Where to watch Sky Atlantic

Sky Atlantic is one of Sky's most popular channels, with some of the biggest and most well-known TV series, including Game of Thrones.

While the channel is exclusive to Sky, it's also available through Sky-owned NOW TV, and other NOW-based platforms.

This guide looks at the best and cheapest ways to get Sky Atlantic, and whether it's available on Virgin Media, BT TV, and other set-top boxes.

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At a glance: Best Sky Atlantic offers

Sky Atlantic is available exclusively with Sky and NOW TV. It can be taken through either a TV only package, or in a TV and broadband bundle for extra savings.

Deals on Sky Entertainment, which includes Sky Atlantic, include:

Sky is a great place to watch Sky Atlantic, with their new Stream service offering all Sky Entertainment channels in full 1080p HD as standard. New customers currently get up to £9 off per month, with Sky Stream costing just £19 per month for the first 24 months.

While it's possible to take Sky TV on its own, customers can save more overall by also bundling a Sky broadband deal from just £17 extra per month.

TalkTalk offers an Entertainment bundle which includes both NOW Entertainment and Netflix, and also includes NOW Boost at no extra cost, so customers can watch Sky Atlantic in full 1080p HD and ad-free.

Meanwhile, while BT TV comes in 720p HD as standard, they're currently offering new customers a £50 Reward Card for those signing up to one of their fibre broadband deals.

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Where is best to watch Sky Atlantic?

Sky Atlantic is available on three main pay TV platforms: Sky, BT TV, and TalkTalk TV.

BT and TalkTalk both use NOW Membership plans, so features are similar, however BT customers can also pause, rewind and record to the BT TV Box Pro, while TalkTalk customers get the NOW Boost included in their subscription as standard.

Overall, Sky is the best place to watch Sky Atlantic, because:

• Sky Atlantic is included in all TV plans at no extra cost
• Sky Stream and Sky Glass customers will get Sky Atlantic in full 1080p HD as standard
• Customers can pause and rewind live TV with Sky, as well as record to the Sky Q box, or add to the cloud-based 'Playlist' with Sky Stream
• Sky Atlantic can be watched away from home and on the go through the Sky Go app
• Sky Originals content can be viewed in Ultra HD with the UHD add-on for just £4/mth extra

There are however some reasons why customers may want to opt for a budget NOW Membership with either BT or TalkTalk instead:

• Sky Atlantic costs £9.99 per month, with no long-term commitments
• NOW includes Sky Atlantic in 720p HD, with the option to upgrade to full HD for an extra £6 per month
• Customers can watch on any device that supports the NOW app, including smart TVs, game consoles, laptops and tablets

While we look at the differences in more detail below, due to the exclusivity of Sky Atlantic to the Sky platform, the choice is fairly straightforward, with Sky offering a more comprehensive TV service, while NOW could be the better budget choice.

Of course, broadband customers of BT and TalkTalk also have the option to add NOW Entertainment with Sky Atlantic to both new and existing subscriptions for the same price, or sometimes less, compared to subscribing directly with NOW.

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

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Sky Atlantic on Sky

Sky Atlantic is included in all Sky TV deals, whether they take Sky Stream, Sky Glass, or already have Sky Q.

The exception to this is the Sky TV Essentials plan which only includes Freeview and the Sky Q box and doesn't have any premium channels like Sky Atlantic.

New customers signing up for Sky, can get these deals which include Sky Atlantic:

Customers get over 150 channels with Sky Stream and Sky Glass.

Sky also bundle over 500 box-sets on-demand, and provide the widest range of app support, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+, Discovery+, Hayu, Peloton, Fiit, YouTube, and BBC iPlayer.

Sky Atlantic in HD

It's worth noting that the standard Sky Q, or satellite dish, service only offers Sky Atlantic in SD, and customers will need to upgrade to the HD pack to watch the channel in 1080p. The HD pack costs an extra £9 per month, although it is available on a rolling monthly contract.

In contrast, the newer services Sky Glass and Sky Stream include more channels in HD as standard, including Sky Atlantic, so customers won't have to pay more than the listed prices to watch in 1080p.

