Sky targets streaming latency with new Real Time feature
June 9, 2026 11.32 Europe/London By Julian Clover


Sky has launched a new “Real Time” viewing mode on Sky Glass and Sky Stream, reducing the delay between live sporting events and what viewers see on screen.

Available on selected live sports broadcasts, including BBC and ITV coverage of the FIFA World Cup, the feature positions latency as a feature. The World Cup presents a convenient hook, even though Sky doesn’t have the rights itself.

While streamed sports coverage can often lag behind traditional broadcast delivery by tens of seconds, Sky says Real Time brings viewers closer to the live action while helping avoid spoilers from social media notifications, messaging apps and nearby viewers.

The move reflects a growing industry focus on latency as live sport increasingly migrates to IP delivery. Broadcasters and streaming platforms including the BBC, ITV, DAZN, Amazon and YouTube have all invested in technologies designed to reduce delays and create experiences closer to traditional broadcast television.

Sky previously offered a similar capability through its Live Sync technology on selected sports coverage. The new Real Time branding extends the concept and, significantly, applies it to third-party channels carried on the Sky platform.

The launch comes amid growing concern over what the industry has dubbed the “roar before the score” effect, where viewers learn about key moments through notifications or reactions from other fans before they appear on screen.

Real Time is available through dedicated low-latency versions of BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and ITV4 on Sky Glass and Sky Stream. The feature requires a broadband connection of at least 40 Mbps and disables some time-shift functionality, including live rewind.