[Nibbles]

I'm really tempted to ditch sky as most of the stuff I watch is on Netflix and Amazon or terrestrial. The only thing I really use sky for is sports but I was thinking maybe I could live without that. However for the last couple of months I've installed SkyWorld on the Quest 2. Watching the football in VR from the stands with instant close up replays is almost as good as being at a live game. If they can integrate watching it with your mates as well that'll be a game changer and worth the monthly subscription alone. Also if they could do F1 from the cockpit in VR it would be incredible. Although watching the final farce of a race on the equivalent of a cinema screen was good.

[DB118D]

Once you actually cancel, they'll be chasing you and offering the best deals, so be prepared to hold your nerve until that point.

[Steve_M_Sport]

Originally Posted by DB118D

Once you actually cancel, they'll be chasing you and offering the best deals, so be prepared to hold your nerve until that point.

That's exactly what I did with Virgin & it worked a treat - see my post above.

[goram]

Cheers guys. My rather bloated Virgin package is about to go up from £105 to £148. Spent 30 mins on hold to them before giving up as I had to go and pick up the wee 'uns. Least I now know it's worth the effort. Can't be assed with the faff of moving over to sky etc etc.

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by goram

Cheers guys. My rather bloated Virgin package is about to go up from £105 to £148. Spent 30 mins on hold to them before giving up as I had to go and pick up the wee 'uns. Least I now know it's worth the effort. Can't be assed with the faff of moving over to sky etc etc.

When I phoned week before last, it was a Sunday morning, and I got straight through. Was most surprised. Yesterday morning was about half hour wait.

Make sure you go straight through to cancellations, option 4 I think. Definitely worth the hassle though (although of course we shouldn't have to )

I'm impressed with £148. You must have everything they offer

[DaveA]

Late to the party, here (cheese and wine?)... But I shall echo some previously posted thoughts/opinions..

I used to have full Sky access and canned it about 6/7 years ago... No regrets..

I, basically, have access to Freesat and Freeview (although Freeview is limited at the moment because our local transmitter was destroyed by fire last year)... I find there is enough on BBC etc to record loads of things (I tend to only use the HD channels) and that works fine for my TV watching... I only need an hour or so a day, anyway...

For F1, I use the NOW streams and there is usually a deal offered before the season starts... Last year it was something like £20/month for 9 months (and you cancel then rather than letting out roll on to the more expensive rate)... and you add a few extra quid to that to get HD... Works out about a tenner per race, so that works for me...

Right now, I have Britbox (don't laugh, it is "free" with my mobile contract, and I can swap that benefit for free USA roaming when needed)... and I watch a few things on it, but would not pay for it if it was not free... at least you get the stuff ad-free on there...

I stopped Netflix and did not restart it... I had a free year of Apple plus and did not keep it up after the free year ended...

[sahajesh]

The problem with catch-up services like ITV Hub etc is the generally poor quality of the stream and you also need to pay to skip ads.

In our house, we never watch anything on a commercial channel "live" - start 15 mins late and then you can FF the ads.

Yes, I can pay for ad-free catch-up but it's a pain setting those up.

Plus, I hate watching SD or poor quality HD, which is typical for these services.

I'm happy enough to cancel Sky every so often, let them call me every day for 3 weeks and then decide to answer their call and get 50-75% off for the new contract period.

[Wills2]

I'm loathed to pay anymore than the licence fee for entertainment although I pay for Netflix but I think that is decent value, wouldn't pay for Sky, although my BT broadband (I use the term loosely) is pants and not cheap so I'm not getting best value either.

[KRS_SN]

cancelled sky 3 years ago. Best decision used to cost us over 1k/year and we hardly used to watch it at all.
Now we have Netflix for mrs(it has loads of rom coms series etc )... Disney plus for kids... amazon prime and now movies and dipping in and out of now sports passes(daily/monthly) for me
Having 3 different TV's one for me one for mrs and one for kids and appreciating different ages and genders have different tastes and it's ok to watch TV separately for pre set screen times and getting back together as a family to enjoy non screen activities has helped.

