Best offers on Sky Cinema

Sky TV is the best place to watch Sky Cinema as they include Paramount+, Premiere+1, offer full 1080p HD as standard, and bundle free Vue cinema tickets every month.

Customers living in a Virgin Media enabled area can access the Sky Cinema pack through Flex with an additional 10% bill credit offer, as well as in TV 360 bundles.

BT customers can also access Sky Cinema through NOW Memberships in TV and broadband bundles and as an add-on to their existing service.

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At a glance: Best Sky Cinema offers

The best offers for Sky Cinema vary from time to time, but usually involve money off for an introductory period, or even the length of the minimum term.

The best offers for new customers signing up to a Sky Cinema bundle include:

Sky are currently offering the Sky Cinema pack for just £8 per month with Stream. Customers get the channels in full 1080p HD, can record live shows, and get Paramount+ bundled for free too, which is worth an extra £6.99 per month.

Sky TV also includes content in addition to the Sky Cinema pack - Sky Entertainment customers get over 150 channels, with more than 30,000 shows to watch, as well as a subscription to Netflix.

At the end of last year, Sky also added two free Vue cinema tickets every month for Sky Cinema customers as an extra perk.

It's also possible to bundle Sky broadband with Sky TV and Sky Cinema, with further reductions pricing broadband from just £17 extra per month.

Those who sign up to TalkTalk broadband can also add Sky Cinema via a NOW Membership currently reduced to just £7 per month for 12 months (plus the £5/mth TalkTalk TV fee). It's possible to cancel the TV plan at any time, and includes NOW Boost so Sky Cinema is in full 1080p HD as standard.

Other special offers available on Sky Cinema this month include Virgin Media's Bigger Bundle + Movies free for the first 3 months for Black Friday, while customers taking BT Big Entertainment and full fibre broadband can claim a £50 BT Reward Card and free setup.

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Where is best to watch Sky Cinema?

The Sky Cinema pack is available to customers through Sky, Virgin Media, BT and TalkTalk:

• 11 live movie channels
• 1000+ films on-demand
• The latest blockbuster releases
• Exclusive content from Sky Originals

These benefits are the same whichever pay TV provider a customer chooses. However, there are other differences which may either not be available, or may incur further costs:

• Sky TV exclusively bundle Paramount+ for free (worth £6.99 per month)
• Sky also have an extra Premiere+1 channel
• Sky provide Cinema customers with two free Vue cinema tickets every month
• Sky and Virgin Media offer Sky Cinema in full 1080p HD
• BT and TalkTalk customers can access Sky Cinema through NOW Memberships
• BT customers will get Sky Cinema in 720p HD, while full HD costs £6 more
• TalkTalk customers get NOW Boost, so Sky Cinema is in HD as standard
• TalkTalk customers can't record live programmes, and downloading is restricted to iOS or Android smartphones and tablets

Overall, taking Sky Cinema from Sky directly offers the best features and arguably the best value for money. It's also possible to take Sky TV without bundling broadband, although doing so can save more than taking services separately.

However, because customers also have to take the standard Sky TV pack, it's not ultimately the cheapest way to watch Sky Cinema.

For those on a budget, NOW offers the absolute cheapest way to watch Sky Cinema, but customers should be aware features and viewing quality are more limited.

For example, if customers want to watch Sky Cinema in full HD, they'll end up paying more than those watching through Sky TV.

Here's a quick rundown of the main differences between each TV platform:

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Sky Cinema on Sky

Sky Cinema is available with any Sky TV package, on Sky Stream or Sky Glass.

Sky Stream and Glass customers currently pay just £8 on a 24-month contract, or £10 for a rolling monthly contract and more flexibility. While existing Sky Q customers can get Sky Cinema, it now costs more than on Sky Stream and Glass.

Sky Cinema on Sky includes the following benefits:

• All 11 Sky Cinema channels in full 1080p HD
• An additional, exclusive, Premiere+1 channel
• Paramount+ included at no extra cost (worth £6.99)
• Two free Vue cinema tickets every month

Paramount+ is supported on the new Sky Stream Puck box, Sky Glass, and Sky Q box. Sky is the only pay TV provider to bundle Paramount+ with Sky Cinema, although Virgin Media added support for the app in May 2023.

Paramount+ includes hundreds of films from Paramount Pictures, CBS and Showtime, giving a wider range of movies and shows to Sky Cinema customers at no extra cost.

Sky Cinema deals for new customers include:

Sky Stream versus Sky Q

There are a few differences between the Sky Cinema pack on Sky Stream and Sky Q.

Customers who take Sky Stream or Sky Glass have more options, with the ability to choose between a 24-month term and a one month rolling contract. The shorter contract option costs £2 to £3 more per month, but gives customers much more flexibility on what they watch.

