1. What is NOW, and how does it differ from Sky?
NOW (formerly known as Now TV) is a streaming service owned by Sky that gives you access to much of Sky's content library without a satellite dish, a set-top box, or a long-term contract. Instead of signing up for an 18-month agreement, NOW is sold through a series of rolling monthly passes covering entertainment, sport, and cinema, which you can add, remove or cancel at any time.
The appeal is straightforward: if you want Sky Sports for a single football season, or Sky Cinema for a run of new film releases, NOW lets you pay for that access on a month-by-month basis rather than committing to the full Sky TV package. It's a genuinely different product from Sky Q, Sky Stream or Sky Glass, even though it shares a parent company and much of the same underlying content.
2. How NOW's passes work
NOW is organised around separate passes for different types of content, rather than one single subscription tier covering everything. An Entertainment pass typically covers a broad range of channels and box sets similar to what you'd find in Sky's own entertainment package. A Sports pass unlocks Sky Sports' live coverage, and a Cinema pass gives access to a rotating library of films along with new releases.
Because each pass is independent, you can subscribe to just the one you actually want, for exactly as long as you want it, and cancel before your next billing date without penalty. This differs meaningfully from a traditional pay-TV contract, where cancelling early can trigger a termination charge. If you're weighing up NOW specifically because you don't want to be tied into a longer agreement, our guide to switching and cancelling explains how contract-based services compare in terms of notice periods and exit fees, most of which simply don't apply to NOW's rolling model.
3. What you need to use NOW
Unlike Sky Q, NOW doesn't involve a dish or a professional installation. It works as an app, available on smart TVs, streaming sticks, games consoles, phones and tablets, and it runs entirely over your existing home broadband or mobile data connection. This makes it a good fit for renters, people who move frequently, or anyone who simply doesn't want any new hardware installed at their property.
Because it depends entirely on your internet connection rather than a broadcast signal, the quality of your broadband matters more here than with satellite TV. If you're planning to watch live sport in high definition, particularly with several people in the household streaming at once, it's worth making sure your broadband can comfortably handle it. Our broadband deals hub is a good place to compare options if you think an upgrade might be needed.
4. NOW versus a full Sky TV contract
The obvious comparison is between NOW and Sky's own contract-based services. Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass, covered in detail in our Sky TV guide, typically include a wider range of channels, additional features like multi-room viewing, and a dedicated box or television, all wrapped into a longer fixed-term agreement. NOW trades some of that breadth and some of the extra features for the flexibility of a rolling monthly commitment.
For many households, the right answer depends on how long you expect to want the content. If you know you'll want Sky Sports for the whole football season and beyond, a full Sky contract might end up cheaper over a year or more. If you only want a specific tournament, a single series, or a particular film season, NOW's ability to subscribe and cancel on a whim is likely to save money and hassle.
5. NOW alongside other streaming services
NOW sits within a broader landscape of streaming subscriptions rather than replacing them outright. Many households run NOW's Sports or Entertainment pass alongside subscriptions to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, since each service holds different exclusive content. It's worth periodically reviewing which passes and subscriptions you're actually using, since it's easy to end up paying for several overlapping services without noticing.
If you're building out a full no-contract streaming setup rather than a traditional pay-TV package, our TV comparison guide has a broader look at how these services fit together, and where the genuine overlaps and gaps are between them.
6. Which devices work with NOW
NOW is designed to run on almost any device with an internet connection, including most modern smart TVs, streaming sticks such as those made by Roku or Amazon, games consoles, and mobile phones and tablets through a dedicated app. This broad compatibility is part of what makes it such a flexible option: you don't need to buy a specific box or piece of hardware, and if you already own a smart TV or streaming stick for other apps, NOW simply slots in alongside them.
It's worth checking the specific list of supported devices before subscribing if you're using an older television or a less common streaming stick, since app support can vary by manufacturer and model. Most mainstream devices from the last few years are supported, but it's a five-minute check that can save disappointment after you've already paid for a pass.
7. Weighing up NOW's passes against a full sports package
For sports fans in particular, it's worth doing the maths carefully before deciding between a NOW Sports pass and a full Sky Sports package through Sky Q, Stream or Glass. A rolling monthly pass can look inexpensive on a month-by-month basis, but if you know you'll want access for the entire season, and potentially year after year, a longer-term Sky contract with sports included may end up cheaper overall, particularly once any introductory pricing on NOW ends and its standard monthly rate applies.
The right choice really depends on certainty. If you're confident you'll want Sky Sports content continuously, a contract-based option is worth comparing on total annual cost. If your interest is more sporadic, tied to specific tournaments, rivalries or a single stand-out season, NOW's ability to switch on and off at will is likely to work out both cheaper and considerably less hassle.
8. Managing and cancelling NOW passes
Because NOW passes renew monthly by default, it's worth setting a reminder to review your subscriptions periodically, particularly after a specific sporting event or box set run has finished. Cancelling a pass is generally done directly through your account settings rather than requiring a phone call, which is one of the simpler cancellation processes compared with dish-based or cable TV contracts.
If you're also a Sky TV, Sky Broadband or Sky Mobile customer and are looking to leave those services rather than just adjusting a NOW pass, our step-by-step guides on cancelling Sky TV and cancelling Sky broadband and TV bundles cover the process for those longer contracts specifically.
9. Signing up, paying and switching between passes
Setting up NOW is generally done directly online or through the app, with payment taken monthly by card rather than direct debit, which is another point of difference from a traditional pay-TV or broadband contract. Because there's no credit check or lengthy application process in the way there can be with a fixed-term contract, it's usually possible to start watching within minutes of signing up, rather than waiting for an installation appointment.
Switching between passes, for example moving from an Entertainment pass to a Sports pass as the football season begins, is typically just a case of adjusting your subscription within your account rather than contacting customer service or renegotiating a contract. This flexibility is arguably NOW's single biggest advantage over every other TV option covered in this guide, and it's worth taking advantage of it rather than defaulting to a single pass out of habit if your viewing needs change throughout the year.
10. NOW for households moving home or between contracts
NOW can also be a genuinely useful stopgap for households in the middle of moving house, waiting for a new broadband connection, or between fixed-term TV contracts and not yet ready to commit to a new one. Because there's no dish, no engineer visit and no long-term agreement, it's possible to have live television and on-demand content running within minutes of arriving somewhere new, using nothing more than an existing internet connection or mobile data.
This makes NOW worth considering even for households who ultimately intend to sign up for a full Sky, Virgin Media or EE package, simply as a way of bridging the gap without going without TV entirely while waiting for an installation appointment or a new contract to begin.
11. Is NOW the right choice for you?
NOW works best for households that want access to Sky's content on their own terms, without a long-term commitment, a dish, or a dedicated box. It's particularly well suited to occasional viewers: someone who wants a single football season, a specific run of blockbuster films, or a temporary entertainment boost without altering their existing broadband or TV setup.
If you find yourself wanting NOW's content permanently, and would benefit from extras like multi-room viewing or a dedicated set-top box, it may be worth comparing the long-run cost against a full Sky TV contract instead. And if live sport isn't your priority at all, it's worth checking whether a subscription to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video covers what you actually want to watch at a lower overall cost. Our full TV guides section has further comparisons if you're still deciding.
