Advice TV providers - how do you do it?

[old.user4556]

So my contract with Sky has passed and I'm now in a position where I'm paying £50 a month for a sack of shite.

Sky have changed how their packages work in the past few years which means you need to get the top "box sets" package in order to get any HD content (previously, HD was a £10 per month bolt-on regardless of the basic or premium packages). Sky's content has degraded over the years with Sky Atlantic being the only decent premium channel (I don't want sports or movies). I also watch some Eurosport (tennis and skiing), but now that's likely to get pulled from the end of January due to a dispute between Sky and Discovery. This latest shit has tipped me over the edge and into looking at alternatives.

I still want some level of TV in two rooms (currently have Sky Multiroom which is a £10 per month on top of the Sky package) with the ability to record (again, Sky+ recording is £10 per month). The logical solution would be to maintain use of the Sky dish and wiring and replace with two Humax Freesat boxes and then 'top up' with Now TV for the Ryder Cup and Game of Thrones when available. What I will say about Sky is that their top package does have quite an impressive line up of HD content - from what I can see it is still unrivalled.

I can't get Virgin, but what alternatives (legal or otherwise) do you guys use? I know a couple of people with Kodi sticks but they're clearly going to be illegal soon. Is it a return to good 'ole quality torrents?

 

[dysfunction]

I don't have any TV provider apart from freeview.

I have Kodi installed on a PC so no purchase necessary.

 

[Raven]

Sky, but fucking it off for Freeview soon.

 

[Job]

Eurosport is hit and miss on Kodi.
The wealth of tv shows and movies you can access is unparalleled on any streaming service..OK you have to fuck around for a bit to get a good stream and more are asking for registration...

 

[Scouse]

return to good 'ole quality torrents?

Never left.

Don't pay for TV. Haven't subscribed for about 7 or 8 years. Their offerings are awful - and they have the cheek to give you adverts when you're paying for a service??!!

Sail the high seas, see no adverts, get what you want, when you want it without having to navigate different services, their exclusivity clauses and all the bullshit that goes with it.

If in the future some big bad thing happens that means I don't get to participate in discussions about TV with my work colleagues for free, I'll learn the guitar properly and go to the pub in the evenings and play in a crappy band

 

[Bodhi]

It's probably best just to call up Sky and tell them you want to cancel, then see what deal they offer you. We did that earlier in the year when Virgin laid cables in our street, they knocked about 30 quid off the monthly bill without me really trying. I'd also say if you're paying for Sky+ you're probably on an old price plan, that's all included on ours, HD is 7 quid a month.

Also if you're using Multiscreen isn't Sky Q worth a look?

 

[SilverHood]

Haven't had TV in 4 and a half years. Only thing I miss is not being able to watch soccerball on weekends. Netflix, Kodi, Amazon prime and a friends HBO GO keep me going.

 

[caLLous]

I'm (still) thinking about throwing Sky in the bin, it's a stupid amount of money to pay to basically just watch football and F1. From a piracy standpoint, naughty sports streams have come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years, both in terms of quality and availability. Even if a Premier League match isn't being televised on Sky or BT, it'll be on Fox/NBC Sports in America or BeIN in Europe or something and there'll always be people putting streams up.

As for TV shows, piracy too. High quality, no adverts, watch when I want, it's always there archived locally so I can watch whole seasons and sort friends out with entire runs of shows if needs be. There's practically nothing I want to watch on Sky, BBC et al and if there is I'll usually download it anyway for archiving purposes.

 

[DaGaffer]

When you've got kids the convenience of pay tv still makes sense, just, although the price is getting ridiculous. Kodi is still too flaky when it comes to streams.

If I was in the UK I'd probably go basic broadband, Netflix and a Now TV box, and Kodi for my local content. Here, I'm stuck with Virgin because I can't switch to fibre easily.

 

[old.user4556]

It's probably best just to call up Sky and tell them you want to cancel, then see what deal they offer you. We did that earlier in the year when Virgin laid cables in our street, they knocked about 30 quid off the monthly bill without me really trying. I'd also say if you're paying for Sky+ you're probably on an old price plan, that's all included on ours, HD is 7 quid a month.

Also if you're using Multiscreen isn't Sky Q worth a look?

Called Sky last night, told them we wanted to cancel and they offered us the basic package, no HD, with a 10% discount if we signed up for a 12 month contract. Furthermore, Sky Q used to be multiroom by default - it's £12 per month now.

 

[Raven]

Sounds like a bit of a shit deal. They appear to be asking you to pay for freesat.

 

[DaGaffer]

Sounds like a bit of a shit deal. They appear to be asking you to pay for freesat.

Worse than Freesat. No HD.

 

[old.user4556]

Aye. Terrible deal, basically paying for Sky+, multiroom and 'freesat with a handful of Sky channels not in HD'.

 

[BloodOmen]

I always thought Sky was a load of shit personally, it's just repeats galore... it's like Dave, only you pay loads for it.

 

[Raven]

Yeah, I don't think they even make original content any more do they? Certainly not worth paying for.

