Support NeoGAF

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

For those that don't know, Sky TV is the UKs premium channel provider.

I'm paying £40/month and honestly I rarely even watch it so I'm looking for cheaper alternatives. Now TV looks interesting, which funnily enough is from Sky. I would miss Sky1 and Sky Atlantic but that's about it if I switched to a non Sky product.

So fellow Brits, what are you using and how happy are you with the service? Box performance interests me as well, Sky HD+ box is really slow IMO.

oldmario · May 28, 2015

just cancel and ignore and calls they give you for 2 weeks, eventually they'll offer you 75% off for 12 months with no contract

iNvid02 · May 28, 2015

if you cancel the tv package you could stick a freesat card in the box and get that with no subscription.

http://www.freesat.co.uk/

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

Bah, it seems Now TV was too good to be true, apparently it's low quality at 720p max. Sky TV is 1080i so it would be a noticeable downgrade. The plus side is they offer the channels I want for only £6/month instead of the £40/month I'm paying now.

terrisus · May 28, 2015

St3v3 said:
Bah, it seems Now TV was too good to be true, apparently it's low quality at 720p max. Sky TV is 1080i so it would be a noticeable downgrade.

...
720p is more lines/second than 1080i...

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

terrisus said:
...
720p is more lines/second than 1080i...

OK. Either way I'm reading their forum and users are complaining that it's not even real 720p and very low quality so they're off the table anyway.

Sir_Crocodile · May 28, 2015

get bt internet for the footy, then netflix + amazon prime. should be cheaper and a much better selection.

does mean you have to deal with bt's crappy support though :/

If you don't like football then just netflix/prime subs would do you of course

terrisus · May 28, 2015

St3v3 said:
OK. Either way I'm reading their forum and users are complaining that it's not even real 720p and very low quality so they're off the table anyway.

But if you're dealing with interlaced already, then why not? :þ

Hobohodo · May 28, 2015

St3v3 said:
OK. Either way I'm reading their forum and users are complaining that it's not even real 720p and very low quality so they're off the table anyway.

It seems on par with Amazon Video to me so wouldn't call it very low quality. My only complaint would be that at the start of this series of GoT when watching it live the video frequently needed to buffer, don't know if it was my internet or if Sky beefed it up on there end as ever since episode 3 onwards I've had no problems.

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

Hobohodo said:
It seems on par with Amazon Video to me so wouldn't call it very low quality. My only complaint would be that at the start of this series of GoT when watching it live the video frequently needed to buffer, don't know if it was my internet or if Sky beefed it up on there end as ever since episode 3 onwards I've had no problems.

That's just what I'm reading, it seems to be a common complaint. I wish I could see it in action for myself. It may be worth the £20 gamble.

Edit: There seems to be a free trial and you can watch on your PC, so I might try it out and buy the box if it's good.

Delusibeta · May 28, 2015

Yeah, NowTV has the usual one month trial for both their movies and TV packages. Honestly, between that, Netflix and Amazon Prime it's getting increasingly hard to justify either Sky or Virgin TV, especially considering BT Sport is still being given away with BT's broadband. Like, it's really only people who regularly watch Sky Sports, and that's about it.

EdwardTeach · May 28, 2015

We have bt for Internet and TV. The combined price works out a lot cheaper than sky. Biggest selling point to me was the "free" football. The way the youview box integration all the players (iplayer/itvplayer/40d etc) is excellent. In the guide you can just navigate back in time to up to a week, and you can just select a program and the os will boot straight into the respective player. We also have netflix which we watch through the bt youview box. And I supplement with a bit of blinkbox for things like game of thrones.

Symphonia · May 28, 2015

Ask to be put through to the retentions department and say you wish to cancel. They have access to deals and offers that the sales team don't.

jelly · May 28, 2015

Try it on your console and get a cheap pass of some sort from eBay.

You do need a credit card to sign up.

I tried NowTV over Christmas to see if it was worth going with instead of Sky for a bit, the quality was fine for films on demand once it gets going but may fall back if your connection isn't the greatest. Sport was a bit more iffy, live TV in general. More like video than an actual TV signal sometimes.

You should make out you want to cancel Sky to force a better deal first anyway and repeat until you hit a road block. It's good at a nice price and nothing will compare in the end if you watch enough live TV that isn't free view and don't stream from Netflix etc.

I've not seen a box that is fast enough and just works like a Sky+HD box. Maybe you have a really old one.

mrklaw · May 28, 2015

freesatfromsky - pay them £25 and you can use the box as a FTA receiver and get the freesat channels. No recording though

Freesat - either a tuner only, or a DVR. Just switch out your current box for one of these and you're set.

