Sky TV announce plans to charge viewers £5 for skipping adverts

With the ad-skipping pack, Sky Go and Sky Stream viewers will be subjected to the monthly charge unless they opt out.

5th Dec 2022

Sky will charge its customers £5 if they fast forward through adverts from this month, the broadcaster announced.

With the company’s ad-skipping pack, Sky Go and Sky Stream viewers will be subjected to the monthly charge unless they opt out of the scheme from December 1.

Those who opt out will be unable to skip commercial breaks on live channels, and will also have to watch all sponsored videos when using catch-up apps like ITVX, as well as when watching via the Playlists menu.

In a statement, Sky said: “With the Ad Skipping Add On, you’ll be able to fast forward through adverts when using Live Pause, Restart, Playlist or Sky On Demand.

“The Ad Skipping pack doesn’t mean that you won’t see any adverts.

“It just lets you fast forward through the ads using the relevant remote control buttons and on screen menu for what you’re watching. It doesn’t fast forward ads in Live TV or other TV apps, like YouTube or Spotify.”

Anyone who recently bought Sky Glass TV will avoid paying anything extra for at least the next 18 months.

The firm initially announced the controversial Ad Skipping charge last year, making it one of several platforms to introduce fees designed to crack down on ad skipping.

ITVX charges £5.99 and All4 charges £3.99 to customers wishing to skip ad breaks.