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is it likely ever in the future Sky to get its content by Internet rather than dish?

  • 18-12-2020 7:31pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭


    do you think there would there ever be a likelihood that the likes of Sky+ and Sky Q would ever ditch the dish and go down the road of getting its content by Internet rather than by dish?

    You know like the same features with a built in disk to record onto, and same time-shift features with series link and the same packages, but using wifi and/or LAN cable from the home router?


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83,760 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    Now TV is pretty much already doing this, only really missing a personal storage space but as you can watch on demand you pretty much have a library of everything you watched.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    Now TV is pretty much already doing this, only really missing a personal storage space but as you can watch on demand you pretty much have a library of everything you watched.

    I have now TV too - its good, but I still find myself defaulting to the Sky+HD box because it has a hard drive in it and can do the series link etc ...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,317 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    do you think there would there ever be a likelihood that the likes of Sky+ and Sky Q would ever ditch the dish and go down the road of getting its content by Internet rather than by dish?

    You know like the same features with a built in disk to record onto, and same time-shift features with series link and the same packages, but using wifi and/or LAN cable from the home router?

    Sport is the driver for Sky dishes and as long as streaming is a minute or more behind broadcast, I think the dish will be safe enough for a while


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,616 ✭✭✭dubrov


    It's inevitable. I'd say a certainty in 10 years and probable in 5 years


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 887 ✭✭✭decor58


    do you think there would there ever be a likelihood that the likes of Sky+ and Sky Q would ever ditch the dish and go down the road of getting its content by Internet rather than by dish?

    You know like the same features with a built in disk to record onto, and same time-shift features with series link and the same packages, but using wifi and/or LAN cable from the home router?

    Sky announced plans a few years ago, Sky X, tv over the Internet, they were to roll it out in Italy and Austria. Don't know if there is a delay but I wonder what the impact might be for those of us using free to air satellite TV.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,563 ✭✭✭✭BorneTobyWilde


    The delay is huge, Bookies love to make millions off of in play bets when the event finished two minutes ago.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    I never really thought about the sport aspect of it all , but yeah


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    decor58 wrote: »
    Sky announced plans a few years ago, Sky X, tv over the Internet, they were to roll it out in Italy and Austria. Don't know if there is a delay but I wonder what the impact might be for those of us using free to air satellite TV.

    SkyX has been launched in Austria, but if you’re expecting something akin to the digital satellite service just delivered by IP, you’d be disappointed. Essentially it is Now TV (or Sky Ticket as the German version is known) but with a Sky Q-like interface. It does carry German and Austrian terrestrial channels, which Sky Ticket (still available in Germany) doesn’t.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo




  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 8,534 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sierra Oscar


    Aren’t they already trialling this in the UK?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    Think they are or going to be soon , saw it on Sky News a week or 2 back



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,109 ✭✭✭katiek102010


    They have it in the UK. They have released tvs for it. You don't need box or dish



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 8,534 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sierra Oscar


    It’ll be a game changer for Sky in allowing them to tap into a fairly sizeable chunk of the market that can’t access their services currently due to restrictions on having satellite dishes installed. I know my own development prohibits them. A no brainer really.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    will cut down on a lot of cables as well , having it all built into the TV like that. i would say it will even have a built in wifi A/C card as well so thats another cable gone - only thing I fear that the TV itself will be pretty pricey and may not have certain features that you may get on a similar TV without SKY built in.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,124 ✭✭✭dam099


    I cant say I would be hugely interested in having this built into a TV, they may be limiting their market unless they also offer a set top box version.

    Many of their potential customers either already have a perfectly fine TV or would prefer choose their own (possibly higher end one). Maybe they will eventually offer it as an App that the mainstream TV manufacturers can preload like with Netflix, Disney+ etc.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 887 ✭✭✭decor58


    By building it into a tv is the tv not restricted, what happens should you wish to change tv provider, is it not in many smart tvs under the name of NOW (tv).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,124 ✭✭✭dam099


    Agree on the restricted bit, another reason why the TV may have limited appeal.

