Can I get Sky Stream TV only without Sky broadband?

Dan Howdle • November 13th, 2023

Unlike Virgin Media, Sky has always offered its own service solo in some way. Sky began life as, and remains first and foremost, a TV provider. But it's now moving away from satellite TV in favour of promoting its internet streaming TV service: Sky Stream.

And like its satellite TV service, it's happy to offer Sky Stream on its own, albeit requiring a broadband connection from 'a' provider of at least 25Mbps. But saying 'sure, you can get Sky Stream on its own' is only half the story. There are reasons for considering a Sky broadband and TV bundle, reasons to opt for Sky Q instead, and some important things to be aware of when it comes either to being able to watch specific channels, or watching Sky Stream on multiple screens.

Pros and cons

Here's a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of getting Sky Stream on its own, without a broadband deal from Sky.

Advantages of Sky Stream on its own

Here's a more detailed look at the avantages of getting Sky Stream without Sky Broadband.

Cheapest way to get Sky TV

Sky Stream is the cheapest way to get the full Sky TV service. We're not going to include NOW TV in that statement because it's not only incredibly cut down compared to Sky Stream (40+ TV channels versus 150+), but it's also of far lower quality in pure audiovisual terms. It is dramatically cheaper than Sky Q (satellite), while NOW TV really only serves to provide a means to dip in and binge one or two shows then dip out again, provided you don't mind quite low quality video. We wouldn't use it for anything else.

Here's a look at how the various ways to get Sky TV compare on pricing and features:

Prices correct at the time of writing and may vary over time. See below for latest deals

You can have Sky Stream without a contract

This is by our reckoning one of the best features of Sky Stream as a subscription proposition. Despite being entirely its own thing, it has had to recognise that as a streaming service it's in competition with the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and so on. With that recognition it has had to concede it cannot universally tie customers into 18-month contracts.

Of course, Sky still wants you to join with an 18-month contract and therefore doing so is a few quid less per month than if you sign up on the basis you can cancel anytime with 31 days' notice. Whether or not you choose contract or no contract will come down to your own feelings on the longevity of your subscription. For anyone planning to catch up on a year or two's worth of Sky and HBO TV shows and then get out, the no contract option is just the ticket.

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Easy, fast installation

There has never been an easier or faster way to get Sky's full subscription TV service. If you sign up for Sky Stream today, you can be watching it tomorrow. It's that fast. Just compare it for one second to Sky's traditional satellite TV offering (Sky Q) purely on the basis of time and hassle to get the service up and running in your home.

Disadvantages of Sky Stream on its own

Now let's take a look at some of the potential downsides if you opt for Sky Stream on its own without Sky Broadband.

Bundles add value

This is the number one thing you will want to consider if you're thinking of getting Sky Stream on its own. Sky Stream bundled with Sky Broadband is always going to be cheaper than getting the two services separately. Of course, theoretically, if you have a super-duper-cheap deal on your broadband currently, comparing the price of what you pay now versus a Sky bundle might yield a result showing there's not much in it, but for most people, bundling will be cheaper.

And perhaps you're not in a position to swap out your current broadband deal because you're still in-contract. In that case it will certainly be more expensive in most cases to leave and switch to a Sky bundle than it would be to pay the small premium for getting Sky Stream on its own.

To get a flavour of what you might be paying for a Sky Stream and Sky Broadband bundle here are Sky's current most popular bundle deals:

Multiroom gets expensive fast

This quite different to Sky Q. Sky has always offered dare we say the most obtuse and expensive means of watching Sky TV on TVs throughout your home, and Sky Stream is somewhat different, with Sky insisting additional boxes (in this case additional Sky Stream Pucks) be added, each with a setup cost of £39.95 for each Puck you add after the first additional Puck (first additional Puck is free), but thereafter only asking an additional £12 per month to subscribe to 'Sky Whole Home'. There is no additional monthly rental fee for each Puck added, which is something at least. Here's how that looks:

*Prices correct at the time of writing and may vary over time. See below for latest deals

You can have up to five additional Pucks (though that'd be a pretty crazy household), but the Pucks remain Sky property, and the moment you cease your subscription you'll be expected to ship them back to Sky or face a penalty.

The best way to to this would be to instead have a Sky Stream app you can use on other devices like smart TVs, competitor streaming sticks, games consoles, laptops and so on, with a fee for using the Sky Stream service on additional devices, but no. Sky is insistant on sticking with the one-TV-one-box model of old. Make of that what you will.

More providers means added complexity

If you wish to continue getting your broadband from a different provider (to Sky) and subscribe to Sky Stream that's perfectly doable. Sky puts no restriction on whose broadband service you must be subscribing to in order to receive Sky Stream, unlike Virgin Media where it's their way or the highway.

However, the more providers you have for your services, the more complex things are likely to be, especially if something goes wrong in the interaction between your broadband and your TV service. Just something to consider.

Sky Stream on its own versus a Sky Stream and Sky Broadband bundle

As alluded to further up the page, on the one hand there may be very good reasons why you're not currently considering a Sky broadband and TV bundle that includes Sky Stream – not least of which if you're mid-contract with another broadband provider, making switching to Sky economically dim-witted.

If that's the situation you find yourself in, you can skip this section. We're absolutely not going to attempt to talk you into leaving a contract that's stil running. It never makes sense. However, if you're out of contract and your primary reason for wanting to go for a Sky Stream-only deal rather than a Sky bundle, we've put together this custom price comparison for you perusal. It shows the cost of a typical fibre broadband deal plus a Sky Stream subscription versus simply taking out the equivalent bundle with Sky.

*Prices correct at time of writing, but may vary over time

Channels on Sky Stream

We have a very detailed guide on specifically which channels you'll get on Sky Stream at the basic 'Entertainment' subscription level, so we needn't go into channel-by-channel detail here. There are just a few things to be aware of in more general terms when comparing Sky Stream's channel count with the Sky Q satellite service, or with any other streaming service:

• No single-channel subscriptions: Channels that require an individual subscription such as MUTV, adult channels and so on are not supported yet on Sky Stream
• There are no 'SD' channels on Sky Stream: Standard definition channels are gone and it's about time. That's good news unless you're still watching on a mid-90s CRT television. Everything on Sky Stream is HD or better
• There are no +1 timeshift channels: Timeshifted versions of other channels are no more

Conclusion

It is a huge advantage to Sky Stream as a service that you can sign up without having to suscribe to any other services. You just need a broadband connection of 25Mbps or greater. You don't need a satellite dish. Likewise that you can get Sky Stream without and contract, and indeed that you can be up and running with it the next day after signing up. These facets represent the removal of important barriers that previously existed when it came to getting Sky TV.

On the other hand, as you can see from the table further up the page, it can be a lot more expensive to get Sky Stream while getting your broadband from another provider. BT, for example, at the time of writing, was asking for the same monthly subscription fee for its Fibre 2 broadband on its own than Sky was asking for a similar-speed package that includes Sky Stream and Netflix. Get a bundle if you can, and if you can't, get Sky Stream anyway.

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