It's possible for customers to add more content by adding channel packs like Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Disney+, or the Sky Kids pack.

Sky Stream also includes Netflix as standard, while Sky Q customers need to look out for deals on Sky Ultimate TV which also bundles Netflix.

Sky TV + broadband

New customers can save money by bundling a Sky TV plan with Sky broadband, and still get access to Sky Atlantic.

Customers can save as much as £9 per month compared to taking Sky TV and Sky Broadband separately.

Sky also offer full fibre broadband deals, with speeds from 75Mb to 900Mb per second in areas reached by the Openreach network. That's over 16 million premises so far, but should reach 25 million, or 88% of homes in the next few years.

Read more in full review of Sky TV.

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Sky Atlantic on NOW

The Sky Atlantic channel is included in the NOW Entertainment Membership plan, along with 15 other channels, including Sky Max, Sky Documentaries, Sky Witness, Sky Sci-Fi and Sky History.

It also includes 7 kids channels, and over 300 on-demand box-sets.

The NOW Entertainment Membership costs £9.99 per month on a rolling monthly contract, and comes in 720p HD as standard.

NOW customers can also upgrade to full 1080p HD for an extra £6 per month with the NOW Boost add-on, which also removes some ads.

The drawbacks to NOW compared to Sky include the fact customers are unable to pause, rewind, and record live TV, and downloads are also restricted to smartphone devices.

While NOW is better than Sky Q for viewing quality, it's surpassed by Sky Stream which offers Sky Atlantic in full 1080p HD as standard.

Read more on the differences between Sky and NOW, or read our full review of NOW TV here.

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Sky Atlantic on BT

BT broadband and TV customers can watch Sky Atlantic by either choosing one of the Entertainment plans, or by adding the NOW Entertainment pack separately.

Sky Atlantic is included via a NOW Entertainment Membership that's integrated into the BT TV Box Pro platform.

This means customers get extra features not available through NOW directly, including the ability to pause, rewind and record live programmes to the BT TV Box Pro.

BT also offers Sky Atlantic in 720p HD as standard, and customers can upgrade to full HD by adding the HD pack for an extra £6 per month.

The three main bundles which include Sky Atlantic are:

• Entertainment
• Big Entertainment
• Full Works

However, even if a customer chooses the Sport plan, they can still add the NOW Entertainment Membership in addition for £9.99 per month on a rolling monthly contract.

For new customers, they can get these deals to watch Sky Atlantic on BT:

Unlike Sky and NOW, BT TV customers must also take BT broadband, which is why these prices are more expensive than the plans we've looked at so far.

While the minimum term with BT is 24 months, customers can change their TV plans on a monthly basis, so it's possible to switch between Sport and Entertainment for example.

Read more in our full review of BT TV.

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Sky Atlantic on TalkTalk

Like BT, TalkTalk TV customers can watch Sky Atlantic by adding a NOW Entertainment Membership to their plan.

The current TalkTalk TV Android TV box as well as the previous Netgem TV box and many of the YouView boxes support the NOW app.

While the TalkTalk TV subscription is £5 per month, this includes NOW Boost - worth £6 per month, which boosts viewing resolution to 1080p HD and offers ad-skipping.

New TalkTalk broadband customers can also access NOW Membership plans in their pre-made bundles which offer further discounts on the plans:

While TalkTalk broadband has a minimum contract term of 18 months, the TV element and any additional subscriptions are provided on rolling monthly terms, so can be cancelled at any time.

Read more on TalkTalk TV.

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Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media

While relations between Sky and Virgin Media have strengthened over the last few years, including a new deal in 2019, and more recently gaining Sky Sports in Ultra HD in February 2023, Sky Atlantic remains exclusive to Sky.

The fact Sky Atlantic is noticeably missing from Virgin Media is one of the major differences between the rival providers, especially as Virgin is gaining more content, adding Disney+ and Paramount+ in May 2023.

It's unlikely Sky Atlantic will make it onto Virgin Media's TV platform any time soon, as it seems Sky prefer to keep the channel and its original programming exclusive.

