If you're a Sky TV consumer - there's unfortunately some bad news landing come April.
The leading satellite-TV firm have only just announced that prices will rise by 8.1 per cent when spring rolls around - which on average, will add around £5 to the monthly bills of subscribers.
However, price hikes will vary from household to household, dependant on TV bundles and extras installed - such as multiroom and 4K streaming.
Read more: Sky customers to be hit by price hikes of around £67 a year
The Express reports that Sky has confirmed that it will be writing to everyone affected next week so all users will have a clearer idea of what they will soon be paying by the end of February. Sky's price rises aren't as severe as some of its rivals with both BT and Virgin Media putting things up by over 13 percent.
However, if that 8 percent increase still sounds too much for your bank balance to cope with there is a simple trick to reduce the monthly costs. Sky's NOW streaming service currently has two big promotions which are offering new customers the chance to get Sky Cinema, Sky Entertainment and Sky Sports beamed into living rooms at a much-reduced rate.
In fact, those signing up can currently get a whole six months of movies, TV shows and box sets for just £12 per month - saving over £7. This deal even includes new blockbusters such as Top Gun: Maverick which recently arrived on Sky Cinema. Those who love football, golf and F1 can also switch on a Sky Sports Membership and pay just £25 - that's a saving of over £8.
Again, this is also a six-month deal but you can leave at any time without facing a penalty. Of course, NOW is slightly different from devices such as Sky Q as you can't record shows and there is an extra fee (£6) to view in pin-sharp HD.
If you can cope with that for six months then it will save some serious money and there's another bonus. Because you'll no longer be a Sky customer, when the NOW deal ends you can return to the satellite TV firm as a new user which should mean much cheaper prices will be available.
Most TV and broadband providers offer enticing deals for those signing on the dotted line and you may find that leaving and then returning could cut costs especially if you wait for big sale events such as Black Friday. For example, right now new Sky customers can get access to a new Stream box and free content when they sign up.
Here are the current NOW deals, as well as what is included.
NOW SPORTS MEMBERSHIP
Price: £25 a month
Saving: £9.99
Includes: Unlimited access to all 11 Sky Sports channels
Extras: One-month free Boost (worth £6) which includes HD and the option to watch on extra devices.
Contract: Six months as lower price then rises to £34.99 - leave at any time
NOW ENTERTAINMENT + CINEMA
Price: £12.99 a month
Saving: £7.98
Includes: Full access to channels such as Sky Atlantic and Sky Comedy plus all of the main Sky movie services.
Extras: 7-day free Boost (worth £6) which includes HD and the option to watch on extra devices.
Contract: Six months as lower price then rises to £19.98 - leave at any time.
SEE THE OFFER HERE
Speaking about the upcoming rise, A Sky spokesperson said: "This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We have tried to minimise the impact to customers with an average price increase across all our broadband and TV customers of 8.1 per cent, which is below levels of inflation again this year.
“Competitors’ average increase over the last two years has been nearly double Sky’s average increase over the same period.”
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