I just bought a freesat box to replace my virgin Tivo but haven't installed it yet. £200 up front, but it'll save me around £40 per month. Only channels I watch that I don't get on freesat is sky1, and for that I'll just buy a Now TV pass every 6 months or so and do catch up

NekoFever · May 28, 2015

I just switched to Freeview. 14 HD channels (in 1080p, no less) and dozens of SD ones are enough for me. I use my parents' Sky Go account if there's something premium that I really want to watch but there very rarely is.

terrisus · May 28, 2015

Biforce of Power said:
Ask to be put through to the retentions department and say you wish to cancel. They have access to deals and offers that the sales team don't.

Do you think I could get them to offer me a trip over there and deal with getting me citizenship? :þ

King_Moc · May 28, 2015

oldmario said:
just cancel and ignore and calls they give you for 2 weeks, eventually they'll offer you 75% off for 12 months with no contract

I got it free for 6 months with no obligation to carry on afterwards.

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

I'm trying the Now TV trial now and it's OK, not as good as regular Sky TV but fine, the audio could be better though. I would only be buying it for the entertainment package, is the movie quality better or the same for those using the service? The trial only offers movies.

Also, the box is wireless only, ATM I'm testing it wired on the PC, I'm wondering if I will get max quality over wireless.

llaannccee · May 28, 2015

Got rid of sky last month. Switched to Now tv. Very happy with the service. The entertainment bundle is £6.99 per month. Which gets you these channels to stream live.

Sky 1
Sky Living
Sky Atlantic
Gold
Comedy central
Itv Encore
Fox
Mtv
Sky Arts
Discovery
Nickelodeon
Disney Channel
Nick Jr
Abc Studios

The quality is only 720p. I watch the shows the day after on demand. They cut the adverts out. The Now Tv box is fast also includes iplayer, itv player, 4od, Demand 5 . No amazon prime or netflix though. Currently watching Game of thrones, Silicon Valley and Wayward Pines. Best deal at the moment. Ps dont work for sky. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2800150.htm

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

llaannccee said:
Got rid of sky last month. Switched to Now tv. Very happy with the service. The entertainment bundle is £6.99 per month. Which gets you these channels to stream live.

Sky 1
Sky Living
Sky Atlantic
Gold
Comedy central
Itv Encore
Fox
Mtv
Sky Arts
Discovery
Nickelodeon
Disney Channel
Nick Jr
Abc Studios

The quality is only 720p. I watch the shows the day after on demand. They cut the adverts out. The Now Tv box is fast also includes iplayer, itv player, 4od, Demand 5 . No amazon prime or netflix though. Currently watching Game of thrones, Silicon Valley and Wayward Pines. Best deal at the moment. Ps dont work for sky. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2800150.htm

I'm very tempted after trying it, I can take a hit to picture quality for £35/month saving. Do you reach the "max" quality setting over wireless via the box just fine? Anything other than max looks really bad.

SnowFlakeCake · May 28, 2015

I just called Sky up yesterday and threatened to leave them, my family has been with Sky for 12 years and we were paying a ridiculous £90 a month for a fucking TV service. Sky Sports was the main reason for keeping Sky and that has gone down the shitter lately with BT Sport taking a lot of the market, providing their own absolutely awful channels which you get free with BT Broadband anyway. Call them and say you are going to leave, say their service is shit and there are other options available. I didn't even have to wait for a call back or any of that shit, dude simply said okay I'll cut you down to £30 a month with all the bells the whistles and Sky Movies was added on top as well. He probably thought I was not worth dealing with because my family have been overpaying for all these years and it would not be a good idea to let dumb arses like us leave.

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

Think I've decided to go for it, the picture quality is just good enough and I'm not buffering at all over wired, so hopefully wireless will be similar, my speed barely drops over wireless normally.

Deleted member 325805 · May 28, 2015

I'm sold after seeing what you can do with Plex installed.

Deleted member 325805 · May 29, 2015

Just cancelled Sky TV, they offered me my same package for £21/month instead of £40 but I'm just not interested, I told him flat out I'd stay at £15 but £21 was the rock bottom. I also just picked up my Now TV box, the last one in store!

mrklaw · May 29, 2015

St3v3 said:
Just cancelled Sky TV, they offered me my same package for £21/month instead of £40 but I'm just not interested, I told him flat out I'd stay at £15 but £21 was the rock bottom. I also just picked up my Now TV box, the last one in store!

