NOW is the service British viewers reach for when they want something specific and do not want to be tied to anything. A fortnight of football, a run through a drama series, a film at the weekend. Then they stop.
That flexibility is the whole point of it, and it is also the reason international streaming guides barely mention it. NOW is a British arrangement, built around Sky, and it works differently from everything else.
What NOW actually is
NOW is Sky’s streaming service. It launched in 2012 as NOW TV and dropped the TV in 2021, and it is owned by Sky UK, part of Comcast.
The simplest way to understand it: NOW is how you get Sky without a dish, a contract or an engineer. It carries the Sky Entertainment channels, Sky Cinema, Sky Sports and the HBO Max catalogue in Britain, along with children’s programming.
Since 26 March 2026 there has also been a standalone route: HBO Max launched in the UK and Ireland, from £4.99 a month, holding the full HBO back catalogue and the new HBO originals. NOW remains the way to get the Sky Atlantic channel and the Sky originals; HBO Max is the cheaper way to get HBO itself. Our guide to watching Sky Atlantic without a Sky contract compares the three routes.
That last part matters more than people realise. A great deal of the American drama that is missing from Netflix UK sits here, which is the usual answer when a show looks unavailable in Britain. Our guide to how the UK and US catalogues differ explains why that happens.
The four memberships
NOW splits into separate memberships rather than tiers. You take the ones you want and leave the rest.
| Membership | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Entertainment | Sky Entertainment channels, box sets, children’s programming |
| Entertainment & HBO Max | The above plus the HBO Max catalogue |
| Cinema | Sky Cinema films, including recent releases |
| Sports | Sky Sports, including most televised Premier League football |
You can change between them whenever you like, and at full price there is no contract and no penalty for leaving. That flexibility is the thing NOW is sold on.
It is worth being precise about it, though, because the advertised prices are not the flexible ones. Every discounted intro price now carries a minimum term — six months on the entertainment and cinema memberships, twelve on Sports. NOW states that cancelling during a minimum term does not take effect until the term ends. So you can have the low price or the flexibility, not both. Our guide to NOW UK prices sets out which is which.
The catch nobody flags
This one is worth knowing before you subscribe, because it surprises people on their first evening.
Without the Boost add-on you get standard definition, on one device at a time, with adverts on on-demand content.
That is worth reading twice. Not “capped below Full HD” — standard definition, which on a large modern television looks exactly as bad as it sounds.
Boost is a separate monthly charge on top of whichever membership you hold. It lifts you to Full HD, allows two simultaneous streams, adds Dolby Digital 5.1 and removes the adverts from on-demand viewing. Ultra Boost goes further again: up to 4K with HDR, three streams, Dolby Atmos and four dedicated ultra-high-definition sports channels. Our guide to whether NOW Boost is worth the extra works through it.
So the headline membership price is not the price of watching in the quality you probably expect. On a phone or a small screen the difference is marginal. On a large television it is immediately visible, particularly on sport.
Budget for it if picture quality matters to you, and be aware that where a Boost trial is offered it renews automatically afterwards unless you cancel. Our guide to cancelling UK streaming subscriptions covers doing that cleanly.
Where NOW is the only real option
Premier League football
Sky carries the large majority of televised matches, and NOW is how you watch Sky without a contract. For anyone who wants a specific run of fixtures rather than a season, passes bought by the day, week or month work out far cheaper than anything else.
Full detail in our guide to watching the Premier League in the UK, including the matches nobody in Britain can watch live at any price.
Formula 1
Same logic. Sky holds the live rights, and a NOW day or week pass covers a single race weekend without committing to a season. Our guide to watching Formula 1 in the UK covers what is free on Channel 4 as well.
American drama
Sky Atlantic is the channel that matters here, and our guide to watching Sky Atlantic without a Sky contract explains which membership you need and why two pounds separates the channel from the catalogue.
The HBO catalogue and a good deal of US network drama live here rather than on Netflix UK. If a well-known American series is missing from your Netflix, this is the first place to check, as our UK streaming availability guide explains.
Where it disappoints
- The Boost charge makes the real cost higher than the advertised one.
- Free trials have largely gone. What remains is offered selectively rather than as standard, so do not plan around one.
- Sports is expensive relative to the entertainment memberships, which is a reflection of what live rights cost rather than a quirk of NOW.
- The catalogue is Sky’s, so if you already have Sky through a dish or a broadband bundle, you may be paying twice without realising.
How to use it well
- Buy it for a purpose, then stop. NOW is built for this in a way no other service is. A fortnight of Cinema over Christmas, a month of Sports for a run of fixtures.
- Check your broadband bundle first. Sky content sometimes arrives with packages people already hold and have never examined.
- Decide about Boost deliberately rather than discovering the quality cap mid-film.
- Set a reminder to cancel. No contract only helps if you actually leave. There is no button marked Cancel — it is called Turn off auto-renew — and Boost cancels separately, so our guide to cancelling NOW in the UK walks through every line you need to switch off.
Common questions
What is NOW?
Sky’s streaming service, giving access to Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema, Sky Sports and HBO Max content in the UK without a dish or a contract.
Do I need Boost?
Without it you get standard definition, one stream at a time, and adverts on on-demand content. On a large television the difference is immediately obvious, particularly on sport.
Is NOW the cheapest way to watch Premier League football?
For a specific run of matches rather than a full season, yes. Passes by the day or week avoid a year-long commitment.
Can I switch between memberships?
Yes, whenever you like and as often as you like. There is no contract.
Does NOW still offer a free trial?
No. The membership free trial has been withdrawn entirely. A seven-day trial survives on the Boost add-on and even that is offered selectively.
The short version
The flexible one, with an asterisk. Four separate memberships and the only sensible route to Sky content for anyone who does not want a dish, but the advertised prices come with minimum terms and the standard picture is standard definition on one device. Budget for Boost as part of the real cost, and take the full-price monthly option if the flexibility is what you actually came for.
For how it sits against the rest, see our guide to UK streaming services compared.
