What is Sky Atlantic? | Across the pond - Award-winning US TV in the UK

Jonathan Victoria • 15 Feb 2024 Guides

HBO programming that you can enjoy.

What is Sky Atlantic?

Sky Atlantic is just one of the many TV channels owned and operated by Sky. It is mainly dedicated to bringing imported programmes from the United States, specifically those from HBO, an American TV network that is known for having some of the most popular shows worldwide.

It also broadcasts many original British-produced Sky dramas, providing brilliant content from both sides of the Atlantic (hence the name).

It was launched in early 2011 in the UK and Ireland and also has German and Italian-language versions of the channel which operate in Germany, Austria and Italy.

What’s on Sky Atlantic?

Sky Atlantic has a great amount of programming for you to enjoy. Its catalogue runs deep with award-winning shows that are still championed by many now to be amongst the best television of all time.

Best series on Sky Atlantic

HBO is renowned for having some amazing TV, particularly shows that have seen widespread acclaim across the world over the last 10-15 years.

One such show is the book-adapted series Game of Thrones, written by George R. R. Martin and brought to life by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. Throughout its run, it was marked as one of the best shows on TV at the time and many people still enjoy watching it now.

While the original series ended in 2019, a new spinoff prequel series named House of the Dragon debuted on HBO in 2022, with a second season set to come later this year.

Another award-winning adapted show, this time a video game adaptation, is 2023s The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. It was lauded by all, in particular fans of the games who praised the series for doing right by the original story.

Going back further, you’ll find many more celebrated shows that you may already have been recommended at least once. If not, take this as a hint to add the following shows to your must-watch list:

Gangs of London – A Sky Original set in London with a powerful story and true-to-life themes
True Detective – A crime drama with a different lead and location each season. The fourth season is currently ongoing
The White Lotus – Recently received 12 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge
Chernobyl – A brilliant historical drama miniseries on the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the cleanup efforts that followed
The Sopranos – If you like Italian-American mafia stories, you’ll love this one
Boardwalk Empire – See above. American gangster drama set in the 1920s prohibition USA
The Wire – One of the best crime/police dramas of all time. Gave starring roles to now-great actors such as Idris Elba and Dominic West
Westworld – Massive budget American dystopian sci-fi Western. It’s hard to describe quite how well those mashups work
Euphoria – Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney’s hardest-hitting roles to date, showing the struggles of a group of US high school students - but not just your average school troubles

Many of these shows are available exclusively on Sky Atlantic, and you can watch them live on the Sky Atlantic channel or on-demand, with full box sets available for each series.

Sky Atlantic new & upcoming series

Along with those existing programmes, many great shows are due to be coming to Sky Atlantic in the near future. People are always interested in the new series on Sky Atlantic, and there are some good shows coming over the next 18 months.

As mentioned, season two of House of the Dragon will be coming this year. No official series release date has been given, although it is slated for an early summer release.

The Last of Us season two is set to premiere in 2025. Filming is said to be beginning soon, so expect that to come around mid to late ‘25.

True Detective: Night Country is the currently ongoing fourth season of True Detective. The sixth and final episode of the season releases on 18th February.

A new period drama named Mary & George starring Julianna Moore is coming on 5th March. The show is set in Jacobean era England and is inspired by the extraordinary true story of Mary Villiers.

The Sympathizer sees Robert Downey Jr in an espionage satirical black comedy based on the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which will see him play multiple roles. It sounds like an absolute must-watch, if not for RDJ then for the compelling story.

There is so much more coming this year, so be sure to check out Sky’s What to Watch page to find out what will be coming.

How can I watch Sky Atlantic in the UK?

Sky Atlantic is unlike many of the company's other channels, such as Sky Sports or Sky Cinema, in that it’s only available to them (kind of).

To gain access to Sky Atlantic, you have to purchase a Sky TV package, all of which will have it included.

Is Sky Atlantic on Sky Basic package?

It is available with the Sky Entertainment & Netflix package, which is the basic entry-level Sky TV package you get with Sky Stream or Sky Glass .

Once you have that package, you will be able to tune into the channel for live programming or you can catchup via the thousands of box sets available to you.

Is Sky Atlantic free on Sky?

Not exactly. It is included with the Sky Entertainment & Netflix package, but you do have to pay for that.

Sky often has a number of great deals on the go, and that package is usually one of them. We have many brilliant Sky TV deals on our site, so be sure to check out what’s available and find one that’s right for you.

Is Sky Atlantic on NOW TV?

NOW is owned and operated by Sky Group, so they have access to a lot of Sky TV programming, including Sky Atlantic.

It is available as part of their NOW Entertainment Membership, which will give you access to the live channels and box sets.

Check out the NOW deals we have available.

Is Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media?

Unfortunately, unlike Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, Sky Atlantic is not available to Virgin Media.

You also cannot get a NOW TV Entertainment Membership and watch NOW TV via the Virgin Media 360 or Stream Box (other devices may produce different results…)

Can you get Sky Atlantic on BT?

Technically yes you can get Sky Atlantic on BT. But it isn’t directly available on BT TV (known now as EE TV).

For BT customers, the Entertainment or Big Entertainment packages come with NOW Entertainment subscription, which as you know from the NOW TV section, includes Sky Atlantic.