Sky Q customers on the other hand, can only take Sky Cinema on a 24-month contract. Sky Q also has a higher out of contract price for Sky Cinema of £19 per month.

Sky Stream and Glass don't have physical storage for recordings and downloads like the Sky Q box does, which means while they can add live programmes to a 'Playlist', they'll only be able to watch these while they remain available on the cloud.

Sky Q recordings on the other hand are stored on the customer's box, so will remain available until a customer chooses to delete them.

Sky TV and broadband

It's also possible to bundle Sky TV with Sky broadband for extra savings compared to taking the services separately:

We've listed two of Sky's entry-level full fibre plans here, Full Fibre 75 and Full Fibre 150, although Sky also offer faster plans up to 900Mbps, as well as a Superfast option for those still within part fibre network areas.

See what's available to you with our Sky TV & broadband page.

Overall, Sky is the cheapest way to watch Sky Cinema in HD, and Stream customers can opt for a rolling monthly contract if they want extra flexibility.

While Sky can be taken without broadband, customers still need to pay for a basic Sky TV plan to get Sky Cinema, which does push the price up.

Read our full review of Sky TV and Sky Glass here.

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Sky Cinema on Virgin Media

Virgin Media offer the Sky Cinema pack in full 1080p HD as standard, and is available on both their platforms:

• In a bundle with the Virgin 360 box
• As an add-on with Virgin Flex

Virgin Media TV, including Stream, is only available customers willing to bundle or take a broadband deal from Virgin, however. Which means it's also limited to customers who live in a Virgin Media enabled area.

The Sky Cinema pack is offered on a rolling 30-day contract with either Virgin 360 or Virgin Flex, unless it's taken as part of a pre-made bundle, like the Bigger Bundle + Movies or Mega Volt Bundle.

It's currently cheapest to watch Sky Cinema on Virgin Media Flex, with the add-on currently priced at £24.99 before the 10% bill credit offer. This includes all the live channels in full HD and over 1000 on-demand movies too.

Flex (previously Stream), launched in April 2022, is the provider's online platform, and offers customers a 10% bill credit for any subscriptions they take, including on Sky Cinema, reducing the effective price down to £22.50 per month.

Virgin Media's pre-made bundles also offer good value for money, as they combine broadband and TV in one monthly price.

Because Virgin only include Sky Cinema in the Bigger Bundle + Movies, Biggest Bundle and Mega Volt Bundles, there isn't a lot of choice for movie lovers on a budget.

It's possible to add the Sky Cinema pack to the Big Bundle, but it costs £21 per month, which bumps the cost up a lot, especially when you consider it's only £10 with Stream.

Unless customers want more TV and features that a physical box-set provides, the best way to watch Sky Cinema on Virgin Media is with Flex.

Read our full review of Virgin Flex, or about Virgin Media TV.

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Sky Cinema on TalkTalk

TalkTalk TV can be customised with NOW TV Memberships, including special offer discounts on NOW Cinema and NOW Boost.

NOW Cinema is currently reduced to just £7 per month for 12 months on the TalkTalk TV platform, while customers retain the ability to cancel at anytime.

While TalkTalk TV itself costs an extra £5 per month, customers get NOW Boost bundled at no extra cost, worth £6 per month, so all NOW Memberships come in full 1080p HD as standard and with less adverts.

TalkTalk do offer a pre-made bundle called Ultimate which includes Sky Cinema, but is costly because it also bundles NOW Sports and NOW Entertainment. So, for those who just want films, adding NOW Cinema to a TalkTalk broadband plan separately is the cheapest option:

TalkTalk TV customers get an Android-powered TV Hub, which supports Freeview as well as access to over 10,000 apps on the Google Play Store.

Customers will need a live aerial connection to watch Freeview, while app content is delivered over the broadband, and offers support for apps like Netflix, Prime Video, NOW, Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and many others.

One downside to TalkTalk TV however, is the new NOW Ultra Boost to watch content in Ultra HD is not supported.

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Sky Cinema on BT

BT TV offers customers the ability to add premium content through NOW TV Memberships subscribed to directly from the BT service.

Because the NOW Memberships are integrated into the BT TV Box Pro and BT TV Guide, customers get more features for Sky Cinema than subscribing directly with NOW, including:

• Pause and rewind live channels
• Record live channels to the BT TV Box Pro

BT TV customers either need to opt for a bundle which includes Sky Cinema, or they can add the pack separately to any plan.

Unless customers take the biggest Full Works bundle, they'll also need to pay an extra £6 for the HD pack if they want to view Sky Cinema in full 1080p HD.

BT TV isn't the cheapest option for Sky Cinema, despite the add-on costing the same as with NOW. This is because customers have to take BT broadband, and at least one TV plan, which means also subscribing to NOW Entertainment or TNT Sports as the cheapest options.

