Sky thinks you need to record six shows at once
While watching a seventh.
Before the internet and the rise of streaming, families across the nation would sit down at regular times each week to get their fill of television. It still happens now, but on-demand services have changed the way each family member views their favourite TV shows.
Sky knew this, so it designed its next-generation set-top box -- the Sky Q -- to not only handle linear programming, but also deliver it at a time when it suits you. In fact, it stuffed the box with a staggering 12 tuners that at launch delivered live TV, picture-in-picture and streaming, as well as allowing you to record up to five shows at while while watching a sixth. It's an impressive selection, but it obviously wasn't enough.
As part of a new update, Sky has announced that Sky Q 2TB boxes will soon be able to record six shows at once, while broadcasting a seventh. The company says the feature arrives in time for "the exciting line-up of sport, TV shows and movies that will be hitting screens this summer," but really we think it's doing it just because it can.
What Sky has done is allow the Q to repurpose some of its built-in tuners. If there happens to be a day when the stars align and you do decide to record six things you can't possibly miss, the lack of available tuners will mean that Sky Sports' Split Screen mode will be unavailable and the mini guide will display a static image rather than a live feed of the channel you're selecting.
The feature can be enabled one of two ways. The first appears in a dialog when you hit the record button for that sixth programme. The other is a toggle in the settings, which is found under Setup -- Preferences -- Maximum Number of Recordings.
