Home
 » ISP News » 
Sponsored Links

Sky Stream Box Briefly Gains Option to Add Terrestrial UK TV Channels UPDATE

Tuesday, Jan 14th, 2025 (8:17 am) - Score 6,320
Sky-Stream-Logo-and-Box-UK

Some customers of Sky’s broadband-based Sky Stream TV devices (puck) have, over the past week, noticed the surprise addition of a new “TV Input” App that appears to activate the previously unused TV aerial port (tuner) on the back of the box – making it possible to add terrestrial Freeview channels via the old-fashioned method. But it may only be temporary.

Until now, the Sky Stream boxes have been purely focused upon the delivery of broadband based TV streaming (hence the name), which has allowed Sky’s customers to access the company’s vast array of TV content and channels without needing to hook-up either a satellite dish or TV aerial (i.e. it all comes via a WiFi or wired link to your broadband router).

In fact, the aerial port has remained deactivated in the UK and was largely believed to be a feature intended for customers in a different country. But all that changed last week after customers on Sky’s Community Forum began to notice the addition of a new “TV Input” App (note: Sky Glass TV’s already have a similar option).

Advertisement

The feature, as currently implemented, seems to be a bit unusual for Sky Stream because even the new App will become useless when your internet connection goes down, which removes its worth as a backup option during broadband outages (although Sky could change how it works in the future). Not to mention that most people will already be able to revert to their existing TV’s aerial and internal tuner during such connectivity outages.

The TV Input App also only picks up the digital channels (i.e. no data/streaming channels) and appears to be a largely isolated experienced on the device (i.e. it doesn’t integrate with the TV Guide or Home Screen etc.). Not to mention the lack of recording functionality (PVR) on the pucks with this App, which is another drawback.

However, not everybody can see the new App, and yesterday it disappeared again for many of those who found themselves able to access it. At present, it’s not known why the App appeared in the first place (error or early trial), although Sky’s support agents continue to state that the device doesn’t support such a feature. We’re currently asking Sky to clarify.

UPDATE 09:03am

Advertisement

Sky has confirmed to ISPreview that the Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) function was briefly turned on for Sky Stream in error, but was quickly rectified and turned off again. This is partly related to the fact that Sky Glass already has the same feature and the two platforms share the same underlying Entertainment OS software platform.

Share with Twitter
Share with Linkedin
Share with Facebook
Share with Reddit
Share with Pinterest
Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and .
Search ISP News
Search ISP Listings
Search ISP Reviews
Comments
8 Responses

Advertisement

  1. Avatar photo Roberts83 says:

    Something that I hope is not in error and has been going on for the past week is that some channels are viewable on the UK if you check for xumo play.

    Possibly something to do with the big news coming next month to compete with Pluto TV?

  2. Avatar photo mike says:

    Has anyone tried one of these outside the UK behind a travel router connected to their Tailscale network with their home as the exit node? Just wondering if I can make one work for a few months abroad.

    1. Avatar photo jimmy says:

      yep works no issue

    2. Avatar photo mike says:

      Amazing, thank you. I might get one.

  3. Avatar photo Sam Perry says:

    It’s a shame but I guess they have to keep us in the walled garden somehow.. gone are the days of freesat. You have to pay for even free channels which is so wrong and in surprised ofcom allow it.

    1. Avatar photo Anonymous says:

      Brown envelopes speak policy and approvals.

  4. Avatar photo Andrew says:

    Meanwhile IPTV services been great way to watch TV

  5. Avatar photo X Sky customer says:

    Typical $ky.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear instantly (it may take several hours) due to static caching and moderation checks by the anti-spam system. Please be patient. We will reject comments that spam, troll, post via known fake IP/proxy servers or fall foul of our Online Safety and Content Policy.
Javascript must be enabled to post (most browsers do this automatically)

Privacy Notice: Please note that news comments are anonymous, which means that we do NOT require you to enter any real personal details to post a message. By clicking to submit a post you agree to storing your entries for comment content, display name, IP and email in our database, for as long as the post remains live.

Only the submitted name and comment will be displayed in public, while the rest will be kept private (we will never share this outside of ISPreview, regardless of whether the data is real or fake). This comment system uses submitted IP, email and website address data to spot abuse and spammers. All data is transferred via an encrypted (https secure) session.
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £23.50
132Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £25.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £19.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £19.00
300Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: First 3 Months Free
toob UK ISP Logo
toob £22.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £23.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6145)
  2. BT (3690)
  3. Politics (2772)
  4. Business (2478)
  5. Openreach (2445)
  6. Building Digital UK (2361)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2197)
  8. FTTC (2094)
  9. Statistics (1948)
  10. 4G (1854)
  11. Virgin Media (1810)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1613)
  13. Fibre Optic (1489)
  14. Wireless Internet (1477)
  15. 5G (1451)
Promotion
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms , Privacy and Cookie Policy , Links , Website Rules , Contact
Mastodon