 

[DaGaffer]

Yeah, I don't think they even make original content any more do they? Certainly not worth paying for.

They paid too much for the Premier League rights. I think a certain gentleman of this parish could give you the inside line on that. Result is budgets for everything else got slashed.

 

[Zarjazz]

Since I moved about 9 months ago I didn't renew my Sky contract as I barely used it before that anyway and the price was getting stupid. My internet is so shit I can't stream HD content at all so instead I just stick to Freeview and *cough* downloads *cough* to a mini-Kodi machine and honestly that works great for me.

 

[Gray]

I moved over to Sky in November from Virgin, i didn't want the hassle of moving to Sky with installations etc but Sky offered me such a good deal i had no choice, or should i say Virgin wouldn't compete with it so i had to...
Sky HD, All TV channels, Moviues and Sport, 40mb net (Which is the downfall), Sky Q plus Multiroom x2 for £60pm, rising to £140 when November comes.

I didn't really want to move, but Virgin were refusing to release information about their V6 box and i needed to cancel that month else i'd have been locked into a contract with Virgin (Due to the price increases they were doing).

I very much suspect that i'll be moving back to Virgin when the time comes to see what deals they can offer me, they have better internet options as well and at least don't have service degradation due to a small bit of rain.

 

[Embattle]

No Sky just tend to use a nowtv box to watch sports when we want to.

 

[Moriath]

Got virgin media with s sports and movies. A tivo box and a second hd box, along with 220mbit interweb

I just liketo be able todowhatilikewhen i want to. I watch quite a bitofthe sports channels.

 

[Bodhi]

I moved over to Sky in November from Virgin, i didn't want the hassle of moving to Sky with installations etc but Sky offered me such a good deal i had no choice, or should i say Virgin wouldn't compete with it so i had to...
Sky HD, All TV channels, Moviues and Sport, 40mb net (Which is the downfall), Sky Q plus Multiroom x2 for £60pm, rising to £140 when November comes.

I didn't really want to move, but Virgin were refusing to release information about their V6 box and i needed to cancel that month else i'd have been locked into a contract with Virgin (Due to the price increases they were doing).

I very much suspect that i'll be moving back to Virgin when the time comes to see what deals they can offer me, they have better internet options as well and at least don't have service degradation due to a small bit of rain.

There's something up with your install if you're getting service issues due to weather, I haven't seen that particular message on a Sky box for about 10 years now.

 

[Gray]

I have had occasional drop-outs, but after complaining they had BT come back out. Seems first guy may have done a bodge job of it and since then things have looked rather stable.

I've just seen on FAcebook though, Sky are sending out letters to people now saying their line rentals are increasing for broadband/rental approx £4pm more. Playing the same tricks as Virgin Media were. While i can stay on Sky maybe for their TV packages, they can get fucked as the broadband is a bit shit. I think the max i ever could get is 40mb which is what i've ended up having to downgrade to. At least with Virgin i had a lot more variety.

 

[Raven]

Sky caps at 40mb everywhere. Even had some clown from Sky trying to convince me theirs was better than BTs despite BT being 75ish mb and about £10 cheaper.

Awful company, will be glad to see the back of them.

 

[Jupitus]

I have BT broadband and about 75 mbps d/l so I use the internet to watch most of my TV on my pc rather than my TV set. I enjoy the BBC dramas and have a valid tv license, I have an amazon prime account for what they offer, my best mate lives overseas so I use his Sky Go account which has all the various packages (he's loaded) and anything else, yarrrr.....

 

[Job]

I have actually given up on the TV itself, I watch just about everything on my phone, a pair of 2X reading glasses and you have a screen about 50 inches.
Got 20GB from Vodafone, watch TV anywhere, no work for an afternoon, sit off in the country on top of a hill and watch Kodi, Iplayer, Youtube, ITV hub, C4.
Hasn't the world changed.

 

[Jupitus]

I have actually given up on the TV itself, I watch just about everything on my phone, a pair of 2X reading glasses and you have a screen about 50 inches.
Got 20GB from Vodafone, watch TV anywhere, no work for an afternoon, sit off in the country on top of a hill and watch Kodi, Iplayer, Youtube, ITV hub, C4.
Hasn't the world changed.

Good enough for cams, I suppose.....

 

[Raven]

Just signed up with BT TV, £10 a month with the HD recording box thingy.

Bye Sky.

 

[Moriath]

I have actually given up on the TV itself, I watch just about everything on my phone, a pair of 2X reading glasses and you have a screen about 50 inches.
Got 20GB from Vodafone, watch TV anywhere, no work for an afternoon, sit off in the country on top of a hill and watch Kodi, Iplayer, Youtube, ITV hub, C4.
Hasn't the world changed.

Cant stand my phones screen. Only use my phone for calling people. Use my ipad for everything else including texting. As its kinda paired with the phone anyway.

 

[Job]

The Note has a kickass oled 6 inch screen, it really looks good showing 1080 movies.

 

[Moriath]

The Note has a kickass oled 6 inch screen, it really looks good showing 1080 movies.

Still small arse compared to a tablet.