Sky TV keep or not?
Discussion
We’ve had Sky for 20 years+ but none of us watch that much ‘proper’ TV now with me mainly watching YouTube with a premium subscription and the wife and kids all watch Netflix, Disney etc and we have subscriptions to pretty much all streaming services so pricing is getting a little much.
Sky is still the biggest monthly bill even with a discount of just under £70 per month which includes the main Sky Q box plus x3 mini boxes around the house and includes the full sports packages. Also get full HD which I find weird having to pay extra for that in 2024!
We’re out of contract now and the only thing I really watch on Sky is live darts and F1 - which can’t be watched anywhere (in the UK) live except Sky. The boxes also constantly go wrong and need rebooting constantly and out all of the tech stuff we have, they are without doubt, the worst and laggiest things in the house.
Are there any cheaper alternatives to having all these little used sky boxes where I can still watch live F1 at least?
We don’t have a BT phone line so can’t really get any bundled deals as a package and are limited to our main broadband supplier who are at least super fast (1gb up/down) so want to stay with them even if there were any slower non full fiber providers.
Sky is still the biggest monthly bill even with a discount of just under £70 per month which includes the main Sky Q box plus x3 mini boxes around the house and includes the full sports packages. Also get full HD which I find weird having to pay extra for that in 2024!
We’re out of contract now and the only thing I really watch on Sky is live darts and F1 - which can’t be watched anywhere (in the UK) live except Sky. The boxes also constantly go wrong and need rebooting constantly and out all of the tech stuff we have, they are without doubt, the worst and laggiest things in the house.
Are there any cheaper alternatives to having all these little used sky boxes where I can still watch live F1 at least?
We don’t have a BT phone line so can’t really get any bundled deals as a package and are limited to our main broadband supplier who are at least super fast (1gb up/down) so want to stay with them even if there were any slower non full fiber providers.
)Had Sky Q for many years with main + 4 mini and was very happy at previous houses.
At this house the Sky Q was always going offline so binned it for Sky Stream.
At least with Sky Q if it is recorded then you do physically have the program and you can decide when and how to watch later.
With Sky Stream you need to find the programme and even if you put it in your play list what you can play back seems to be a lottery.
With Sky Q we would set to record and time slip 20 minutes to skip through adverts while watching but possibly with Sky Stream you have to be there to pause the programme while it is being shown or possibly to wait for the program to be available on catch up.
With Sky Stream the catch up just launches BBC iPlayer or ITVX which you could do using your TV apps.
In the case of F1 was running late then Sky reschedules stuff and choosing to play the catch up on the Sky F1 channel actually plays Golf from the Sky Main Events channel. Correct time but wrong sport.
For Tour de France the Sky Stream gets confused between ITV4, S4C and Eurosport.
The pause, fast forward and reverse on Sky Stream to get past adverts is pants even if you pay the extra to skip ads.
For some reason when taking Sky Stream I had to have the full Sky Sports package.
I have called Sky numerous times but my subscription to Discovery Plus and Paramount is now borked.
Why oh why am I paying £106 monthly (includes Netflix)
No wonder the Firestick trade is booming.
At this house the Sky Q was always going offline so binned it for Sky Stream.
At least with Sky Q if it is recorded then you do physically have the program and you can decide when and how to watch later.
With Sky Stream you need to find the programme and even if you put it in your play list what you can play back seems to be a lottery.
With Sky Q we would set to record and time slip 20 minutes to skip through adverts while watching but possibly with Sky Stream you have to be there to pause the programme while it is being shown or possibly to wait for the program to be available on catch up.
With Sky Stream the catch up just launches BBC iPlayer or ITVX which you could do using your TV apps.
In the case of F1 was running late then Sky reschedules stuff and choosing to play the catch up on the Sky F1 channel actually plays Golf from the Sky Main Events channel. Correct time but wrong sport.
For Tour de France the Sky Stream gets confused between ITV4, S4C and Eurosport.
The pause, fast forward and reverse on Sky Stream to get past adverts is pants even if you pay the extra to skip ads.
For some reason when taking Sky Stream I had to have the full Sky Sports package.
I have called Sky numerous times but my subscription to Discovery Plus and Paramount is now borked.
Why oh why am I paying £106 monthly (includes Netflix)
No wonder the Firestick trade is booming.
tight fart said:
My Mum is paying £80 a month for sky with an old sky plus box.
She doesn’t have broadband.
She likes the Tennis so pays for sport (not sure of the package but it includes F1)
Ideally shed prefer to stay with the same setup (she’s 94)
Any thoughts on changing as it seems a lot to me.
