Sky Italia is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by Sky plc. It is similar in many ways to Sky in the United Kingdom and Sky Ireland in Ireland, which is partly owned by 21st Century Fox, and like that network it is a major sports broadcaster. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national FTA digital terrestrial channels: Tv8, Cielo and Sky TG24.
Pay TV services on Sky Italia are encrypted in NDS VideoGuard. The VideoGuard set-top boxes that have been provided since July 2010 are identical to the Sky+ HD boxes used in the UK. Pace, Amstrad (itself owned by Sky) and Thomson, all Digibox licensors, have been producing Sky Italia boxes (Sky Box, Sky HD, My Sky and My Sky HD) identical to their Sky Digital, Sky+ and Sky+ HD offerings, albeit with the potential removal of the second card slot and UHF modulator.