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Sky TV

Seek assistance with all types of tech. - computer, phone, TV, heating controls etc.
swill453
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Sky TV

#380910

Postby swill453 » January 26th, 2021, 1:17 pm

I've never had Sky, but just had a flyer through the door for Sky Ultrafast broadband and Sky Q television. It doesn't mention the word "satellite" anywhere on the flyer.

Is Sky telly supplied through the broadband network these days? I always thought you needed a satellite dish.

Scott.

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Re: Sky TV

#380913

Postby staffordian » January 26th, 2021, 1:23 pm

The TV is via a dish; the broadband is like any other supplier, simply using the existing Openreach infrastructure, i.e, probably fibre to the cabinet and copper to the property.

Some Sky TV elements, such as on demand or catch up use the broadband.

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Re: Sky TV

#380914

Postby AF62 » January 26th, 2021, 1:27 pm

At the moment you still need a dish. They announced in 2017 they were planning a dishless service and although it seems to have been delivered in other countries it hasn't arrived in the UK yet.

An alternative if you don't want a dish is Sky's NowTV service which is delivered through broadband, but it is far more basic than the full Sky service - but then it is a *lot* cheaper, especially if you are on a retention offer - I am paying £1 a month for their 'Entertainment' package.

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Re: Sky TV

#380931

Postby Arborbridge » January 26th, 2021, 2:40 pm

AF62 wrote:At the moment you still need a dish. They announced in 2017 they were planning a dishless service and although it seems to have been delivered in other countries it hasn't arrived in the UK yet.

An alternative if you don't want a dish is Sky's NowTV service which is delivered through broadband, but it is far more basic than the full Sky service - but then it is a *lot* cheaper, especially if you are on a retention offer - I am paying £1 a month for their 'Entertainment' package.


How does that work? I've just looked at the Entertainment pass and it tells me it is £9.99 a month and £3 for "boost" - whatever that means.

Arb.

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Re: Sky TV

#380934

Postby swill453 » January 26th, 2021, 2:46 pm

AF62 wrote:At the moment you still need a dish. They announced in 2017 they were planning a dishless service and although it seems to have been delivered in other countries it hasn't arrived in the UK yet.

It's weird, the leaflet seems to go out of its way to avoid mentioning you'll need a satellite dish installed on your house. Like I said, the word "satellite" doesn't exist on it.

The nearest it gets is hidden within about 50 lines of tiny print, mainly about broadband speeds, where it says "You own the Sky dish". That's it.

Scott.

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Re: Sky TV

#380935

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » January 26th, 2021, 2:49 pm

swill453 wrote:I've never had Sky, but just had a flyer through the door for Sky Ultrafast broadband and Sky Q television. It doesn't mention the word "satellite" anywhere on the flyer.

Is Sky telly supplied through the broadband network these days? I always thought you needed a satellite dish.

Scott.

Yes. We had satellite sky up to about three years ago. We still use the dish to receive terrestrial TV (Freeview I think). We can get Now, Netflix, Prime, Disney, My5, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub. If it streams we can access it. We don't subscribe to Sky Sports but it's available. We have Kingston Communications broadband which is sold as >100mps. It probably does less than that but we don't have issues with sticking.

10 years ago I would have balked at having a large TV in the lounge. We have a 65" 4K curved TV. Really is the mutts nuts and worth every penny. If you're football/sports fan then the pictures are stunning.

Hth

AiY

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Re: Sky TV

#381014

Postby AF62 » January 26th, 2021, 6:42 pm

Arborbridge wrote:
AF62 wrote:An alternative if you don't want a dish is Sky's NowTV service which is delivered through broadband, but it is far more basic than the full Sky service - but then it is a *lot* cheaper, especially if you are on a retention offer - I am paying £1 a month for their 'Entertainment' package.


How does that work? I've just looked at the Entertainment pass and it tells me it is £9.99 a month and £3 for "boost" - whatever that means.