I have the same with my mum, shes 81, and cant/wont learn a new way of watching, and records everything.She doesn’t have broadband.
She likes the Tennis so pays for sport (not sure of the package but it includes F1)
Ideally shed prefer to stay with the same setup (she’s 94)
Any thoughts on changing as it seems a lot to me.
Im not sure there is a better alternative, as sky just works.
Ive tried to get her streaming etc, but its not working.
What i dont understand is why tvs cant record stuff now, i know you can plug in usb sticks etc, but thats not going to happen with her.
Im sure it wouldnt cost to much to put a record facility into a smart tv. Maybe im missing something.
We found that the tipping point for getting rid of Sky was getting a Freeview Plus smart TV. Admittedly this coincided with Succession finishing, which was about the only thing we were watching on a pure Sky channel, we’d said that if anything came on that we wanted to watch then we’d pay for Now, but it’s not happened yet. Having everything directly off the TV, as with the Sky box makes a big difference. I’ve got a 2nd hand Humax Freeview Plus recorder for either time slipping or stuff I want to keep for longer but it’s rarely used now. Best option is probably to just bin Sky if you’ve got a smart TV and see how you get on. They write to me every couple of weeks to ask me to come back but the offer has never been tempting enough, you might find it’s tempting for you or that you’re happy to live without.
Old contract with Sky recently ran out. Had Sky Q, 1 minibox, movies but not sport, plus broadband/phone. Bill went up from £77 to £104 per month. Called them up to do the threaten to cancel negotiation only to be told that they weren’t giving any offers at all to Sky Q customers. If I wanted Sky glass or Sky stream, they would be prepared to negotiate, but as I want the ability to record stuff, I was screwed. In the end, I bit the bullet and renewed the TV but got a better deal on the broadband, so went somewhere else that was cheaper and better. They seemed really surprised when they called me a couple days after cancelling the broadband when I refused to discuss their “improved” broadband offer. When I explained that if they had made me the offer when my contract was up, I would have considered it, they just couldn’t understand.
Personally, I think that Sky are trying to get rid of their satellite customers by forcing them down the Stream and Glass routes. An acquaintance of mine is a Sky engineer and he has said that he is doing fewer satellite installations and a lot more Sky glass, it is also far cheaper for Sky!
I am gradually watching and deleting all the recordings from my Sky Q, once I have done that I will cancel the lot. They have no loyalty to existing customers and I can get the TV I want from other sources.
Personally, I think that Sky are trying to get rid of their satellite customers by forcing them down the Stream and Glass routes. An acquaintance of mine is a Sky engineer and he has said that he is doing fewer satellite installations and a lot more Sky glass, it is also far cheaper for Sky!
I am gradually watching and deleting all the recordings from my Sky Q, once I have done that I will cancel the lot. They have no loyalty to existing customers and I can get the TV I want from other sources.
Actual said:
Had Sky Q for many years with main + 4 mini and was very happy at previous houses.
At this house the Sky Q was always going offline so binned it for Sky Stream.
At least with Sky Q if it is recorded then you do physically have the program and you can decide when and how to watch later.
With Sky Stream you need to find the programme and even if you put it in your play list what you can play back seems to be a lottery.
With Sky Q we would set to record and time slip 20 minutes to skip through adverts while watching but possibly with Sky Stream you have to be there to pause the programme while it is being shown or possibly to wait for the program to be available on catch up.
With Sky Stream the catch up just launches BBC iPlayer or ITVX which you could do using your TV apps.
In the case of F1 was running late then Sky reschedules stuff and choosing to play the catch up on the Sky F1 channel actually plays Golf from the Sky Main Events channel. Correct time but wrong sport.
For Tour de France the Sky Stream gets confused between ITV4, S4C and Eurosport.
The pause, fast forward and reverse on Sky Stream to get past adverts is pants even if you pay the extra to skip ads.
For some reason when taking Sky Stream I had to have the full Sky Sports package.
I have called Sky numerous times but my subscription to Discovery Plus and Paramount is now borked.
Why oh why am I paying £106 monthly (includes Netflix)
No wonder the Firestick trade is booming.
This doesn't make sense. Sky Q is just a box.At this house the Sky Q was always going offline so binned it for Sky Stream.
At least with Sky Q if it is recorded then you do physically have the program and you can decide when and how to watch later.
With Sky Stream you need to find the programme and even if you put it in your play list what you can play back seems to be a lottery.
