Sky is planning to launch its own smart TVs, the Financial Times reports citing people familiar with the matter. The new product could be announced as soon as October, when the pay-TV provider has sent out invites for an event with the media.
The TV would see the company move away from its traditional satellite delivery and embrace the hybrid IP service already offered on its Sky Q platform. According to the FT, the new hardware also is expected to give Sky more negotiating strength with content providers and greater prominence for its own services with viewers.
A recent report from Protocal said that Sky's parent Comcast is preparing to launch its own TVs in the US soon. Comcast has developed its own TV operating system X1 to deliver its services over set-top boxes, and the same software will be used for the TVs. The two models of smart TV will be branded as XClass and produced by Hisense; no Comcast cable subscription would be required to buy the devices.
