David Farnor | On 20, Feb 2018

What do Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Westworld have in common? They’re some of the most talked-about shows on TV, but they’re also only available on pay-TV in the UK. Since 2012, though, there’s been another option for UK audiences: NOW, which offers contract-free access to a selection of premium pay-TV channels for a monthly sum. Think of it as Netflix, but for all of Sky’s exclusive content, plus some extras.

A NOW Entertainment Membership costs £8.99 a month, with no contract, and also has a 7-day free trial. With hundreds of box sets on offer, that means you could sign up for a fortnight, binge your way through Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead when they’re available and still make it out the other side without paying a dime.

For Entertainment Membership subscribers, though, the biggest question to answer is simple: what channels are on NOW? And will it get more?

NOW has 11 pay-TV channels in total. They are as follows: Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts, ITV Encore, Gold, Comedy Central, FOX UK, MTV, Nat Geo Wild, Discovery Channel and SyFy.

All of those are available to stream both live and on-demand, with most shows available for between 7 and 30 days on catch-up, although some stick around for longer.

In addition to the TV channels, NOW also includes box sets from ABC Studios and VICELAND.

It’s an impressive line-up, but the second biggest question is whether that collection will expand or improve?

NOW’s Entertainment Membership library has certainly changed over the years. In 2016, NOW separated its kids’ programmes from the adult ones (bye bye to Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and The Disney Channel), creating a new NOW Kids Membership (£2.99 a month) to echo the changes going on with Sky’s main service. However, to offset that, NOW added a new channel, Net Geo Wild.

In 2017, meanwhile, negotiations with Discovery left Nat Geo Wild and Discovery Channel’s future on NOW hanging in the balance, until a renewal was agreed, keeping the two channels on the service.

Since then, the line-up has gotten bigger: NOW has signed a new deal with PBS American that will bring its factual programming to NOW’s Entertainment Membership – specifically, 250 hours of documentaries, including The Amish, Black Panthers: Vanguard of The Revolution and Prohibition, alongside additional box sets from History and Nat Geo Wild.

An agreement with NBCUniversal, on the other hand, has also recently added SyFy to the collection, the UK home to such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Librarians, 12 Monkeys, Bitten, The Originals and more. This includes the live channel, episodes of hit shows on Catch Up and a range of complete season Box Sets.

What else is on the way this year? NOW will also be adding reality TV streaming service hayu at some point in 2018, as part of its NBC deal.

The all-reality service, which launched last year, is dedicated to reality TV shows from the US, with box sets and same-day releases that range from The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Melbourne to The Real Housewives of Orange County The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. That will add box sets and same-day releases that range from The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Melbourne to The Real Housewives of Orange County The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Beyond that, any more additions are yet to be announced – but watch this space to find out more about what new channels are being added to NOW Entertainment Membership soon. Or hit the button below to get bingeing now.

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