Sky shuts down bonus sports TV service after 25 years – and there are more account changes to come
A LONG-RUNNING Sky TV service has been axed from boxes this week after 25 years.
The shake-up is the latest effort by Sky to withdraw dated tech in favour of more modern kit used by the vast majority of customers.
Sky has already been busy ending SD (standard definition) broadcasts of its channels, which means some older boxes can no longer receive them.
Now the firm has reportedly shut down a once-loved sports service, Sky Sports Active.
Sky Sports Active burst onto the scene in 1999 during the height of red button bonus coverage.
Arsenal vs Manchester United was the first game to get the interactive treatment via Sky Sports 1.
The perk allowed viewers to press red on their remote to watch alternative camera angles, see on-screen match stats, as well as highlights.
But the internet has largely driven traditional red button services into obscurity today.
Sky Sports Active disappeared from satellite on Monday, according to RXTVInfo.
The move affects all Sky boxes including Sky+HD – Sky Q continues to have access to extra sport away from Sky Sports Active.
It all comes weeks after the launch of the platform’s spiritual successor, Sky Sports+.
Sky Sports+ can offer up to 100 streams at the same time and is beamed onto screens via the internet.
It’s available to Sky Sports subscribers with Sky Q, Sky Glass or Sky Stream at no extra cost.
Those with a Sky+HD or Sky HD box who wish to receive extra sports coverage will need to upgrade to one of these.
Premium greyhound racing will continue to appear on satellite for now.
PACKAGE CHANGES
Separately, Sky is also making some changes to packages on Sky Q.
The company is “phasing out” Sky Q Triple Play packages, according to ISPreview.
Existing subscribers will remain unaffected but the products are no longer available to new customers.
It’s also claimed that Sky Q-Lite may follow suit, as Sky has apparently stopped showing related products as part of their offer updates.
The fall of the Red Button
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
It only feels like yesterday you would see the Red Button for bonus content all over TV channels, including Sky and Freeview.
But now there are hardly any – and it’s mostly due to the internet.
Where sport is concerned, people don’t really need to see extra stats and highlights when they can get it much faster from their phones as they watch.
Most of the BBC’s Red Button coverage takes viewers to the iPlayer app these days.
The BBC intended to phase out its text-based Red Button service in 2020.
But the broadcaster suspended the closure after a petition, led by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK), that warned vulnerable people could be further isolated as a result.