As of July 14, Sky is completely reorganizing its channel structure in the sports segment. In addition, a new station will be available in the entertainment area at the beginning of August.
A lot will change for Sky subscribers in summer 2022. The company is launching new sports channels and a new entertainment format called Sky Showcase. For Bundesliga fans there is also a cooperation with competitor DAZN.
Five new 24-hour channels for sports fans
On July 14, several new Sky channels will start in Germany, which should be of particular interest to sports fans. All in all, Sky is reorganizing its portfolio and making a more detailed program structure available to its customers. In total, there are eight sports channels that offer content 24 hours a day. Five of them are completely new:
- Sky Sport top event (Slot 201): This channel offers selected top content for sports fans. The offer should consist of both live sporting highlights and recorded highlights, including documentaries, magazines and shows. Live content may then also run in parallel on one of the other channels.
- Sky Sports Premier League (Broadcast slot 204): After what it says was a very successful test, this channel offers content all about the English Premier League 24 hours a day. Live games, individual games, conferences, pre- and post-reporting as well as appropriate magazine and archive content are part of the program here.
- Sky Sport Mix (Broadcast slot 205): A mix of a wide variety of popular sports is offered here. We are talking about the Handball Bundesliga, the DFB Cup, the NHL and many other popular leagues. Here, too, the program contains a mixture of live transmission and recorded games as well as supplementary material.
- Sky Sports Tennis (Broadcast slot 206): The name says it all here; this channel is all about tennis. Sky is the most important contact point for tennis fans in Germany anyway. That’s why “Sky Sport Tennis” shows around the clock, among other things, the complete ATP Tour, Wimbledon and many other major tournaments.
- Sky Sports Golf (Slot 207): This channel offers a similar program, only explicitly for golf fans. Sky shows the PGA, DP World and the Ladies European Tour as well as the US Open here.
There are also the already established channels “Sky Sport Bundesliga”, “Sky Sport F1” (for motorsport fans) and “Sky Sport UHD”. All three stations will also get a new station slot in the same move. The Bundesliga remains at 202, but F1 slips to 203 and the UHD channel changes to 209. All the channels just listed are included in the Sky Bundesliga or Sky Sport packages. Customers of the new streaming service WOW can also access the offer.
The combination package from Sky and DAZN has a catch
Bundesliga fans in particular have not had it easy so far. If you want to follow all the games, you have had to subscribe to both Sky and its competitor DAZN. In the coming season, all Saturday games will also run on Sky, while DAZN will show all games on Friday and Sunday. In the long run, that was a lot of money. For comparison: With Sky, the Bundesliga subscription costs EUR 32 per month (EUR 20 in the first year). After the price increase, DAZN also demanded a handsome 24.99 euros per month in the annual subscription and 29.99 euros in the monthly cancellable tariff. In the worst-case scenario, streaming costs for sports total 60 euros per month.
In the future there will be a combination package from the two providers, which is priced at 38.99 euros per month. In addition to the Bundesliga, games from the 2nd Bundesliga and most of the Champions League games can also be seen. But be careful: This offer is only valid for new customers and only until September 30, 2022. It is also important to read the small print here. The low price is only valid for one year. Then the monthly contribution increases to 61.99 euros.
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With Sky Showcase comes a new entertainment channel
In addition to these extensive innovations in the sports area, there is also a not insignificant change in the entertainment area. Sky has announced a channel called Sky Showcase for August 4th. This should also be on the air 24/7 and be available on channel slot 100. Subscribers to Sky Q and the new streaming offer WOW (both series and films) can access it.
According to the company, the new channel is intended to be the “window into the diverse entertainment world of Sky”. While the broadcaster is traded as a replacement for Sky One in other countries, this offer will remain in Germany. Film and series fans will have even more choice on Sky in Germany in the future.
Compared to Sky One, Sky Showcase is to be set up even more broadly. A wide variety of content, from sports highlights to children’s programs and documentaries, is scheduled to run during the day. The Primetime slot is reserved for the big film and series highlights. The upcoming blockbuster format “House of the Dragon” will also run on Sky Showcase.