Is Sky past it now?

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Discussion

Simond S

Original Poster:

4,514 posts

276 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Just bought a new tv and it is Smart. Smarter than me anyway!

It seems to cover most of the things that Sky offer, apart from the pay per use sport and films.

Having had Sky since Nigel Mansell first entered the Indy car series, I am wondering if it has lost its USP. Is there any need to spend £78 per month on programmes anymore?

Or, am I missing something that I will realise with regret when i cancel?

toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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I'm not so sure. I have Apple TV which rarely gets used apart from the odd movie streamed from the iPad, Freeview and BT Vision (as I get it for free). I only ever turn on the BT vision box when I want to watch Sky Sports or BT Sports. We have a multiroom setup and it's still the TV option of choice. I had a free Netflix account (courtest of my fathers subscription) which he cancelled as it's pretty poor. We rarely watched that either.

I still like the Sky channels so don't mind the £36 a month. I might think differently if I had to pay for all the extras though.

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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I think ALL traditional TV (whether terrestrial, satellite or cable) has "had it" up to a point. Sky might be more vulnerable than some because in comparison to other national broadcasters, it doesn't create a huge amount of its own content. Instead it relies heavilly on sport and to some extent, news. It has shifted a bit in recent years towards creating its own creative catalogue as I think it sees where the future problems are coming from.

It's an interesting time in the world of visual media.

Simond S

Original Poster:

4,514 posts

276 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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I'm discussing the options live with Sky, they want to downgrade my package to £45 and the only benefit over freeview appears to be a few live football matches.

Composite Guru

2,205 posts

202 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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I had it for 2 years and found I was just watching a load of repeats and endless b0ll0cks so cancelled. Thought getting freesat HD and a Netflix subscription was a far better deal.
£10 extra for standard programme HD channels, no thanks.

P-Jay

10,550 posts

190 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Perhaps I'm missing a (legal) avenue, but a lot of the stuff I watch is only on Sky or perhaps Virgin, but I'm not in a cable area.

I'm thinking Game of Throne, Walking Dead, Wheeler Dealers, Fast n' Loud, Gold Rush,.

marcosgt

11,011 posts

175 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Depends on your viewing pattern I guess.

I've got Virgin (dumped Sky about the time the OP signed up! biggrin), but it suits us.

We don't watch many films and don't consume TV Series in a 'boxset' way, I still quite like waiting a week to see what happens next (I guess I'm not of the generation that needs instant gratification smile ).

If you prefer to watch in a different way, I guess Sky/Virgin/Terrestial isn't for you...

To be honest, we could probably lose Virgin TV (although the HD channels are good - and included - and we originally signed up to Cabletel because we're on the back of a hill and our TV reception through an aerial was awful), but I'm happy to pay for it for 150+MB broadband.

I get the BT sports channel included in my bundle too, so I can still watch Juan-Pablo Montoya in Indy Cars smile

M.

ajprice

27,311 posts

195 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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£78 per month could probably buy you a lot of online subscriptions, with however much Prime is monthly, Netflix, NowTV, Mubi, BT Sport (if you're on BT broadband or infinity), it would all come to a lot less than £78.

alock

4,224 posts

210 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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We gave up Sky about 5 years ago. A few years with just FreeView (and a twin tuner PVR to match Sky+ functionality) and more recently supplemented with Netflix.

The Sky model is a joke and I refuse to be part of it again. Compare these two models:

1) Netflix. £7 per month. Not only are there are no adverts, but they make it easy to skip the credits at the end and if watching a series automatically skip the introductions as well. It feels like you get treated like a grown up.

2) £30-£70 per month. Lots and lots of adverts because the monthly subscription somehow isn't enough! Still feels like a 10+ year old product from when Sky+ first came out.

I might just be able to justify it if I wanted to watch premiership football. I don't want this so everything else just seems like I would be subsidizing those that do just to cover the fees they paid.

kmpowell

2,915 posts

227 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Until there's an OD service which covers all broadcasters, Sky will remain IMO.

For me, we have the Sky 'Family' TV Bundle, then I use NOWTV (Sky Service) through my Apple TV to PAYG on Sports and Movies when I want.

Lots of what we watch is only available through Sky, so for now I'm happy to pay per month. I've recently resigned another 12mths at £44 per month, for the 'Family' Bundle (which includes Go, HD, + etc) Unlimited Fibre BB and Unlimited Sky Talk.

At the end of the 12mths I'll again re-evaluate the current OD market, and if it's not progressed then I'll sign again.

Given JC is now on Prime, I can see that gaining traction, but the interesting move is EE launching OD channels through their network. I do however think with Sky Q launching, it'll grab back a lot of the market, especially if they can aggregate services.

paulw123

3,169 posts

189 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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P-Jay said:
Perhaps I'm missing a (legal) avenue, but a lot of the stuff I watch is only on Sky or perhaps Virgin, but I'm not in a cable area.

I'm thinking Game of Throne, Walking Dead, Wheeler Dealers, Fast n' Loud, Gold Rush,.
I must be missing something too then as I cant see how you would get most of the programs without sky, a decent bit of haggling and its amazing what deals you can get. I pay £46.25 a month (and got a £90 credit to my account) for family, Sky sports HD, line rental, unlimited BB etc, everything apart from films. As a third of that is line rental its hardly a rip off.

ukaskew

10,642 posts

220 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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We ditched Sky and now have BT Youview, Now TV and Amazon Prime for £30 per month. We can even add live Sky Sports occasionally (did for a few F1 races) and still save a fortune.

