Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media

[mibbo]

I get my Broadband and TV from Virgin Media. I want to access Sky Atlantic and Virgin helpdesk said that since I have Sky Sports and Sky movies in my package then I should be able to add Sky Atlantic if I contact Sky. Has anyone been down this route and was it successful?

[Chrisee]

@mibbo Sky Atlantic is only available on Sky's own services or via their Now TV service. The latter is easier as you can stream it via the app on many TVs or streaming sticks see https://www.nowtv.com

[MrbeanZ]

You have to do via now tv.

[caesarome]

@MrbeanZ 

As you are not a Sky TV customer then you only option is via NowTV as what Virgin told you is incorrect as you can do just subscribe to Sky TV for the one channel.

[mibbo]

ok, sounds like i was given duff info, it didn't sound right at the time which is why I put the question out there

thanks to all who replied

M

[Timelord2018]

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , they should be on a Sky One branded linear channel instead, they gave up mentioning it in Sky group press releases months ago 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Timelord2018 wrote:

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , 

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" What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/sky-hbo-max-uk-launch-business-as-usual 

Not sure I believe the argument that Originals are worth more to Sky than the HBO catalogue though (apart from perhaps Chernobyl and Brassic)

[Chrisee]

@TimmyBGood interesting article here https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/hbo-max-sets-uk-launch-date/ which deals with the propsed sale of Warner Dicovery to one of the 3 bidders who are Netflix, Paramount and Comcast and the likely impact on Sky. 

[BenJoBanjo]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@Timelord2018 wrote:

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , 

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" What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/sky-hbo-max-uk-launch-business-as-usual 

Not sure I believe the argument that Originals are worth more to Sky than the HBO catalogue though (apart from perhaps Chernobyl and Brassic)

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I agree, though they're really trying to push their big Originals as something special.

I was at the premiere of Amadeus the other night at the fancy Odeon Luxe Dolby Cinema in Leicester Square. The entire venue was booked out for it - nearly 800 seats, popcorn for all, drinks, red carpet, the works.

It costs upwards of £30K to hire that place, they had a live orchestra playing Mozart before the screening, and the cast came on stage to introduce it so they are throwing money at it.

Whether or not it'll be worth it or not remains to be seen. I can't give my opinion because reviews are embargoed until December 15th...  

[Timelord2018]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

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@Timelord2018 wrote:

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , 

---

" What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/sky-hbo-max-uk-launch-business-as-usual 

Not sure I believe the argument that Originals are worth more to Sky than the HBO catalogue though (apart from perhaps Chernobyl and Brassic)

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I don't either 

Netflix has entered exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros Streaming & Studios (Warner Bros Studio, HBO, HBO Max, DC, does this include the International Sports Offering ?),. When that would get approved if at all is another matter, Paramount have hinted at going to direct to shareholders (for the whole company)

 HBO Max will still launch in the UK & Ireland between 25th and 31st March regardless, head of HBO confirmed the launch for 'late March"

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@Timelord2018 wrote:

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

---

@Timelord2018 wrote:

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , 

---

" What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/sky-hbo-max-uk-launch-business-as-usual 

Not sure I believe the argument that Originals are worth more to Sky than the HBO catalogue though (apart from perhaps Chernobyl and Brassic)

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I don't either 

Netflix has entered exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros Streaming & Studios (Warner Bros Studio, HBO, HBO Max, DC, does this include the International Sports Offering ?),. When that would get approved if at all is another matter, Paramount have hinted at going to direct to shareholders (for the whole company)

 HBO Max will still launch in the UK & Ireland between 25th and 31st March regardless, head of HBO confirmed the launch for 'late March"

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Well, the exclusive talks didn't last long. The deal with Netflix has been agreed.

Despite the regulatory approval likly requiring some time, its still feasible that HBO Max doesn't launch in March, as it starts to become an added cost if Netflix will just immediately close it and move all the content over to Netflix.

[BenJoBanjo]

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

---

@Timelord2018 wrote:

---

@TimmyBGood wrote:

---

@Timelord2018 wrote:

Doesn't offer much of a selling point anymore, not sure Sky Originals is it , 

---

" What we have seen is that the majority of the titles on Sky that have performed and customers have responded to are Sky Originals. That is incredibly fortunate for us in terms of the shows that we’ve been asked from the business and the audiences to continue making,” Lyvers said. “So our mantra is business as usual, which is we’re going to continue our strategy, we’re going to keep making the shows and keep delivering what we have been for the last couple of years.”

https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/sky-hbo-max-uk-launch-business-as-usual 

Not sure I believe the argument that Originals are worth more to Sky than the HBO catalogue though (apart from perhaps Chernobyl and Brassic)

---

I don't either 

Netflix has entered exclusive talks to acquire Warner Bros Streaming & Studios (Warner Bros Studio, HBO, HBO Max, DC, does this include the International Sports Offering ?),. When that would get approved if at all is another matter, Paramount have hinted at going to direct to shareholders (for the whole company)

 HBO Max will still launch in the UK & Ireland between 25th and 31st March regardless, head of HBO confirmed the launch for 'late March"

---

Well, the exclusive talks didn't last long. The deal with Netflix has been agreed.

Despite the regulatory approval likly requiring some time, its still feasible that HBO Max doesn't launch in March, as it starts to become an added cost if Netflix will just immediately close it and move all the content over to Netflix.

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I think they'll go ahead with the UK launch of HBO Max in March - it'll take months to work out the legalities of what goes where and for how long in terms of content. Netflix already have their own slate of commissions, as do HBO/Warner so they need to finalise those first of all, then it'll be a question of what gets made under which banner. Both Netflix and HBO have their own prestige in the industry, so it'll have to be decided if the HBO name is to be killed off (unlikely) or whether they will continue to exist as separate entities, owned by the one company. 

What it does do is open up a lot of possibilities for other TV service providers who, like Sky, bundle Netflix in with their own service. Both Virgin and EE do it, so this potentially opens up the possibility of those services getting access to the previously Sky-exclusive HBO content without their customers having to sign up to HBO Max independently. 

It'll take a lot of lengthy negotiation and discussion to keep everyone happy, particularly with existing carriage agreements in place, but in a year's time it'll be very interesting to see where we're at and how much we're paying for everything. 

HBO Max Premium is not cheap. Netflix Premium is cheaper. Bundle them together and it could be that everyone is in for a significantly larger Netflix bill... 

[TimmyBGood]

Asked whether HBO should remain a separate streaming service, co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix believed the HBO brand was important for consumers, but added: "We think it's quite early to get into the specifics of how we're going to tailor this offering for consumers."

Netflix estimates it will find $2bn to $3bn in savings, mostly through eliminating overlaps in the support and technology areas of the businesses.