I genuinely believe that if Sky intends to remain a serious player in broadcasting, it urgently needs to invest in a substantial expansion of streaming channels, not just on Sky Glass and Sky Stream in the UK, but also across Sky Q and Sky’s entire UK & Ireland footprint.
After checking the figures, Sky currently carries 451 television and radio channels on its satellite EPG across the UK and Ireland (excluding regional and advertising variations). That total includes all HD, SD, and +1 versions where applicable. However, if you remove the SD duplicates where HD versions exist, the count drops to 384.
With that in mind, Sky could quite feasibly reorganise its lineup by allocating channels 101–500 for satellite services and reserving 501–999 for streaming-only channels.
Such a move would not only tidy up the structure but also future-proof the platform, allowing streaming to expand naturally as satellite broadcasting inevitably declines.
With news of the MTV music channels closing, and recalling the iconic slogan “I want my MTV!” . One could easily adapt it for Sky: “I want my Sky!” , and hope that sentiment continues to resonate for many years to come.
Sky need to do something, and quickly, before they fizzle out like ITV Digital did.