So that's all of Freeview HD, quite a few extra channels (Discovery, History, Fox, AMC, Comedy Central etc), BT Sport HD, everything that Sky Movies show, Amazon TV and movie content, unlimited free next day delivery, unlimited photo storage and music streaming.

We could add Netflix and still be way, way below a decent Sky package.

Edited by ukaskew on Monday 30th November 18:58

a7x88

776 posts

147 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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Soon to be consigned to the scrap bin in its current format. IPTV is here to stay. Who wants to be told when they have to watch something or remember to record it? Why not just select what you want when you want. As internet speeds and their availability go up and up there are no more reasons as to why it can't happen.

We don't have any terrestrial TV at home. Use a roku box and the relevant catch up apps, but more importantly Netflix. As others have said - that's how subscription TV should work it's a class above sky in that regard. Quality self funded shows with no adverts at all.

Sky's chance would be to offer something similar but combine all the content sources - I.e. Stop people having to have different subs for different shows like Amazon prime and netflix. That boat sailed 5-10 years ago though

The only issues I can see is live sporting events - but there's no reason they can't be broadcast over an IP service like Netflix as it airs, and as their revenue increases the chances to acquire the rights go up. Surely only a matter of time?

BrabusMog

20,082 posts

185 months

Monday 30th November 2015
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a7x88 said:
The only issues I can see is live sporting events - but there's no reason they can't be broadcast over an IP service like Netflix as it airs, and as their revenue increases the chances to acquire the rights go up. Surely only a matter of time?
In Sweden I use a service called Viaplay and can stream all Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A football matches. Crucially, I can also get the 3pm KO's on a Saturday. The quality isn't quite as good as my Sky Sports HD in the UK, but it is still very good. As a side bonus, it also has F1, NHL and other sports, plus you get loads of catch up TV. It's price is also agreeable - 22.50gbp a month roughly roughly for it all.

I will be canning off Sky for the UK and using one of those IP location hiding services so that I can use it in the UK as soon as I can. I will miss the Sky programme menu and user interface, but that's about it.

a7x88

776 posts

147 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Exactly the sort of thing I was imagining. There no reason why Netflix et all couldn't by the rights to these events as they got bigger. I would have thought their distribution costs etc are far lower than those of Sky's etc. It uses a service most people already have and pay for. They just need the rights, content storage and app development. Sky has all of these plus delivery infrastructure to manage

Simond S

Original Poster:

4,514 posts

276 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
BrabusMog said:
a7x88 said:
The only issues I can see is live sporting events - but there's no reason they can't be broadcast over an IP service like Netflix as it airs, and as their revenue increases the chances to acquire the rights go up. Surely only a matter of time?
In Sweden I use a service called Viaplay and can stream all Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A football matches. Crucially, I can also get the 3pm KO's on a Saturday. The quality isn't quite as good as my Sky Sports HD in the UK, but it is still very good. As a side bonus, it also has F1, NHL and other sports, plus you get loads of catch up TV. It's price is also agreeable - 22.50gbp a month roughly roughly for it all.

I will be canning off Sky for the UK and using one of those IP location hiding services so that I can use it in the UK as soon as I can. I will miss the Sky programme menu and user interface, but that's about it.
I've spent the last few years watching live football via my laptop at 3 pm on a Saturday as it isnt aired via tv. Recently i also bought a tv box that uses broadband for this purpose, which is what initiated the concept of losing Sky. The box was £70 as a one of payment.

Sky is now cancelled. We'll see in the new year if that was a mistake, but it gives me 30 days to prep recorders and a spare IP TV box. Year one saving will be nearly £1000



toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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A lot of people are on Netflix but I must be missing something. I used to spend about 30 minutes every time I loaded it up searching for something to watch. All I could find were straight to DVD Danny Dyer movies. I started watching OITNB but lost interest after a few episodes. Is normal Freeview and netflix really a valid replacement for Sky?

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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I cancelled Sky about 15 years ago and although I do miss the live football and all the F1 races I would never go back.

There is a dearth of good programs in general these days - free and fee - so I am very selective in what I watch anyway either live or on demand. If anything really special comes along I am happy to wait for the box set. Although most people slag off the BBC, their science and nature programs are probably the things I watch most anyway.

Films are my biggest viewing passion so I spend most of my viewing time either streaming or watching BluRays.

At the end of the day it all comes down to what floats your boat.

Flip Martian

19,500 posts

189 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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I would love to bin Sky but my wife and stepdaughter are addicted to drama and scifi tv... And there is no way in the world I will ever get my wife able to use something like Kodi, never mind put up with "channels not found" messages etc. I have watched a few footy games on the laptop or PC via streaming but there's no comparison really - its far better in Sky HD.

alock

4,224 posts

210 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
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toon10 said:
A lot of people are on Netflix but I must be missing something. I used to spend about 30 minutes every time I loaded it up searching for something to watch. All I could find were straight to DVD Danny Dyer movies. I started watching OITNB but lost interest after a few episodes. Is normal Freeview and netflix really a valid replacement for Sky?
The search only really works to find you something if you know the name. You have to just pick several things based on reviews/recommendations and after that it starts suggesting other things to watch based on what you have already watched. I would suggest watching some of their big-name shows such as Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Gotham, Daredevil, Narcos, Marco Polo, Dexter, etc... Pick one based on the type of show you like such as historical, political, crime and it'll suggest other similar shows to then watch.

After a couple of months you'll have thousands of hours worth of stuff you want to watch waiting in your list and hence always be able to jump straight into something without waiting for adverts or for it to be broadcast.