"I rang up to complain and I started by leaving my name, phone number and address. I said some swear words and asked them what they do with their $120 million profit and how they can post huge profits during a recession," he said.
But the message got nastier as he got more frustrated.
"I just added that bit in the end because I wanted them to take my complaint seriously. I never intended to be taken literally," he said.
He questioned how seriously Sky TV took the threat because it took police 32 hours to call around to his house.
"I was co-operative with the police. They came round on Wednesday. They could have rung me straight away and I would have apologised," he said.
"I regret it and I felt so stupid and thought 'God I'm an idiot'. If I intended [it] to be taken literally I would never have left my name and number."
He said he was receiving medical treatment for a liver ailment and experienced severe side-effects including mood swings.
"My treatment leaves me very lethargic and Sky TV was my happy place, just like the ad says. It was my life to an extent," he said.
Jillett was remanded on bail to reappear on October 19.
His bail conditions included not contacting Sky TV.
Sky TV spokeswoman Kirsty Way said the company took the safety of its staff very seriously and reported all threats to police.
"We don't take any threat to our staff lightly. We don't make a judgment on how serious the person may or may not be," she said.
Since 2007, Sky had been using a satellite that greatly reduced instances of rain fade, she said.
"It's much rarer than ever. It is caused by atmospheric conditions so [it is] completely out of our control," she said.
Satellite signal was delivered 99.85 per cent of the time and temporary interruptions occurred only in the "most extreme weather conditions".
They could be caused by bad weather at the transmission sites.
"People do see the message pop up on their screens and understandably it is frustrating but over a whole year of viewing we have a good record of it not showing up," she said.
HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR DECODER IS WORKING
* Check all cables are plugged into the decoder firmly.
* Switch decoder power off at the wall and leave for 1 minute.
* Switch decoder back on and press the plus(+) or mosaic button.
* Highlight the spanner and scroll down to Advance Setup.
* Enter your pin number.
* Enter Select Satellite.
* Highlight and select Optus D1 NZ13L.
* After this, if you are still experiencing problems, call 0800 759 759.
