Sky Digital is the UK's provider of satellite TV - to receive it you need a satellite dish on the outside of your house and a Sky Digibox (a digital satellite TV receiver) inside. Once you have this you can take advantage of fantastic Sky TV deals, with phone and broadband combined - click on one of the options below to find out more.
Deal Alert!
At the moment you get a £25 voucher for Marks and Spencer when you subscribe to Sky+ online, and all Sky+HD online subscriptions come with a FREE £50 voucher for M&S! Standard set-up for Sky is normally £30 but is currently free with all HD packages.
Sky+ TV, broadband and calls £19 a month. Get the Sky+ Box FREE with £30 set-up, up to 2MB broadband and free evening and weekend calls.
Get the amazing HD box FREE and have fantastic HD quality for as little as £29 a month - click below for this great deal. Includes broadband and Sky Talk Freetime.
Movies in high definition, 850 different movies a month, Free Sky+HD box, HD pack with wide choice of HD channels - all this for £46 a month - click below for details of this offer.
Record and pause live TV with the Sky+HD Box, choose one Entertainment Pack plus Sky Sports! - over 100 sports with exclusive live coverage. What a fantastic package.
Sky TV deals vary from basic, which is actually hundreds of TV and radio channels (including Sky One for popular new dramas like Lost) up to Sky HD for high definition digital picture quality. Whichever service you opt for you can always add extras like premium movie or sports channels, and remember Sky also provide a landline phone service and broadband so the potential for great deals is endless!
Sky TV has around 98% coverage in the UK so most people will be able to get it, although if you live in a listed building or communal flats you should check whether you are allowed to have the dish installed.
There are Sky TV deals for everyone, from news to the arts to music channels like MTV, TMF, Bliss, Q, VH1 and Kerrang, and educational channels such as Discovery, National Geographic, and the History Channel. More about Sky TV packages here.
If you're looking for a digital satellite TV receiver in the lead up to the digital switchover but are worried about ease of use, Sky have the answer - the Sky+ Remote Control Easy Grip. In fact Sky as a provider have taken care to ensure it's service is accessible to all - the Easy Grip has a choice of 2 battery doors, a textured one or a hand strap option (shown in the picture) to help those with dexterity impediments, as well as larger and bolder graphics for the visually impaired. The remote, which was designed in conjunction with Age Concern and Ricability, also has buttons with raised contours and more reference points for easy identification - both options cost £19.99 (+ £3.50 post and packing).
Sky based a lot of their research on figures from the 2001 Census Family Resource Survey, which said that over 10.3 million adults who live in their own homes had reported difficulties lifting and carrying objects due to reduced manual dexterity and general mobility problems. They also took into account the fact that there are now over 20 million people in the UK aged 60 or over. As Kay Allen, Disability Affairs Manager of Public Affairs at Sky said: "Sky is the first UK broadcaster to launch an inclusive remote control that specifically addresses problems some viewers have operating their TV remote. Sky+ Remote Control - Easy Grip adds yet another exclusive feature to our range of accessibility services, bringing us another step closer to making Sky the most user-friendly TV service in the world."
Since 2005 Sky have had 2 channels on Sky Box Office dedicated to hard of hearing and visually impaired - channel 738 features signed movies and 739 is dedicated to narrative films with audio description. The company employs a team of six qualified interpreters as their Sign Language Team, and provides sign language on the following channels:-
Sky Movies
Sky News (Sunday)
Sky One
Sky Two
Sky Three
Sky Sports News (Saturday)
Sky Travel (various times)
While Sky has been providing in-vision sign language since 2000, it is now regulated by the 2003 Communications Act, which recognised British Sign Language as a language in it's own right (with more users than the Welsh language!). The Sky Sign Language team is made up of 6 qualified interpreters who provide signing to go with live shows and pre-recorded broadcasts.