[gangzoom]

Some of you guys are still watching scheduled board-cast TV!! Next your be telling me you still listen to 'radio' in the car .

Everything we use is now all streamed - even the stationary exercise bike needs an internet connection to work, I don't even think we have any TVs in the house thats connected to any kind of aerial/dish.

Though was 'interesting' when we lost internet for a few days last year, we had to resort to conversation

I think we use about 25gig per day in the house, thats without gaming on Stadia which pushes 10gig per hour by itself. A quick/reliable broadband service is our main cost, Netflix we pay for, but every other account (Amazon/Disney) is 'shared' between other family groups.

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

Some of you guys are still watching scheduled board-cast TV!! Next your be telling me you still listen to 'radio' in the car .

Everything we use is now all streamed - even the stationary exercise bike needs an internet connection to work, I don't even think we have any TVs in the house thats connected to any kind of aerial/dish.

Though was 'interesting' when we lost internet for a few days last year, we had to resort to conversation

I think we use about 25gig per day in the house, thats without gaming on Stadia which pushes 10gig per hour by itself. A quick/reliable broadband service is our main cost, Netflix we pay for, but every other account (Amazon/Disney) is 'shared' between other family groups.

So do you not watch any broadcast TV or you do but via catch-up apps?

Given the choice of catch-up apps or Sky for BBC/ITV etc, I'd pick Sky every time.

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

Some of you guys are still watching scheduled board-cast TV!! Next your be telling me you still listen to 'radio' in the car .
.

Absolutely. Live sport, news, current affairs, national events. We don’t all watch box sets you know. And I do like the chat on the radio.

Seems to be a bit of willy waving when it comes to Sky vs other choices. It’s a bit like the Android vs Apple. Android bunch seem to think it’s some sort of badge of honour not to be in with the Apple sheep. Anyway, Sky have around 12 million Customers so it’s not a bad choice unless you are paying full price. Some won’t care but some will also stay with the same insurance provider, gas company etc each year.
Gotta choose what’s right for you.

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

So do you not watch any broadcast TV or you do but via catch-up apps?

Given the choice of catch-up apps or Sky for BBC/ITV etc, I'd pick Sky every time.

The only regular broadcast TV we watch is the news, and occasional sports stuff.

YouTube is probably my main consumption media since 4K has become pretty standard. There are days when none of our TVs aren't turned on, unless the content is accessible across different devices its pretty unless to us these days. Our main TV is mainly used for Netflix/Amazon prime when we watch films, probably a few times a week.

The last time we had Sky about 6 years ago the App was pretty useless, hopefully it's better now?

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

The only regular broadcast TV we watch is the news, and occasional sports stuff.

YouTube is probably my main consumption media since 4K has become pretty standard. There are days when none of our TVs aren't turned on, unless the content is accessible across different devices its pretty unless to us these days. Our main TV is mainly used for Netflix/Amazon prime when we watch films, probably a few times a week.

The last time we had Sky about 6 years ago the App was pretty useless, hopefully it's better now?

YouTube? I'd love to know what is on YT that you watch so much unless you're a huge fan of Shmee150 and JoeAchilles!


I've never seen anything of real worth on YT and certainly not any "TV shows".

[ian332isport]

I've been with Sky (TV only) for over 20 years. I Periodically call them up and moan about the price which brings it down a bit. This thread prompted me to give them a call though.

I was paying £79 for Sky, Movies, Box sets (was an extra last time I spoke to them), UHD and multiroom (I'm pretty sure you had to take multiroom when SkyQ was first launched). No Sport, Kids, Netflix or anything else.

After repeatedly saying 'no' to their various offers, we finally got down to my target price of £48 which is what a new customer would be charged. This includes Sky Signature (box sets included), Movies, UHD and the Ultimate pack that includes Netflix. I've binned off multiroom as I don't need it.

So after 20mins or so on the phone, I'm saving £31 per month and also have Netflix that I didn't have previously. Happy with that.

