Sky’s NOW TV adds premium channel brands

UK satellite TV provider BSkyB has bolstered its pay-monthly OTT service NOW TV by adding ten TV channels – including Sky1, Discovery and MTV – as part of a new entertainment package.

The NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass will give users access to Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts 1, Discovery, MTV, Comedy Central, GOLD, Disney and FOX for an introductory price of £4.99 (US$8.03) per-month.

UK pay TV operator Sky said that with premieres of new seasons of Game of Thrones (pictured), The Following and Mad Men coming up on Sky Atlantic, NOW TV will be “the only place to see all the new episodes on a month-to-month, pay-as-you-go basis.”

Other shows that will be accessible as part of the package include Sky 1’s Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life, Sky Living’s Dracula, Sky Arts 1’s A Young Doctor’s Notebook & Other Stories, Sky Atlantic’s Hello Ladies and MTV’s Geordie Shore.

Additionally, the Entertainment Month Pass will give viewers access to entire box sets of shows like The Wire.

“Millions of people can now go online to watch some of the best entertainment channels, including Sky 1, Sky Atlantic and Comedy Central. NOW TV offers pay-as-you-go access to brand new episodes of home-grown British shows and the biggest and best US series for anyone with broadband,” said Gidon Katz, director of NOW TV.

The entertainment option add to the movies and sports packages Sky already offers through NOW TV, with the launch part of a planned expansion of the service.

Sky recently dropped the price of its movies package, which offers Sky Movies titles and was the first content to go live on NOW TV, from £15 to £8.99 per month. Sky Sports access on the online platform is priced at £9.99 per day.

Sky launched NOW TV last year as a way to tap into a new user base and compete against rising online players like Netflix and Amazon’s Lovefilm. Users are not tied into long-term contracts and can access Now TV across a range of devices.

Sky said that the NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass is available from today on the Now TV Box, PS3, Roku, Macs and PCs. Other supported devices will be introduced over the coming months, including iPhone, iPad, selected Android smartphones, Xbox, LG Smart TVs and selected LG media devices.