To the surprise of no-one, HBO’s breakout fantasy epic has topped Sky’s list of Most Watched Shows On Demand shows from 2014.
The news comes as Sky announces quarterly results showing that 6.5 million customers across the UK and Ireland are now signed up for its connected catch-up service.
Sky says that the 130-plus TV box sets on offer from Sky On Demand means it beats rival streaming service Netflix in terms of choice. Netflix doesn’t publicly comment on how many titles it has in its library but it’s common knowledge that what’s offer from Netflix in the States eclipses what’s available here in the UK.
Even so, Sky’s most-watched show on demand isn’t available from Netflix no matter where in the world you’re watching it from.
Luke Bradley Jones, Sky’s director of TV products said: “We know people want to watch TV on their terms, which is why we’ve helped over six million customers connect their box to broadband and get access to Sky On Demand.
“This year we’re adding even more box sets of the shows that everyone’s talking about – giving people the chance to enjoy some of TV’s biggest hits like Fortitude, Broadchurch and True Detective, ready to watch whenever they want.”
Before the hotly-anticipated fifth season of Game of Thrones hits, Sky will be giving customers a chance to revisit the head-scratching world of Westeros by watching seasons 1-4 on Sky On Demand and Now TV.
Now TV has reportedly enjoyed a record quarter of growth, although again, Sky has declined to reveal how many people have actually signed up. Now TV is a streaming service that’s pitched at punters who can’t get (or don’t want) Sky TV. Currently, you can sign up for entertainment content for £6.99/month, Sky Movies for £9.99/month or Sky Sports for £6.99/day or £10.99/week.
Mobile catch-up service Sky Go is now used by 5.8 million registered customers across the islands. As of October 2014, 5.6 million Sky subscribers had signed up for Sky Go.
Sky Store has enjoyed a 90 per cent spike in revenue with Buy & Keep purchases ranked number one or two for new film releases among digital retailers, but again Sky isn’t telling how many people are using this.
Sky is also reporting continued growth of its TV and broadband products, saying that 106,000 customers took Sky Broadband in the last three months and 204,000 signed up with Sky for TV, broadband and/or calls from Sky.
The pay TV, broadband and telephone company says this is the highest number in nine years but it hasn’t broken down how many of those customers are in the UK or Ireland, if any of those customers are taking superfast Sky Fibre broadband.
Sky also isn’t saying how many customers tapped into its most popular shows on demand, but the top ten league table for 2014 looks like this:
1. Game of Thrones
2. The Blacklist
3. The Walking Dead
4. The Inbetweeners
5. Boardwalk Empire
6. Ray Donovan
7. Prison Break
8. The Following
9. True Blood
10. Penny Dreadful
Game of Thrones season 5 lands on Sky Atlantic and Now TV on April 13.
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