Ditch Sky - to what?

[mattyn1]

I know there has been many threads on Sky alternatives but I do find myself over the last six months watching Sky less and less - in fact watching normal TV less and less and so as we enter a new year, wonder if I should re-evaluate my TV package(s).

I currently have the full Sky Q package (Sport, Cinema, Netflix, Fibre BB), with the main box and two mini boxes. I also have Prime (through my shopping habits!!), and Apple TV (based on a family iCloud package with Music etc). Oh I also pay for my TV Licence. Sky is useful because A: it is easy to navigate, and B: it puts a lot in one subscription, but I find myself watching Netflix/Apple TV through he Apple TV box rather than through the Sky Box.

What I watch:

Netflix
Apple TV
Prime
Paramount
YouTube

And on Sky, the essentials I watch are F1, Premier League Football, Champions League, and also occasionally, a bit of Sky Atlantic (but would sacrifice this).

How would you skin this cat? BB and Sky is about £140 a month. Apple Family is I think about £25 a month. Prime is whatever that is... with TV licence, I suspect I pay approx £200 per month all in. That's madness isn't it?

I know I can do F1 through the F1 app - I know there is a thread so can look that up... and ask Qs.

My TVs are smart - and can load apps onto them directly. I also like the Apple TV GUI - so this would be my preferred hardware to purchase if necessary. And I am happy with my actual TVs.

If I can ditch Sky subscription (maybe with a better BB deal somewhere), get rid of the dish, and ditch my TV Licence (though won't the football and F1 mean a licence is needed?), what would you experts do to minimise cost. I would like to get the YouTube Premium too - as I watch that a lot. My thoughts lean toward NowTV, but unsure if there are better alternatives. I just want it to be cheaper - I don't have a figure in mind.

Thoughts of you with a far better understanding than me would be gratefully received.

Thanks!

[kiethton]

In a very similar position - watching with interest

[Doofus]

I have NowTV (Sky Entertainment and Sky Cinema - sports is available but I don't want it) Netflix and Prime (whichis steso we never watch it.

Prime is whatever it is per year, Now is £9.99 for ents, £9.99 for Cinema and £5 for multi-device 'ultra'. Netflix is £12.99

BB is currently free, but will be £30 from February (500Mb).

[v8notbrave]

It's still old school threaten to leave and they find offers, sky sports went from 34£ month to 21£, result

[fooman]

Doofus said:

I have NowTV (Sky Entertainment and Sky Cinema - sports is available but I don't want it) Netflix and Prime (whichis steso we never watch it.

Prime is whatever it is per year, Now is £9.99 for ents, £9.99 for Cinema and £5 for multi-device 'ultra'. Netflix is £12.99

BB is currently free, but will be £30 from February (500Mb).

Go through the online cancel process on NowTV they'll halve those prices without having to speak to anyone.

[Doofus]

fooman said:

Doofus said:

I have NowTV (Sky Entertainment and Sky Cinema - sports is available but I don't want it) Netflix and Prime (whichis steso we never watch it.

Prime is whatever it is per year, Now is £9.99 for ents, £9.99 for Cinema and £5 for multi-device 'ultra'. Netflix is £12.99

BB is currently free, but will be £30 from February (500Mb).

Go through the online cancel process on NowTV they'll halve those prices without having to speak to anyone.

Can't be arsed.

[Kuwahara]

Dodgy fire stick….!!!

[MOBB]

Kuwahara said:

Dodgy fire stick .!!!

This

[Doofus]

If everybody stole what they wanted instead of paying legitimately, then eventually the thing they were stealing will cease to exist.

[Leicester Loyal]

Kuwahara said:

Dodgy fire stick .!!!

Yep, I just have Virgin internet now. Although the contract ends in January, I've told them I'm leaving, they gave me a slightly better deal (a couple of quid cheaper) but not what they were giving new customers, so I cancelled it. I expected them to have contacted me by now to offer me something better but they haven't, so I might end up going back and trying to take what they actually offered me at this rate.

[Doofus]

Leicester Loyal said:

Kuwahara said:

Dodgy fire stick .!!!

Yep, I just have Virgin internet now. Although the contract ends in January, I've told them I'm leaving, they gave me a slightly better deal (a couple of quid cheaper) but not what they were giving new customers, so I cancelled it. I expected them to have contacted me by now to offer me something better but they haven't, so I might end up going back and trying to take what they actually offered me at this rate.

