Sky has announced it will be making a big change for some of its TV customers, which will leave viewers facing an extra charge. People who pay for Sky Glass or Sky Stream will now be charged £5 per month for skipping adverts during live television content.
The change came into force yesterday for any customer who purchases these plans. No existing customer will pay for the pack before July 2023, so there's no need for people to check when their 12 or 18 month introductory offer comes to an end.
When July 2023 hits, anyone whose offer has ended will then have the option to keep the Ad Skipping pack on their TV subscription or cancel it anytime.
If you already do this while watching streaming sites such as All4 and ITV Hub, you could actually save money by keeping the Sky add-on as it works across all apps - meaning you won't have to pay for each service separately. The Sun reports that there are no plans to roll out the £5 skipping fee for Sky Q customers yet, but people should keep checking just to be sure.
The skipping feature lets customers quickly bypass any adverts during TV programmes. It doesn't remove the adverts altogether, but means you don't have to sit through them.
To skip the ads when a commercial break begins, customers can simply press the microphone button on their sky remote and say ‘fast forward three minutes’. This will take you past the ads without having to hold down the fast-forward button and wait for them to skip by.
To check if you have the feature, you can go to the home screen on your Sky Glass TV or Sky Stream Puck. Click 'My Sky', and then 'Your products'. You may need to get in touch with your provider to cancel the add-on and avoid being charged the extra £5 per month.
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