Sky is to pull its movie download store from YouView from the end of this month, leaving the platform’s subscription-free customers without an option to buy and watch digital downloads on their set top boxes.
Sky Store joined the YouView platform in December 2013, sitting alongside the Sky owned Now TV and catch-up players from the platform’s owners – ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the BBC.
In a very brief statement YouView announced on Tuesday that the service would cease to be available from November 30th.
Unless any additional video players are added to the platform, the news means the only YouView users who can buy films via their set top boxes will those accessing the system with a TalkTalk or BT subscription, as both ISPs offer buy to keep films within their own branded players.
News that Sky Store is leaving the platform comes just weeks after the Discovery owned Quest channel removed its catch-up player from YouView set top boxes.
Sky’s decision to remove the service could be connected to the firm’s recent launch of a set top box providing Freeview channels and contract-free access to Now TV’s contract-free entertainment, movies sports content.