There are however two ways for Virgin Media customers to watch Sky Atlantic programs:

• By taking out a NOW Membership, although the app isn't supported by either the 360 box or Stream box
• Buying specific programs through the Virgin Media Store

While not all content on Sky Atlantic will be available, some programs can be purchased on the Virgin Media Store for customers to then download to their box and watch.

For example, Virgin Media customers can buy Season 1 of House of Dragon for £19.99 in HD, or the entire 8 seasons of Game of Thrones for £129.99 in HD.

That's potentially quite expensive however, in comparison to a monthly NOW Entertainment pass for £9.99.

Some content on Sky Atlantic is also making its way to other platforms, with Gangs of London currently showing on Netflix, for example.

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Sky Atlantic on Netflix

Although the two companies have partnered on some services, Sky still see Netflix as a fierce competitor; and, in the US, HBO is a close rival of the streaming provider.

That said, in recent months we've begun seeing some Sky-made content available to watch on the streaming platform.

Gangs of London is a notable addition from Sky Atlantic, as well as Breeders from Sky Comedy, and Temple from Sky Max.

In comparison to the content available through Sky and Sky Atlantic though, this is a very limited offering so far.

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What shows are on Sky Atlantic?

Now we've covered the various ways to get Sky Atlantic, you might well be wondering why you'd want to.

Launched in 2011, Sky Atlantic has become the go-to place on Sky for imported dramas from the HBO and Showcase stables. This includes first runs of programmes like Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Big Little Lies and Westworld.

More recently, we've seen the likes of Euphoria, Yellowjackets, Major of Kingstown, The Nevers and House of the Dragon gaining popularity on the channel. Although Yellowjackets and Major of Kingstown have both now moved to Paramount+.

It's also home to some Sky Originals content including the BAFTA award-winning Chernobyl, Penny Dreadful and Tin Star.

Customers looking for high-quality drama fresh from the US generally find it on Sky Atlantic, so it's no surprise it's used to encourage drama-lovers on to the Sky and Now TV platforms.

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Watching Sky Atlantic on demand

Sky, NOW and BT all offer customers the ability to watch Sky Atlantic away from home and on the move using their on-demand apps.

These are the apps offered:

Since BT TV uses the NOW Entertainment Membership to provide access to Sky Atlantic, the apps for using those two services are the same.

A note on downloads: while both apps allow downloads, the individual rights of shows on Sky Atlantic may mean that some of them are unavailable for download.

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Verdict: Which TV platform is best for Sky Atlantic?

Sky Atlantic is only available in a handful of places, with Sky keeping it within their own ecosystem.

They show no sign of letting Sky Atlantic move on to platforms like Virgin Media, and the only reason it's available on BT TV is because BT use NOW TV memberships for their TV service.

The best way of getting Sky Atlantic is through Sky. In comparison to other providers, Sky TV:

• Offers Sky Atlantic as part of a much wider entertainment plan
• Customers can pause and rewind live content, and record programmes onto the Sky Q Box, or onto 'Playlist' in the cloud with Sky Stream

While Sky Stream and Sky Glass customers will get Sky Atlantic in full 1080p HD, Sky Q customers who use a satellite dish will have to pay £9 extra per month to watch Sky Atlantic in HD, which puts the newer Sky services ahead.

Learn more about signing up to Sky TV.

NOW TV remains the cheapest overall to watch Sky Atlantic, and it's worth remembering that Memberships can be cancelled and restarted rather than signing up to a long contract.

If there's little content on the main Sky TV platform a customer is interested in, a NOW TV Entertainment Membership allows them to dip into the best of Sky without paying premium prices for a lengthy contract with channels they don't watch.

NOW also includes Sky Atlantic in 720p HD as standard, a step up from Sky Q, but will still have to pay an extra £6 per month for full HD, which comes as standard with Sky Stream.

Find out more about signing up to NOW TV.

Overall, the main choice for watching Sky Atlantic really lies between Sky and NOW, with Sky providing the more comprehensive entertainment plan, while NOW offers more low-cost flexibility.

Read more on Sky TV vs NOW TV in this guide.