[JustChris]

Haven't had Sky for years.

- Do have NOW TV (ok it's sky &#128514 sports but I think I'll cancel this soon
- Netflix
- Amazon
- Disney using a Tesco clubcard offer

Our home has no shitty dish or even an external arial, nice and clean. It's inside the loft which I was quite impressed about!

[Tengocity]

Having worked out that Now TV was going to be cheaper by in the region of £25, I called Sky today to cancel our package. Sure enough, was put through to the "VIP rententions team". First thing I'd say is that I'd guess they put their top performers in this team, as the guy I spoke to was first class to deal with. Knew his stuff, didn't bullshit, but with enough personality to make the engagement as enjoyably as these things can be.

He asked a couple of quick questions, including the smart one of what I was going to do instead. I mentioned Now TV, I guess meant he knew what he needed the price to be. He gave me the price for the full package we have been on of late - it was a £100pm, was offered to me earlier in the week for £90pm.

This guy came straight in with £71, and then £68 due to my length of service with Sky. I had my spreadsheet open, so knew that made it £4 more than going the Now TV route. At that it makes sense to stick with Sky, as the difference is worth it for the recording, series link, and multiroom functionality.

Still a lot of money in some ways, but I'm a lot happier with it being two thirds the price now.

[goodbyalfa]

Reading this thread makes you realise these tv/Internet companies are all a right pain in the ass, in the same bin as insurance companies.
Every bloody year you have to go through this dance. Those on this discussion take some pride in the fact they can negotiate what they feel to be a decent discount from the Std full fat price, but wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to? I.e. Everyone gets an appropriate and fair price. Hate the lot of them (love the sky q product so suffer the prices sadly).

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by goodbyalfa

Reading this thread makes you realise these tv/Internet companies are all a right pain in the ass, in the same bin as insurance companies.
Every bloody year you have to go through this dance. Those on this discussion take some pride in the fact they can negotiate what they feel to be a decent discount from the Std full fat price, but wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to? I.e. Everyone gets an appropriate and fair price. Hate the lot of them (love the sky q product so suffer the prices sadly).

Yes, wouldn't that be great!

I think the VFM of Netflix, Prime, Disney is fantastic, and it's that which makes Sky look particularly expensive, and their prices are fairly fixed across the board.

The real issue with Sky for me is the basic package you must have is 5 times the cost of Netflix et al, and has little to offer in comparison, and bits you possibly do want - movies and sports is a lot on top.

[335dX]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes, wouldn't that be great!

I think the VFM of Netflix, Prime, Disney is fantastic, and it's that which makes Sky look particularly expensive, and their prices are fairly fixed across the board.

The real issue with Sky for me is the basic package you must have is 5 times the cost of Netflix et al, and has little to offer in comparison, and bits you possibly do want - movies and sports is a lot on top.

But Netflix has no cost to them other than making the programmes.

Sky has a massive cost base - supplying boxes, installations, customer service. If Netflix goes down who do you ring? No one. So you can’t compare the two.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by 335dX

But Netflix has no cost to them other than making the programmes.

Sky has a massive cost base - supplying boxes, installations, customer service. If Netflix goes down who do you ring? No one. So you can’t compare the two.

Of course I can compare them, I just have. I'm well aware of the infrastructure involved with Sky, and because of that they created Now TV and now Sky Glass. They know that long term everything is going to be streamed eventually.

The other issue is the constantly rising cost of broadcast rights for sport, and they say Sky is set up they really need to have as much of it as possible, which means many of us are paying for access to watch sports we aren't interested in.

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

YouTube? I'd love to know what is on YT that you watch so much unless you're a huge fan of Shmee150 and JoeAchilles!


I've never seen anything of real worth on YT and certainly not any "TV shows".

Its probably more I just don't find much to watch at all on any platform, though I have just finished the Expanse, but prior to that the only thing I watched with enthusiasm was probably the prior season of the Expanse!

As for normal broadcast TV, if I have the time free I much rather spend that doing some gaming or exercise.