, Sky commented, as per the Daily Express:
With the Ad Skipping Add On, you'll be able to fast forward through adverts when using Live Pause, Restart, Playlist or Sky On Demand. You can also fast forward adverts from within ITVX, STV Player and All4 TV apps.
However, if you already pay to skip ads on ITVX or All4, then it could be worth keeping this add-on. ITVX costs £5.99 per month whilst All4 costs £3.99 per month so in effect, you'd actually be saving money by paying for the Sky add-on and deleting the separate payments.
If you want to check if you already have Ad Skipping you can by going to the bottom of the home screen on your Sky Glass TV or Sky Stream Puck and click on ‘My Sky’, then ‘Your products’.
Sources used:
- Daily Express 'Some Sky TV users must now pay £5 to skip adverts - are you affected?'
- The Sun 'Sky is making a major change for some TV customers from today – and it will push up bills'