When I told Virgin I wanted to cancel their reply was effectively "K. Bye". So I went to Vodafone and got a year's BB for free.

[butchstewie]

I did this with an Apple TV 4K.

Went from paying Sky £120 or so (I think, I know it was over £100) to paying £160 for the Apple TV and then for:

Prime (got it anyway for the "free" delivery)
NetFlix
Disney Plus
Paramount
Apple TV

You do soon realise when you're paying for separate subs that whilst it's a lot cheaper you need to either watch a LOT or want specific shows on each one to justify all of them IMO.

I have weeks or months when I might not watch a single thing on one or two of those services.

I'm also a fussy bugger about the whole UX and whilst it's a very personal thing Apple TV "Just works" for me as I'm a bit of a "channel hopper" and some of the streaming devices are absolute garbage at multi-tasking.

[Turn7]

We sacked SKy off and went with EE, as already using for mobiles .

Happy enough tbh.

Wouldn’t touch Sky ever again .

[NDA]

Doofus said:

If everybody stole what they wanted instead of paying legitimately, then eventually the thing they were stealing will cease to exist.

Very true. However.....

I have a chum with one of these devices and all of his TV is one place - he doesn't have to chase channels around trying to find the rugby (for example) and just searches for anything and there it is. He doesn't have to have Apple, Paramount, Netflix, Sky, Amazon, Disney etc. For him it's not the price, it's the convenience.

I am not condoning this at all but there must be a business opportunity in there somewhere to consolidate the numerous platforms into one.

[Doofus]

NDA said:

Doofus said:

If everybody stole what they wanted instead of paying legitimately, then eventually the thing they were stealing will cease to exist.

Very true. However.....

I have a chum with one of these devices and all of his TV is one place - he doesn't have to chase channels around trying to find the rugby (for example) and just searches for anything and there it is. He doesn't have to have Apple, Paramount, Netflix, Sky, Amazon, Disney etc. For him it's not the price, it's the convenience.

I am not condoning this at all but there must be a business opportunity in there somewhere to consolidate the numerous platforms into one.

I use an app called "Just Watch" which, whilst not infallible, lets me search for pretty-much anything and tells me where I can (or can't) watch it.

[itsallyellow]

Im in exactly the same boat.

The difference being i literally use sky for one thing and that F1.

The problem is i never watch F1 Live and normally watch it a few hours later. Being able to record the program on Sky is very important. Are there any other services where you can record like sky?

[MOBB]

Doofus said:

If everybody stole what they wanted instead of paying legitimately, then eventually the thing they were stealing will cease to exist.

Yep I hear you

But after paying sky and all the others thousands of pounds, but extra for box office, no adverts, better picture quality etc, and seeing people being paid £500k a week due to this, I just decided to steal it instead

[Mr Pointy]

itsallyellow said:

Im in exactly the same boat.

The difference being i literally use sky for one thing and that F1.

The problem is i never watch F1 Live and normally watch it a few hours later. Being able to record the program on Sky is very important. Are there any other services where you can record like sky?

Yes - the F1 TV app. Not officially available in the Uk but there are ways round it:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Leicester Loyal]

MOBB said:

Doofus said:

If everybody stole what they wanted instead of paying legitimately, then eventually the thing they were stealing will cease to exist.

Yep I hear you

But after paying sky and all the others thousands of pounds, but extra for box office, no adverts, better picture quality etc, and seeing people being paid £500k a week due to this, I just decided to steal it instead

100%. Over £100 a month to watch some streamers talk about football, no thanks.

[RichFN2]

I was in a similar position a few years back, except I was not using any of the TV channels at all.

I took a rather extreme approach and cancelled absolutely everything (including the TV license) and reapply for any subscriptions that I was genuinely missing.

NowTV was the subscription I used the most. The movies and series were much better than Netflix at the time and the deals were decent value if you opted for the 6 month subscription. When I went to cancel after the 6 months the retention deals were too good to turn down (except sport)

The sport package is currently £28 a month for 6 months (then rises to £34), with the entertainment & cinema bundle at £8.99 for 6 months (then rises to £20). If you set a reminder to cancel a few days before these expire then the retention deals can be even cheaper.

Netflix and Prime I just sign up for a month, binge anything that's new and decent and then cancel.