BBC and Sky extend long-term strategic partnership

The BBC and Sky today announced they have renewed and expanded their long-term strategic partnership to further showcase the BBC’s brands and services on Sky’s TV products.

The agreement will ensure that the BBC’s high quality original content will be even more prominent on Sky platforms by making it even easier for Sky customers to find programmes on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, both now and in the future. It also re-enforces their joint support of the UK creative economy – with a common goal between both organisations to invest in high-quality programmes and news made in the UK for UK audiences.

The deal builds on the existing partnership and recent launch of BBC Sounds on Sky Q, and recent partnership on sports broadcast rights, sharing both the Women’s Super League and matches from the new cricket format The Hundred – and ensures that Sky customers continue to have easy access to on the BBC’s full range of TV and radio stations, including BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General said: “It’s essential that all audiences get the maximum value from the BBC – and this agreement will ensure millions of Sky customers around the UK have access to the diverse rich mix of programming across the BBC – whether that’s our live TV channels and radio networks or millions of hours of programming available when you want on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

“It’s also key that UK audiences hear and see stories and programmes that resonate with them and where they’re from, so I look forward to working with Sky to continue to support the UK creative economy to achieve that goal.”

Stephen van Rooyen, Executive VP & Chief Executive, UK & Europe at Sky said: “We know our customers love the BBC’s distinctive range of world-class content, so we’re pleased we can integrate it more deeply and aggregate it seamlessly together with all the best apps and content from our other partners, all in one place on Sky Q.

“There’s a long history of collaboration between Sky and the BBC and both organisations play a pivotal role in supporting the UK’s cultural economy – I’m excited to see what more we can do together.”

For further information please contact:

skypress@sky.uk

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of Comcast Corporation. Across six countries, we connect our 23 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love – with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Bulletproof and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, while Sky Arts, the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel, makes the arts accessible for everyone. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation. We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over the next three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.