You should definity convert your sky box to a freesat one - sky will send you a card. Or get a free sat/free view runer/DVR. Now TV is fine but what about non-sky channels?

krudd · May 29, 2015

I tried Now TV for a bit. Didn't find it great so cancelled after 13 days (14 days allowed to cancel without any charge)

App on PS4 was slow to work (stream was good)
App on Android was good except it never defaulted to what package I subscribed to (entertainment)
Website version was a waste, only tried it once watch new Game of Thrones and it always just said buffering. This was on a Macbook with Safari because Chrome doesn't like Silverlight any more.

Most of other tv is done through Netflix, iPlayer, and Amazon Prime. Haven't had normal tv in years though so I don't feel like I'm missing out on stuff (like sport) except for Channel 4 content, which there is an Android app, "All 4", but there's no TV app.

Deleted member 325805 · May 29, 2015

It's all set up and working great, I have 2 months of movies free so I just tested it and the quality is good for 720p, and the selection is better than expected, lots of recent big name movies. The box itself is way faster than expected, you can fast forward quickly and switch between movies with ease. Honestly I don't know why I was paying £40 for Sky when I can get the only channels that matter for £7 (Sky 1 & Atlantic, plus 11 others). Plus with Plex installed I can watch all the content from my PC on the TV via the box.

Heigic · May 29, 2015

You can use Plex through the NowTV box? I've been meaning to try it for a while now, but it's hard to find exact information on their website like I don't see Plex listed anywhere. Always seemed like there was a catch or something I was missing.

Deleted member 325805 · May 29, 2015

Heigic said:
You can use Plex through the NowTV box? I've been meaning to try it for a while now, but it's hard to find exact information on their website like I don't see Plex listed anywhere. Always seemed like there was a catch or something I was missing.

It's not officially supported, but I have Rarflix installed now which is a more customisable version of Plex.

I just followed this: http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/08/sky-now-tv-plex/

Deleted member 325805 · May 29, 2015

Wow, super impressed with Now TV support, I asked to swap my 2 months of movies voucher for 3 months of entertainment and they did. Watching Game of Thrones now, no buffering or anything. Possibly the best decision I've made in awhile, looks like I'll be able to afford that PS4 a little sooner

Heigic · May 29, 2015

llaannccee said:
The quality is only 720p. I watch the shows the day after on demand. They cut the adverts out. The Now Tv box is fast also includes iplayer, itv player, 4od, Demand 5 . No amazon prime or netflix though. Currently watching Game of thrones, Silicon Valley and Wayward Pines. Best deal at the moment. Ps dont work for sky. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2800150.htm

Decided to order one as it's only £15. Worst case I can use it only for Plex. It will take 4 days to get to the store though.

St3v3 said:
Wow, super impressed with Now TV support, I asked to swap my 2 months of movies voucher for 3 months of entertainment and they did. Watching Game of Thrones now, no buffering or anything. Possibly the best decision I've made in awhile, looks like I'll be able to afford that PS4 a little sooner

There's on demand /catch-up for Sky channels too? I assume GoT isn't on TV at this time of the day.

Deleted member 325805 · May 29, 2015

Heigic said:
Decided to order one as it's only £15. Worst case I can use it only for Plex. It will take 4 days to get to the store though.

There's on demand /catch-up for Sky channels too? I assume GoT isn't on TV at this time of the day.

Yeah, for 30 days I think. There was at least 3 episodes of GoT available. And as I said, if you get the wrong freebie voucher just contact them and they'll give you the one you want. I was so blown away by that. I'm so impressed by this little box, and it's going to save me a fortune.

Rarflix just adds so much to it as well, having all my media at a press of a button on my tablet and TV is just wonderful.

Trojan X · May 29, 2015

To be honest, the internet is the best alternative. I had SKY TV full package and other than my sister I hardly ever used it. The internet was all I need.

NekoFever · May 30, 2015

SnowFlakeCake said:
I just called Sky up yesterday and threatened to leave them, my family has been with Sky for 12 years and we were paying a ridiculous £90 a month for a fucking TV service. Sky Sports was the main reason for keeping Sky and that has gone down the shitter lately with BT Sport taking a lot of the market, providing their own absolutely awful channels which you get free with BT Broadband anyway. Call them and say you are going to leave, say their service is shit and there are other options available. I didn't even have to wait for a call back or any of that shit, dude simply said okay I'll cut you down to £30 a month with all the bells the whistles and Sky Movies was added on top as well. He probably thought I was not worth dealing with because my family have been overpaying for all these years and it would not be a good idea to let dumb arses like us leave.

I should tell my parents to try that. They've been paying like £50 a month for nearly 25 years and still only have SD service.