With Sky Q we would set to record and time slip 20 minutes to skip through adverts while watching but possibly with Sky Stream you have to be there to pause the programme while it is being shown or possibly to wait for the program to be available on catch up.
With Sky Stream the catch up just launches BBC iPlayer or ITVX which you could do using your TV apps.
In the case of F1 was running late then Sky reschedules stuff and choosing to play the catch up on the Sky F1 channel actually plays Golf from the Sky Main Events channel. Correct time but wrong sport.
For Tour de France the Sky Stream gets confused between ITV4, S4C and Eurosport.
The pause, fast forward and reverse on Sky Stream to get past adverts is pants even if you pay the extra to skip ads.
For some reason when taking Sky Stream I had to have the full Sky Sports package.
I have called Sky numerous times but my subscription to Discovery Plus and Paramount is now borked.
Why oh why am I paying £106 monthly (includes Netflix)
No wonder the Firestick trade is booming.
Surely both Q and stream receive the same signal?
richhead said:
tight fart said:
My Mum is paying £80 a month for sky with an old sky plus box.
She doesn’t have broadband.
She likes the Tennis so pays for sport (not sure of the package but it includes F1)
Ideally shed prefer to stay with the same setup (she’s 94)
Any thoughts on changing as it seems a lot to me.
I have the same with my mum, shes 81, and cant/wont learn a new way of watching, and records everything.She doesn’t have broadband.
She likes the Tennis so pays for sport (not sure of the package but it includes F1)
Ideally shed prefer to stay with the same setup (she’s 94)
Any thoughts on changing as it seems a lot to me.
Im not sure there is a better alternative, as sky just works.
Ive tried to get her streaming etc, but its not working.
What i dont understand is why tvs cant record stuff now, i know you can plug in usb sticks etc, but thats not going to happen with her.
Im sure it wouldnt cost to much to put a record facility into a smart tv. Maybe im missing something.
Streaming is for mugs, you don't actually own any content. Internet is down, you can't watch anything. You're totally dependent.
Edited by tele_lover on Sunday 11th August 02:25
tele_lover said:
This doesn't make sense. Sky Q is just a box.
Surely both Q and stream receive the same signal?
Sky Q has main box which gets TV picture from satellite dish and then streams to Sky Q Mini boxes using Ethernet or a mesh Wi-Fi.Surely both Q and stream receive the same signal?
Sky Stream and Glass get the TV picture direct from Internet using Ethernet or Wi-Fi with no connection between boxes.
tele_lover said:
The problem isn't Sky, his Mum is just paying too much. You can get Sky sports for much cheaper.
Streaming is for mugs, you don't actually own any content. And you’ll be happy. Internet is down, you can't watch anything. You're totally dependent.
FTFY. Streaming is for mugs, you don't actually own any content. And you’ll be happy. Internet is down, you can't watch anything. You're totally dependent.
Edited by tele_lover on Sunday 11th August 02:25
Oh sorry, wrong thread
NuckyThompson said:
I binned it off 2 months ago, very surprised not to have the begging phone calls during the run off period and after the contract finished.
They haven’t even pestered for their boxes back
Do the boxes still work to get free channels?They haven’t even pestered for their boxes back
And if you have multi boxes, do they still work to?
alangla said:
We found that the tipping point for getting rid of Sky was getting a Freeview Plus smart TV. Admittedly this coincided with Succession finishing, which was about the only thing we were watching on a pure Sky channel, we’d said that if anything came on that we wanted to watch then we’d pay for Now, but it’s not happened yet. Having everything directly off the TV, as with the Sky box makes a big difference. I’ve got a 2nd hand Humax Freeview Plus recorder for either time slipping or stuff I want to keep for longer but it’s rarely used now. Best option is probably to just bin Sky if you’ve got a smart TV and see how you get on. They write to me every couple of weeks to ask me to come back but the offer has never been tempting enough, you might find it’s tempting for you or that you’re happy to live without.
Agree about the Smart TV and thats also whats pushed me into potentially getting rid of Sky.Plus points are that all the apps load up and work much quicker than Sky's quite laggy and slow interface.
The picture quality in 4K on Netflix/Disney etc on the TV's app is far better than Sky UHD.
Only downsides making me stay is that were we live, we can only get 9 HD channels via Freeview - although aside from the main channels, normal TV doesn't really get watched much now. Our TV does seem to upscale SD channels somehow though and they also look better than watching non HD channels on Sky.
One TV we have has no ariel connection and getting one to it will be a pain and probably not worth the cost.
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