Sign up to one of their promotional offers - they often do it free or for a reduced price - then before the end of the period go online and select cancel. The automatic cancellation system asks for a reason and if you choose 'I can't afford it' they will then usually offer it cheaper. If you keep going (and are lucky) then they keep offering cheaper and cheaper deals. Even if you do cancel then they might still email you afterwards with a cheap deal to tempt you back.

For me I signed up to a deal that was about £24 for a year (after an Amex cashback offer), then as that was coming up to the end and before I could cancel they offered to reduce it £1.80 a month for three months, then as that was coming up to the end they offered £1 for six months.

All TV, Broadband, and Mobile Phone services are open to haggling, and anyone paying full price is effectively treated as a 'mug' by the suppliers. Personally I find it immoral as those least likely to do so are those who could likely benefit from the cheaper prices. Anyway...

'Boost' means that the picture is 1080p not the 720p you get with the standard service, the sound is Dolby 5.1 not stereo, and you can view on three different devices at the same time rather than on only one of three devices at any time.

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Re: Sky TV

#381022

Postby Arborbridge » January 26th, 2021, 6:57 pm

AF62 wrote:
Arborbridge wrote:
AF62 wrote:An alternative if you don't want a dish is Sky's NowTV service which is delivered through broadband, but it is far more basic than the full Sky service - but then it is a *lot* cheaper, especially if you are on a retention offer - I am paying £1 a month for their 'Entertainment' package.


How does that work? I've just looked at the Entertainment pass and it tells me it is £9.99 a month and £3 for "boost" - whatever that means.


Sign up to one of their promotional offers - they often do it free or for a reduced price - then before the end of the period go online and select cancel. The automatic cancellation system asks for a reason and if you choose 'I can't afford it' they will then usually offer it cheaper. If you keep going (and are lucky) then they keep offering cheaper and cheaper deals. Even if you do cancel then they might still email you afterwards with a cheap deal to tempt you back.

For me I signed up to a deal that was about £24 for a year (after an Amex cashback offer), then as that was coming up to the end and before I could cancel they offered to reduce it £1.80 a month for three months, then as that was coming up to the end they offered £1 for six months.

All TV, Broadband, and Mobile Phone services are open to haggling, and anyone paying full price is effectively treated as a 'mug' by the suppliers. Personally I find it immoral as those least likely to do so are those who could likely benefit from the cheaper prices. Anyway...

'Boost' means that the picture is 1080p not the 720p you get with the standard service, the sound is Dolby 5.1 not stereo, and you can view on three different devices at the same time rather than on only one of three devices at any time.



Thanks for the advice. I did have a look around the site, and TBH I'm not sure there's much I felt attracted too. Perhaps I should go into greater depth and try it, but many of their advertising pictures remind me of all the videos that turned me off in Blockbuster!

Arb.

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Re: Sky TV

#381042

Postby AF62 » January 26th, 2021, 8:58 pm

Arborbridge wrote:Thanks for the advice. I did have a look around the site, and TBH I'm not sure there's much I felt attracted too. Perhaps I should go into greater depth and try it, but many of their advertising pictures remind me of all the videos that turned me off in Blockbuster!

Arb.


A lot of their shows are quite poor, but there is some good/reasonable stuff in there - Succession, Gomorrah, Chernobyl, Get Shorty, Tin Star, Silicon Valley, Urban Myths, to name a few of the less well known.

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Re: Sky TV

#381053

Postby BobbyD » January 26th, 2021, 10:22 pm

AF62 wrote:An alternative if you don't want a dish is Sky's NowTV service which is delivered through broadband, but it is far more basic than the full Sky service - but then it is a *lot* cheaper, especially if you are on a retention offer - I am paying £1 a month for their 'Entertainment' package.


NOW has a killer feature denied full Sky subscribers, advert free catch up! I couldn't believe it when I found out Sky customers had to sit through ads watching GOT on catch up.

Being able to drop in and out month by month and pick up cheap renewal is also a bonus, although now at £10 a month it's rougher edges are more annoying.

AF62 wrote:A lot of their shows are quite poor, but there is some good/reasonable stuff in there - Succession, Gomorrah, Chernobyl, Get Shorty, Tin Star, Silicon Valley, Urban Myths, to name a few of the less well known.


