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2007-03-20 16:34:39

How to watch movies with SkyByBroadband

How to watch your favourite Sky movies and matches on your PC

Sky has recently launched an excellent download service called SkyByBroadband. This is a service that allows you to download films or sporting events onto your PC using your internet connection. This is available to anyone with an existing Sky subscription for either the Movies or Sports package. It is a completely free service once you are already a Sky subscriber to the package you wish to download. You will also need to have your PC running with Windows XP and have Windows Media Player installed.

Step 1.
Before you can download your first movie or match, you must first register for the SkyByBroadband service by going to the www.skybybroadband.com, and following the instructions to create an account. This does not cost anything, but you will need to have the details of your Sky subscription handy, so find the ‘Welcome to Sky’ handbook you will have received when you first signed up for Sky. You will need to set a password for your account, and you should read the instructions carefully about what will constitute a valid password.

Step 2.
Once you have finished setting up your account, you will be prompted to download and install the necessary Sky software. This is very straightforward, and should not take more than 5 minutes. Once you have finished installing the software, you will be offered two channels from which to download content. These channels are the Sports Channel and the Movies Channel. You can browse either channel, but if you are only subscribed to the Movies channel from Sky, you will not be able to download Sports programs. To download Movies, you will have to be subscribed for Sky Movies 1 and 2. To download Sports programs, you will have to be subscribed to Sky Sports 1 and 2.

Step 3.
Click on either channel, and you will be brought to a browser where you can view what is currently on offer from Sky. There is a top ten downloads section, and a download of the week section, so the more popular content is easily accessible. One the left of the screen is a browser panel which allows you to browse by category. For example, in movies, you can browse by comedy, action, romance and drama. There is also a search tool available, so that you can find exactly what you are looking for straight away.

Step 4.
To download any program, click on the title on the browser page. This will bring you to a more detailed page, offering information such as cast list and plot summary in the movies section. There are other links as well, for example, in movies, there are links to films in the same genre, or by the same director.
Some films have a limited availability, but some new releases have a download period of nearly a whole year, so there is plenty of time to get to that new release! There is also an option to bookmark a film or page so that you can come back and download that film or match later on.

Step 5.
The ‘My Library’ page is where you store information about what you have already downloaded, and the bookmarks you have saved for downloading later on. This page is downloaded into three distinct sections. The ‘Ready to Play’ section shows films that have been fully downloaded, and can be watched straight away. (N.B. You have to download a completed program, movie or match before it can be viewed; there are no streaming options available). The download queue shows films or matches that are currently being downloaded, along with information that shows what percentage of the film or match has been downloaded.
The bookmark section is where you can store films or movies to be downloaded lateron. Here you can save films for later, and download them in the future.

Step 6.
With regards to space, a full length feature film only takes up about 800Mb of space. However, the system used to download the films and matches are based on what is called ‘peer-to-peer’ file sharing. This means that the more people trying to download a movie or match, the longer it will take to complete the download. That said though, you can simply leave your PC on, and set it to download a number of programs or movies overnight, so they are ready to watch bright and early in the morning!