How I save money on Sky TV

Streaming services, TV boxes and other subscriptions have all taken a huge hit due to the cost of living crisis crunching down on bills. It goes without saying that everyone loves watching TV and streaming movies, so giving up these things is almost impossible for a lot of us.

Rather than cancelling every ‘non-essential’ item or subscription that you have in a bid to save money, I’ve got you covered with some handy tips on how to cut down on your monthly outgoings. I’ve extensively covered how to save money on streaming services and now I’m focusing on how to save money on TV, specifically Sky TV.

Provided and run by Sky, Sky TV has every channel, app, sport, film, series, Originals and other TV features that you could possibly want. With plenty of package options to choose from, you can completely customise your TV experience with Sky TV.

I’ve been a Sky TV user for a few years now and really enjoy the experience, mainly because of the simple benefits like recording, pausing, skipping and downloading series on-demand from the apps and streaming services that come with it. However, alongside my streaming services, broadband and mobile plans and other household bills, I’ve been looking for ways to keep the price of my Sky TV package down.

If you’re a Sky TV user or you’re considering signing up, here are 5 ways to save money on your Sky TV subscription, including bundle deals and cutting channels.

1. Decide which Sky TV package you want

My first tip is to decide which Sky TV package is going to work for you, your lifestyle and how you watch TV. With Sky TV, there are 6 options to choose from: Sky Q, Sky TV & Netflix / Sky Q, Sky TV, Netflix & Sky Sports / Sky Q, Sky TV, Netflix & Cinema / Sky Q, Sky Sports & BT Sports / Sky Q, Sky TV, Netflix & Kids / Make it your own. With Sky TV, Netflix comes as standard so if you’re an existing Netflix user, you can add it on to your Sky TV package. See the best Sky deals for more information on prices and features.

When signing up for Sky TV, I’d suggest looking into all the channels, features and options available in each bundle and decide the value of each one. For example, if you want to keep your package simple and pay at the lowest price, I’d recommend the Sky Q, Sky TV and Netflix package for £26 a month. It’s the cheapest plan and still gives you access to tons of apps and other streaming, including Peacock, YouTube and more, plus you can add your Amazon Prime and Disney+ accounts on too.

2. Bundle Sky TV with Sky broadband

As Sky offers TV, broadband and mobile plans, a handy way to save money is to bundle Sky TV with Sky broadband. Personally, this is what I do as it keeps both bills down and in one place. Most of the time, you can also find discounted prices when you buy both Sky TV and Sky broadband together. For example, earlier in 2022, you could get 6 months of Sky broadband for free when you signed up for Sky Q, Sky TV, Netflix and Superfast Broadband.

3. Cut the channels you don’t use

If you’re already a Sky TV user, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate the channels you use. For example, if you’re signed up to Sky Cinema but you don’t use it, you can downgrade your Sky TV plan which massively reduces how much you’re spending each month and annually. If you use streaming services, it’s also a good idea to choose these to watch movies on rather than Sky Cinema as it’s not as expensive. If you want sports channels, you can pick between the Sky Q, Sky TV, Netflix & Sky Sports and the Sky Q, Sky Sports & BT Sports packages. The former is £46 whereas the latter is more expensive at £65. Of course, you can find sports on normal TV channels like BBC or ITV so if you don’t use them, switch to a different plan to save more money.

4. Check out Sky deals

Before you sign up for anything, you should always have a look around for deals and the same goes with Sky TV. There are Sky deals on multiple package options which are available each month, especially during seasonal sales like Christmas or Black Friday. These deals are also across TV, TV & Broadband, Broadband and Mobile.

Similar to the Sky TV and Superfast Broadband deal mentioned above, you can currently get Q Lite for £30, which includes Fibre Broadband and the Sky Q box which has over 250 Freeview channels. If you decide to make your own TV package, you can find specific channels and categories at discounted prices, for example, Sky Sports is now £20 as an add-on (previously £32) and Sky Cinema was £19 and is now £12 to add-on.

5. Cancel for streaming services

Finally, if you feel you’re not using any Sky channels but are instead primarily using streaming services, why not cancel or downgrade your Sky TV plan and prioritise your streaming. Netflix is included in all Sky TV plans and you can add other apps including paid services like Prime Video and Disney+.

NOW TV is a streaming service owned by Sky where you can find all Sky movies, sports and series through the NOW TV plans. If you want to save extra money, you could cancel Sky in favour of NOW TV which will be cheaper in the long-run. Alternatively, you can use Pluto TV, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4 and My5 which are all free. For more details, see the best streaming service deals.