Tin Star Liverpool, Watchmen, Westworld...

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Re: Sky TV

#381073

Postby SalvorHardin » January 26th, 2021, 11:44 pm

AF62 wrote:A lot of their shows are quite poor, but there is some good/reasonable stuff in there - Succession, Gomorrah, Chernobyl, Get Shorty, Tin Star, Silicon Valley, Urban Myths, to name a few of the less well known.

Indeed. As a Sky subscriber since 1990 (dish installed the day before Iraq invaded Kuwait), I can attest to how much rubbish there is on Sky. But the good outweighs the bad because you learn to avoid the bad.

Chernobyl is staggeringly good. Best show that Sky has made IMHO by miles. Very difficult to watch in parts, especially the hospital scenes involving radiation casualties.

As soon as the Chernobyl DVDs were released I posted a set to my ex, who grew up in the Eastern Bloc. She was impressed by how accurate the look and feel of the show was, especially the fashions and housing. I can attest to the "quality" of 1960s Eastern Bloc housing from experience, in particular how badly built and equipped some four to six story concrete apartment blocks are by 1960s western standards.

I mostly watch Sky for the sport, especially the Cricket. Superb coverage, analysis and documentaries.

As to the quality of Sky's own series, I'll mention Sturgeon's Law. 90% of Science-Fiction is crud, but then 90% of everything is crud.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law

Thanks for the tip about "Get Shorty". Never heard of the series, but I know the Elmore Leonard novel. There's too much TV nowadays to keep up.

My Elmore Leonard TV series pick is "Justified", not a Sky show but IMHO the best drama ever made!

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Re: Sky TV

#381104

Postby AF62 » January 27th, 2021, 8:10 am

SalvorHardin wrote:Thanks for the tip about "Get Shorty". Never heard of the series, but I know the Elmore Leonard novel.


There are three series with a fourth planned. I was quite surprised when the third series was announced and puzzled where they would take the story, but it turned out possibly better than the prior two. It is a lot more gritty than the film with John Travolta, and a lot better for it; the jar of pickles is a particular shocker.

SalvorHardin wrote:There's too much TV nowadays to keep up.


Very true, and part of the issue is that (for me) the vast majority of quality shows I want to watch are not on broadcast TV but through the various streaming routes. That makes it harder to be aware that something new is out because it isn't showing at 9pm in the TV listings, and you only pick it up by chance mention in the press. A couple of shows I have been watching recently I only became aware of due to their fourth and second series being announced; 'Call my Agent!' (Dix pour cent) on Netflix and 'The Blood Pact' (Klem) on All4.

SalvorHardin wrote:My Elmore Leonard TV series pick is "Justified", not a Sky show but IMHO the best drama ever made!


Although I really enjoyed that series, the problem for me was the absolute high-spot was the opening scene in Miami.

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Re: Sky TV

#381144

Postby SalvorHardin » January 27th, 2021, 10:24 am

AF62 wrote:
SalvorHardin wrote:My Elmore Leonard TV series pick is "Justified", not a Sky show but IMHO the best drama ever made!


Although I really enjoyed that series, the problem for me was the absolute high-spot was the opening scene in Miami.

I see your Miami rooftop gunfight and raise you with the lonely road gunfight in the final episode :D Link below, it's a huge spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen the show (as are some of the other links). Unfortunately the lip synching is a bit off, but it isn't a scene with a lot of dialogue!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4EYqimCjE8

The showdown with Fletcher Nix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzeYjPxM450

A non-gunfight scene; "Drew Thompson is Awesome"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZeAktRmXik

"Next One's Coming Faster", my pick for the best line in the entire series (and there's a lot of competition for that)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-K5RlyKcfo

Last but not least, the Star Wars inspired trailer for the second series which isn't in any episode (so it isn't a spoiler). Even better now that Timothy Olyphant is in "The Mandalorian" essentially playing Raylan Givens in the Star Wars universe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVT0B3pPsa8La

And a bit of music, Nick Page and Ruby Friedman's version of the song "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhLnYnrivI

I can see that I'm going to have to watch the entire series again :D


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