Sky TV price rise confirmed but bills may get even worse for customers

Anyone who watches premium High Definition (HD) sporting action on Sky’s NOW TV service will soon find they will have to pay a little bit more. The company has just confirmed, on its NOW website, that prices are going up from February 2023 with football, F1, cricket, golf and rugby fans facing £2 extra per month being added to their bills.

Right now, a standard Sports Membership costs £33.99 but, from next month, that will rise to £34.99 per month. Those then wanting to improve their viewing experience, via NOW’s Boost service, will also pay extra with things rising from £5 to £6 per month.

If you weren’t already aware, Boost offers advert-free viewing, full HD quality and improved audio. A Sports Membership plan includes full access to channels including Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Formula 1, Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.

Over the course of 12 months, this price rise will add a total of £24 to bills and it might not be the only hike that’s coming soon.

All the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have announced record-breaking increases with BT, Virgin, EE, Vodafone and TalkTalk confirming that things are going up by over 13 percent.

In fact, some BT users are facing whopping 14.4 percent increases which will mean a bill that’s currently £60 will rise to over £68 from March.

Sky is yet to announce exactly what it is planning on adding to bills but, if it follows its rivals, then broadband and TV users might be hit by hikes of over 10 percent.

The satellite TV firm usually announces its price news in February with the changes hitting bills in April so it’s likely that we will find out full details very soon. It’s very hard to predict what Sky’s new prices will be as, unlike BT, the firm doesn’t use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to adjust its costs. Instead, it decides how much extra customers will pay via other methods – Virgin Media has a similar way of adjusting bills with the firm announcing last week that bills will rise by an average of 13.8 percent.

CONFIRMED BROADBAND & TV RISES

BT • 10.5% CPI + 3.9% = 14.4%

EE • 10.5% CPI + 3.9% = 14.4%

Plusnet • 10.5% CPI + 3.9% = 14.4%

Vodafone • 10.5% CPI + 3.9% = 14.4%

TalkTalk • 10.5% CPI + 3.7% = 14.2%

Shell Energy • 10.5% CPI + 3% = 13.5%

Virgin Media • Average 13.8%

Although a Sky price hike won’t be welcomed, users do have something to cheer about with the TV firm recently coming out on top in the latest Ofcom report.

Sky beat all of its rivals regarding customer complaints with the company receiving the fewest moans across broadband, landlines and its TV service. At the other end of the league table was Shell, TalkTalk and Virgin Media who all scored below average.