The ABC of kids TV: Sky adding thousands of episodes of kids TV to on demand service
21 May 2015
Sky, the UK and Ireland's biggest connected TV platform, today announced a huge expansion of the kids shows available in its ever-growing on demand library. From Adventure Time to Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom and iCarly, Sky will offer plenty more kids TV on demand – with the number of episodes of family favourites increasing from 700 to around 4,000 over the coming months.
The ambitious changes mean that Sky's on demand service will be home to more episodes of the most-watched kids' shows than any other provider – all ready to watch from one dedicated section on the Sky+ homepage for the first time.
Connected customers will be able to watch previous series of The Octonauts exclusively on demand plus there will be even more episodes of popular series like SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Horrible Histories and Ben 10.
The 600% increase in programming follows a number of new deals signed with rights holders including Viacom and Turner that form part of a multi-million pound commitment to making Sky a leading destination for kids TV on demand.
And millions more customers will be able to take advantage of the huge increase in shows, with kids TV on demand available at no extra cost to customers with the Variety and Family bundles.
Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky's Brand Director of TV Products, said: "I know from my own kids that they just want to watch their favourite TV characters including Ben and Dora whenever they can. And parents want the convenience of a quick and simple way to access lots of episodes all in one place. That's why we're massively expanding the variety and number of shows available on demand – and putting them front and centre of the Sky+ TV Guide. For our customers it means a huge library of kids shows, all there at the touch of a button."
Sky customers will be able to quickly access this huge library of on demand kids TV straight from the Sky+ homepage as part of the latest update to customers' Sky+HD boxes rolling out from this week. A new tile will open up a one-stop-shop of all the kids shows and movies available on demand, all kids TV recordings, plus a quick view of what's on now on linear channels like CBeebies and Nick Jr.
Sky recently announced that almost 7 million customers in Britain and Ireland have connected to its on demand services. Downloads of on demand shows and movies hit over 300 million in the last three months, up by more than 60% year on year.
Notes to the editor
* Sky's on demand services are available at no extra charge to all customers who have connected their Sky+HD box to their broadband connection. Content available depends on a customer's subscription. Kids TV on demand will be available at no extra cost to all customers with the Variety Bundle, from £30/month or above (formerly only available to customers taking the Family Bundle).
* The software update is rolling out to customers and will be available to over 8.5 million homes with compatible Sky+HD boxes by the end of June this year. To make the most of the changes, Sky customers should connect their Sky+HD box to their home broadband. For further information click here.
* The latest updates being introduced to the Sky+ HD box reflect Sky's ongoing commitment to use technology and its proven track record as an innovator to make its products and services safer, more sustainable, and accessible to all its customers. Find out more at sky.com/biggerpicture.
For further information, please contact:
Sky
Amy Holland
Product & Brand PR
[...]
About Sky
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company. The group serves 21 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.
Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).
For more information visit sky.com/corporate.
###
Big thanks to RegularCapital.com!
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon UK, Nicktoons UK and Nick Jr. UK News and Highlights!
