Extending our commitment to subtitles on demand

We are committed to making the Sky experience accessible to all our customers. We know that the way in which many of our customers are watching TV is changing, as more and more people watch their favourite shows on demand. With this change, we recognise that the high level of subtitling available on live TV has not kept pace on demand. So last year, we made a commitment to address that, and provide much more on demand content with subtitles. 

We’re well on the way to achieving that goal and I want to share an update on our progress so far. We’re working through the technical changes required to make sure that subtitles work on the on demand platform. We’ve also been investing in expanding the team that uploads the subtitled files, as the majority of that work involves a manual process. 

From September, we’ll begin the ramp up of subtitled Sky on demand content, working towards a target of at least 80 per cent. All of this content, including great Sky series like Fortitude, The Tunnel and Penny Dreadful, as well as some of the latest Hollywood blockbusters, will be available on both Sky+ and the brand new Sky Q set top box. 

To add to that, we have also grown the scope of our work and are pleased to announce the launch of subtitles on NOW TV by the end of the year, and on the Sky Go and Sky Q apps soon after in 2017, meaning that subtitles will be available on demand for Sky content, whether you watch Sky TV at home or on the go. 

Our next step is to begin technical trials, and we are working with Action on Hearing Loss to invite their supporters to join our existing group of customer trialists to make sure their feedback informs what we do, and how we do it.

We recognise that this is an important issue for our customers and we’ll continue to work hard across our business and with our partners to make it happen, and introduce more content in the coming months. We will keep you updated on our progress