Matty8787 · May 30, 2015

I got rid of Sky, bought a mini PC, installed KODI and laughed all the way to the bank.

grandmastashi · Nov 9, 2015

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but we're thinking about ditching Sky and I have a quick question about Now TV.

Basically the main reason we've kept Sky around has been for Formula 1 coverage. Nowadays with children I rarely get to watch the race live, so was wondering if I buy a day pass on Now TV, can I watch the F1 coverage on 'catch up' when I get chance to sit down, or does Sky Sports only work as a live stream?

Bit of a specific question, thanks for any help you might be able to give!

mrklaw · Nov 9, 2015

edit: Doh already wrote this once!

edit2: If you're going to watch on catchup, why not just watch it on the BBC? Even when they only have highlights, the actual race is usually pretty close to full length - sometimes cutting out dull safety car sections.

Spinning Plates · Nov 9, 2015

cs kings

and thank me later.

The iptv section on there is pretty sweet too with HBO Go and Hulu+ available. You can also sub to a Plex Server for a few quid a month as well.

grandmastashi · Nov 9, 2015

Thanks for the advice guys

mrklaw - you make a fair point, I guess I've always been such a die-hard F1 fan and wanted to watch every minute that i've always worried the highlights wouldn't be enough for me. But as i say in my original post maybe now circumstances are different I should give them a chance if that's the case.

Spinning Plates - thank you! I'll take a look when I get home this evening.

Visualante2 · Nov 9, 2015

We have a YouView box and it's fairly good.

Hasney · Nov 9, 2015

grandmastashi said:
Sorry to bring up an old topic, but we're thinking about ditching Sky and I have a quick question about Now TV.

Basically the main reason we've kept Sky around has been for Formula 1 coverage. Nowadays with children I rarely get to watch the race live, so was wondering if I buy a day pass on Now TV, can I watch the F1 coverage on 'catch up' when I get chance to sit down, or does Sky Sports only work as a live stream?

Bit of a specific question, thanks for any help you might be able to give!

I ended up paying my mum the extra £5 a month for Sky Go Extra and added my PS4 to the list of devices. Obviously only works if someone you know already has Sky and doesn't max out their devices. All I really watch is F1 and football so it works out nicely.

There is catch up on the F1, but it quite often isn't up by the time the BBC highlights are.

Deaf Spacker · Nov 9, 2015

I'm paying £100 a month for Sky, includes fibre pro, line rental and one multiroom.

FML.

| Praxis | · Nov 9, 2015

We cancelled Sky a couple of months ago. Haven't missed it at all. The phone calls from them was bordering on harassment though, had to strongly complain to them before it stopped. I wouldn't pay for it again, I just use Netflix and hire films offline now.

Nevasleep · Nov 9, 2015

Deaf Spacker said:
I'm paying £100 a month for Sky, includes fibre pro, line rental and one multiroom.

FML.

Well you are getting Fibre, Line rental, and the multiroom, so it isn't just going on TV. Just need to threaten to cancel when your contract is up.

I'm using Now TV which I really like, but miss having an actual Sky box with more channels.

mrklaw · Nov 9, 2015

Nevasleep said:
Well you are getting Fibre, Line rental, and the multiroom, so it isn't just going on TV. Just need to threaten to cancel when your contract is up.

I'm using Now TV which I really like, but miss having an actual Sky box with more channels.

I rang virgin to cancel my Tivo as I bought a freesat DVR and that was enough. But I wanted to keep the fibre broadband and it would have gone up in price by cancelling the TV, so I still have my basic tivo just to keep the broadband price down. Stupid really.

Any Questions · Nov 9, 2015

iNvid02 said:
if you cancel the tv package you could stick a freesat card in the box and get that with no subscription.

http://www.freesat.co.uk/

Cheers Chap. Doing this now

moggio · Nov 9, 2015

Premium channel provider?

Yeah, whatever you say, mate.

Unless you insist on watch Football having Sky is an irrelevant waste of money.

Gravy Boat · Nov 9, 2015

I've just got Freeview and honestly, between that and On Demand services online, I don't feel any need to pay for a TV subscription.

Koriandrr · Nov 9, 2015

no TV?
Save money, live off Netflix/Amazon Prime. Done.

Have been doing that for years - no regrets.

Support NeoGAF

Thinking about ditching Sky TV, alternatives?

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

MrArseFace

Member

Member

Banned

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

MrArseFace

Neo Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

MrArseFace

Member

Member

Member

Member

Memb

Banned

Member

MrArseFace

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Similar threads