Price, content and features of the new subscription

By Rita Deutschbein | Jul 20, 2023 at 1:39 p.m

Sky announced changes to its subscription structure at the end of June. The previous ad-free offers will be renamed to Wow Premium. At the same time, the provider announced advertising-financed subscriptions. The latter are now available and a first glance shows that new customers sometimes face higher costs.

Advertising subscription from Sky is quite expensive in comparison

It is not surprising that Sky is now also offering advertising-financed subscriptions. Some streaming providers have already taken this step. For example, Netflix offers its advertising subscription for 4.99 euros per month and Disney+ is also planning advertising-financed access. If you look around the market, such subscriptions usually cost around 5 euros – a reasonable price. With Sky, however, this is higher.

Back in June, when we announced Wow Premium, we speculated about what the subscription with Sky advertising could cost in the future. We assumed that the basic costs would not change. Since Wow Premium means an additional charge of 5 euros per month, the costs for the series package should have been 4.99 euros, since the regular price was previously 9.99 euros. But Sky sets a different price range. New customers who book Sky’s advertising-financed series subscription pay EUR 7.99 per month. It is cheaper if you commit yourself to the provider for a few months and choose the so-called 6-month subscription. Here the costs are then 5.99 euros per month.

What does the Sky and Wow promotional subscription include?

With the advertising-financed Wow subscription, customers not only see advertising, they also have to forego some of the advantages that Sky has transferred to the premium package. This includes streaming in Full HD, Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and up to two streams at the same time.

If you don’t want to do without it or don’t want to see any advertising, you will have to book Wow series with Premium on Sky in the future. There is an additional charge of 5 euros per month. This results in costs of EUR 12.99 or EUR 10.99 in a 6-month subscription – significantly more than the previous EUR 9.99 per month.

The live sports package is also more expensive. As before, Sky advertises it for EUR 29.99 per month or as an annual subscription for EUR 24.99 per month. At first glance, everything seems the same. But here, too, subscribers only get the full benefits without advertising if they book Premium. This results in additional costs of 5 euros per month, which, calculated over the year, means at least 60 euros.

However, the price for the popular subscription to films and series has remained unchanged. This previously cost EUR 14.98 per month and is still available at this price with a premium surcharge. If Sky users accept advertising, they get the Wow offer even cheaper: Wow films and series cost 9.98 euros per month, the 6-month subscription is even available for 7.98 euros.

Also read: Sky introduces a long-awaited innovation in streaming

The new Wow prices with and without advertising at a glance

Will the prices for existing customers change?

As early as June, Sky told TECHBOOK that the subscription conditions for existing customers will remain unchanged with the introduction of Premium. This was confirmed to us by a Sky spokesman when we asked again. “Existing customers automatically receive an upgrade to Wow Premium at no additional cost. Otherwise, nothing will change in your subscription,” the statement said. You therefore continue to pay the same monthly fee as before, as long as you do not terminate your contract. “Existing Wow customers will receive an automatic upgrade to Wow Premium in addition to their Wow subscription over the next few weeks so that they can continue to experience the best streaming offer,” says Sky.

Sky shows so much advertising in the new Wow subscriptions

If you are wondering whether you should book Wow from Sky with or without advertising, you also want to know how much advertising you can expect. Overall, the fade-ins are moderate, as Sky told us when asked. “New customers of the basic subscription (entertainment and sport) see advertising in front of the content in two blocks,” said a spokesman. The blocks are each 30 seconds long and contain commercial advertising from third parties on the one hand and a preview of Sky’s own content on the other. According to the provider, this is a generally accepted length for pre-rolls, which makes it possible to reduce the subscription price. Subscribers therefore do not have to worry about commercial breaks within films and series.