Sky Atlantic is sheer television gold, offering a strong selection of award-winning dramas, crime capers and comedies. You can watch the channel on Sky TV packages, although you don’t have to commit to a subscription or contract to get stuck into these premium shows.
What is Sky Atlantic?
Sky Atlantic, as the name suggests, is a channel that houses some of the best shows created in the US, aired here in the UK at the same time as across the pond.
- And if you subscribe to Virgin Media or Sky, you can watch some of the channels from your subscription package on their websites. You can, of course, also plug a USB TV tuner into your Mac.
- Sky Go supports Airplay from your iPhone, iPad or the browser extension on your Mac. At this stage Sky Go will only be supporting airplay to Apple TV HD - 4th Gen and Apple TV 4K - the latest Gen. Make sure your Apple TV & device are on the same wireless network; Go to your TV and select the source your Apple TV is plugged into; Select a show.
- SkyWatchTV app in the Apple TV App Store The SkyWatchTV Channel is a free app in the Apple TV App Store. It gives you access to our most recent weekly programs, daily news updates, SkyWatch Women, and episodes of SkyWatchTV Web Exclusives: SciFriday, Into the Multiverse, and interviews with fascinating guests that we couldn’t fit into our network television schedule.
Big Sky DRAMA Storyteller David E. Kelly ('Big Little Lies') presents a series about private detectives Cassie Dewell and Cody Hoyt, who join forces with Cody's estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt, to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana.
Mainly this was home to HBO shows to start with, which is a pay-per-view channel in the US famed for high quality programming. That’s where we get the likes of Game of Thrones, Westworld and Silicon Valley. These days Sky Atlantic has evolved of course, and offers series like Showtime’s return to Twin Peaks.
Check out our guide to the best new and upcoming Sky Atlantic shows for all of our favourites and why you need this channel in your life.
How do I watch Sky Atlantic?
The most obvious way to get Sky Atlantic on your TV is to splash out on a Sky subscription.
These start at around £22 per month, which gets you over 35 entertainment channels, 11 of which are in HD, plus 250 freeview channels. You’ll also get use of a 1TB Sky Q box for recording, pausing and rewinding video. Contracts are generally for a minimum of one year, though.
If you want access to these awesome shows on Sky Atlantic, you will of course need to pay. However, you do not necessarily need to cough up for a full Sky subscription, as there are other options available that don’t involve Sky contracts. Here are some of the best.
Watch Sky Atlantic on Now TV
One option to avoid the commitment of a Sky contract but still get the Sky Atlantic shows is to use Now TV. This is a way of watching Sky content over your internet connection. You can either watch them online via an app or browser, or on your TV via a dedicated Now TV box which you can pick up for a tenner. You can also watch on PlayStation or Xbox consoles, Roku, LG Smart TVs and Chromecast.
Now TV offers quality Sky programming, minus the subscription. You simply pick the package you want then pay for that on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This includes Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Kids and – for Sky Atlantic – Entertainment.
The Entertainment bundle on NOW TV is initially free as part of a 14 day trial, for new users, before costing £7.99 per month. One of the nice things here is that there is often older content also available. So at time of publishing, Game of Thrones’ new series seven episodes are on here, as well as the whole of series six, ideal for those catching up.
Watch Sky Atlantic on a shared Sky subscription
This is a cheeky move, but if you have friends of family with Sky you can enjoy the shows they’re paying for right in your own home, or on the move.
Thanks to the Sky Go app, it’s possible to watch content anywhere using another person’s login details. Sky allows a subscriber to have Sky Go on two devices, or four for Sky Go Extra users. So you can effectively borrow a mate’s login, and maybe even chip in if you’re feeling generous.
Bear in mind this is an app for mobiles and tablets, which makes output to a TV difficult. So if you want to watch on the big screen, you may have to get a little creative.
Watch Sky Atlantic on Virgin, BT or TalkTalk
Unfortunately you can’t watch Sky Atlantic on Virgin, BT or TalkTalk. Despite add-ons for these services allowing you access to the likes of Sky Cinema and Sky Sports you don’t get Atlantic as part of the deal – this is for Sky subscribers only.
Watch Sky Atlantic series via online streaming services
If there’s a particular show that you really want to watch on Sky Atlantic, you may be wise simply to purchase a digital boxset. You can then stream and download each episode, to watch on a variety of devices when it suits you.
For instance, the likes of Amazon, Apple and Google all offer HBO seasons to purchase for a reasonable fee. Some telly providers deliver a similar service, such as the TalkTalk TV Store which can even be used by non-TalkTalk customers to grab a series on demand.
Some things are just made to be watched on a big screen. So, when it comes to Sky Go, there are times you want to ditch that laptop, tablet or smartphone and kick back in front of a TV. Here’s how to stream Sky Go on your TV.
Sky Go has been around for some time now and it’s gone through several iterations, including some confusing crossovers with the Sky Q app. The app’s main function is letting you watch your Sky package over the internet – a super useful feature when you’re away from home or just not in the same room as your Sky box.
Related: Read our full Sky Q review
While being able to watch Sky on your Android or iOS device – from a Samsung Galaxy phone to an iPad – will be a marvel for some, sometimes it just isn’t good enough. The heart-pounding action scenes of Game of Thrones or Gangs of London on even the largest mobile device just won’t do.
We’ve put together this handy guide to show you just how to watch Sky Go on a TV.
Related: What do you think is best streaming service? Vote now
How do I stream Sky Go to my TV?
Kicking things off on a bit of a downer, the simple answer is you can’t. Never fear, you can get Sky Go on a TV using a good ol’ cable.
Unfortunately, Sky is yet to add any kind of casting function to the Sky Go app – as you can do with other streaming services like Netflix or Amazon – and this means there’s no way to shift the app’s mobile content from your phone or tablet to a TV. A lack of a Sky Go app on smart TVs doesn’t help the situation either.
Instead, you’ll need to grab your laptop and download Sky Go if you haven’t already. The next step is to check what connections your laptop has and, fingers crossed, it has an HDMI port and you’ve got a handy HDMI cable lying around.
Other solutions include a VGA/DVI connection on some older machines or a more flexible Thunderbolt port, but HDMI is the simplest way of going about things. Here’s exactly how to do it:
How To Watch Sky Tv On Apple Mac
- Open the Sky Go app on your laptop
- Find what you want to watch and go fullscreen
- Attach the HDMI cable to your laptop
- Plug the other end into a free HDMI port on the back of the TV
- Make sure you are on the correct HDMI input on the TV and you are all set