Sky
Hundreds of owners of smart TVs and streaming devices from United Kingdom telecom Sky reported that their hardware stopped powering on Thursday. Sky hasn’t confirmed the cause of the problem, but a botched update is largely suspected.
Sky, a Comcast company that sells Internet, mobile, and satellite TV service in the UK, got into the streaming hardware business in 2021. Its proprietary Glass TVs and Stream pucks let people access TV channels offered through Sky via the Internet instead of a dish. As of this writing, Glass TVs range from 600 pounds (about $800) for a 43-inch set to 1,199 pounds (about $1,600) for 65 inches and include quantum dots and Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG HDR support. To order a Glass TV, people have to sign up for a Sky Entertainment subscription that includes the same type of channels offered through Sky’s satellite TV services but via streaming, plus Netflix (with or without ads). If you don’t buy/renew your Sky Entertainment subscription, “access to TV apps like Netflix won’t be available,” Sky says. The Stream puck, meanwhile, supports various streaming apps but doesn’t work without a Sky subscription.
As of yesterday, paying subscribers and owners of Glass and Stream devices reported that their devices were unable to power on. Users reported only being able to see a blank screen, with some saying the problems lasted for hours.
As noted by the BBC, problems started on Thursday night. Per Downdetector, the situation seemed to peak at around 3:10 pm UTC with 377 incidents reported, but the overall number of affected devices could vary. A thread on Sky’s community forum about the problem is currently 141 pages long.
This morning, some people were still complaining about broken devices online; although, some reported that their devices were functioning again. As of this writing, DownDetector is showing 142 reported incidents.
With no TV to watch, Glass and Stream users had plenty of time to go online to try to troubleshoot with each other and share their disappointment in Sky. Some have called for Sky to pay for the cost of a new TV, while others are wondering if they will get financial compensation for their troubles. Sky hasn’t made any public mention of refunds or credits, though.
A user going by larky+marky on Sky’s community forum wrote:
What a total lump of s**t.
I have been thinking of cancelling my subscription altogether, so now this has made my mind up.
Yesterday, a Twitter user claimed that their TV was bricked “for the best part of 11 hours.” The user, going by MattHudson81, wrote, “We pay a lot of money each month for the use of your services and understand at times faults happen, but 11 hours so far with no end in sight, it’s not good.”
On Sky’s support forum, an employee said that Sky was working on the problem throughout Thursday night. “We continue to work on the problem in the background,” the employee going by KevNewMedia wrote today.
Sky also acknowledged the problems on Thursday via its Twitter account, saying:
Some Sky Glass/Stream customers are currently experiencing technical issues when trying to switch on their devices. Our technical teams are working hard to fix this. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Today, the Twitter account posted another apology along with a link to a support page with steps for getting the hardware to work (basically by resetting it). However, at least some people on Sky’s support forum have said that the fix hasn’t worked for them.
“Yet this isn’t working for everyone though. You’re essentially just tell[ing] people to turn it on and off again,” PaulRC1963 wrote. “Sky is acting very incompetent.”
Sky hasn’t confirmed the cause
Sky declined to answer questions from the BBC about the cause of the problems or when they’d be totally resolved. Without further explanation, a poorly executed software update issued via the Internet seems to be the most obvious reason for hundreds of people concurrently reporting broken devices.
The situation, which led to missed sporting events and hours of boredom, is a reminder of the risks of buying hardware from companies, like ISPs, that aren’t traditionally in the technology game. Sky first unveiled its Glass TVs in 2021, ostensibly as an attempt to save its business amid a massive shift to streaming over satellite dishes and cable and to drive subscription revenue. It’s possible that in its haste to jump on the streaming bandwagon, it has overlooked some of the intricacies and complexities in mass, web-issued updates. Notably, Sky’s set-top boxes have reportedly been unaffected.
If a botched update didn’t break the smart TVs and streaming sticks, it would be prudent of Sky to inform customers of the root of the problem. Otherwise, it can be hard for customers to have confidence that the problems won’t repeat and that their subscriptions and Sky hardware are worthwhile.