However, BT do also offer great flexibility with their TV service as customers can change plans on a monthly basis, and all add-ons are on rolling monthly terms too.

They also have the added benefits of the BT TV Box Pro, which allows customers to pause and rewind Sky content, and record live movies to watch later too. Like TalkTalk however, the BT TV Box Pro also doesn't yet support NOW Ultra Boost for 4K viewing.

Read our full review of BT TV.

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Getting the best Sky Cinema deal

Price is a major factor when looking for the best Sky Cinema deal, yet as each provider offers slightly different features and benefits, it's worth considering what will most suit your individual household too.

Other factors such as viewing quality, the ability to record live films, and flexibility on contracts are all worth bearing in mind.

Sky Cinema channels

The Sky Cinema pack includes 11 live channels as standard.

These channels are all viewable across the different platforms we've mentioned above, although customers signing up to Sky TV will receive access to an additional linear channel: Sky Premiere +1.

This is the current line-up of channels:

As mentioned, whether a channel comes in HD or not depends on which provider customers sign up with:

• Sky and Virgin Media offer Sky Cinema in full 1080p HD. They can both also upgrade to some Ultra HD content for an additional fee.
• TalkTalk customers get Sky Cinema in 1080p HD, as this includes NOW Boost at no extra cost. However, NOW Ultra Boost isn't supported.
• BT customers get Sky Cinema in 720p HD, and will need to take the HD pack for £6 a month, or take the Full Works plan. NOW Ultra Boost also isn't supported, so no 4K content.

Sky Cinema in Ultra HD

Only Sky and Virgin Media offer Sky Cinema content in Ultra HD, and even then, it's only select films, such as Sky Originals.

Sky customers can add the Ultra HD pack for £6 per month, while Virgin Media customers have to pay £7.

While NOW offers a new Ultra Boost add-on for £9 per month, which includes additional content in 4K Ultra HD, neither TalkTalk or BT support it, so 1080p HD is the maximum viewing resolution for these platforms.

Sky Cinema on demand

Each provider offering Sky Cinema provides some way to watch it on the move, ideal for those looking to stream content while away from home.

Here's a quick glance at the apps used:

Thanks to BT using the Now Cinema pass, the way to watch Sky Cinema on devices is through the Now TV app rather than a BT-branded one.

It's also important to recognise that, while all providers say that some films are available to download on to a device to watch later, this will be governed by distribution agreements rather than the apps themselves.

The apps above will indicate clearly when a film can be downloaded, although there will be limits on how long it can stay on a device for once a customer downloads it.

Note: Paramount+ is not available on Sky Go.

Sky Cinema and Sky Sports

It's common to see reduced prices when customers take both Sky Cinema and Sky Sports plans together.

For example, Virgin Media offer a combined bundle for £49.99 per month on Flex, which is a saving of £9.99 compared to taking the plans separately.

There's also value for money to be had when customers take bigger bundles, especially from Virgin Media, such as the Mega Volt, which includes Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, Netflix, Gig1 broadband, and an unlimited O2 SIM.

TalkTalk also offer an Ultimate TV bundle, which includes both NOW Cinema alongside NOW Sports and NOW Entertainment and can save customers £24.99 per month over taking the subscriptions separately.

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Verdict: Who has the best Sky Cinema offer?

Sky Cinema is widely available across the UK, with contract free options available as well as deals sitting alongside TV packages from the major providers.

The best Sky Cinema offer is arguably with Sky, where customers can add the pack for just £8 per month for 24 months.

Additional benefits to watching Sky Cinema on Sky include:

• Free access to Paramount+
• Extra Premiere+1 channel
• Comes in full HD as standard
• Pause and rewind live channels, and record to 'Playlist' with Sky Stream
• Two free Vue cinema tickets every month

See the latest prices for Sky TV.

Overall, each of the platforms we've looked at have different strengths when it comes to Sky Cinema:

• Sky TV is best for those looking for a comprehensive TV plan and can be taken with or without broadband
• Virgin TV must be taken with broadband and can be taken as a traditional TV service or as a streaming platform, so it's ideal for customers who want Virgin ultrafast broadband services
• TalkTalk TV offers some exclusive discounts with NOW Memberships and also bundles NOW Boost at no extra cost
• BT TV must be taken with broadband and Sky Cinema channels can only be taken with other TV channels, although packages can be downgraded and upgraded. It's best for those who want BT's premium broadband and want to take TV as well
• Now TV is a cheap and flexible option, but customers will pay more for HD

So, customers have various options when it comes to watching Sky Cinema, whether they want flexibility or are happy with a broadband and TV bundle.

Compare the latest prices for Sky Cinema bundles.