    You are correct, NOW TV is built into a lot of smart TVs (and steaming sticks/boxes) but its still limited compared to the full Sky product as offered on the Sky Q or even previous HD boxes.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    yes, I would be happy enough to keep my Sky+ HD box with its 500gb (or is it 1TB?) hard drive in it, but it still gets its programmes by dish (bar catch-up TV) - but just ditch the dish and have it all come done through wi-fi (I now have FTTH broadband to the home now which is pretty fast and stable) so if they done a Set-Top box now with:

    Built in wi-fi and built in 500GB or 1TB SSD disk and with the same interface , operation , series link, features etc of Sky+ HD looking and feeling same in use - but getting its signal/programmes over wi-fi as opposed to dish I will be happy enough with that personally.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83,760 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    Live sport is the big downside, circa anything from 10 seconds to near a minute of a delay in what is being broadcast live down the dish.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    Ah see now I am not into watching sport so that wouldnt affect me personally 🙂 - big money / subscribers in that I suppose for them ... so is that why they maybe are not keen to push it by ditching the dish you reckon? - because its all got to be all technically possible now ... well long before now really they could have done it. I know some people's broadband is still rubbish and that may have been a factor too but fibre has been around for a while now.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 83,760 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    Me not too much to a degree but when you get phone alerts or a friend texting when a goal goes in and you are still awaiting the goal it's annoying. Everything else it's great, I find NowTV to be as good as Netflix with regard to buffering, never really an issue.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,124 ✭✭✭dam099


    With the state of broadband they cant switch off satellite yet without losing a lot of customers. I imagine the costs of renting the transponders are a sunk cost regardless of whether they have 1 million or 15 million using it, to build out streaming capacity to migrate even 50% of their subscriber base would be a large cost they probably don't feel they need to incur. They have NOW TV to sort of serve the dish less market (albeit with an inferior product). The likes of Sky Glass are a move towards a full streaming model direction but I doubt they are too bothered about pushing existing customers over to it at this stage unless they are at risk of losing them.



  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    The restrictions of Sky Glass are starting to come out as the early installations start. This is not full service Sky as we know it. It’s more akin to Now TV with a Sky Q-like UI slapped on top. Linear channels available are basically channels that form part of the Sky package + the U.K. PSBs. And recording has been replaced with a “Playlist” features that basically creates a link to the player app that features the content.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,153 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    I assume that's down to licensing issues? If you own the network the content is being delivered over then it's effectively cable TV, but if you don't then it's streaming and requires different licensing agreements?



  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Basically it’s the same problems eir TV has encountered since it’s inception, some content rights owners regard it as an “OTT” service not a “Cable TV” service and treat it differently for rights because of that. Eir has been selective with what channels you can record because of that. Sky has simply not offered a recording feature at all.

    Its exacerbated with Sky though, because it has an open EPG on satellite, any linear channel on Astra 28.2E can contract with Sky for an EPG listing at a regulated rate and Sky (unless they are generally pausing new additions) have to accept them. These channels have no other relationship with Sky and hence they mostly aren’t part of Sky Glass/Sky Stream.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    So would the Sky Glass have storage built in? - I am not talking of where you have to plug in USB storage drive or USB pen drive but actually something like SSD storage built in?



  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,928 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    It would have at least some storage - for OS and app usage. But nothing for recording. While 1,000 hours cloud storage was mentioned in pre-launch materials, it appears clear from those that have used it that this doesn’t have a record feature as we understand it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,153 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    Sky's streaming options are a bit of a mess - they already have Sky Go; Now TV and now Sky Glass. You can't install Sky Go on any TV stick/box or cast it, but you can plug a laptop running it into a TV; meanwhile my TV has NowTV built in and it's cheaper than Sky.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,656 ✭✭✭rogue-entity


    And There's already a ~10 second delay before the signal even gets transmitted to the satellite, digital television isn't 'live'. I do wonder just how much of a delay is added to digital video delivered over RTP streams.


    I expect this to happen, but not for the dish to go away entirely. There may be customers already that can't have a dish, but there are certainly customers who don't have broadband, let alone fibre, and a dish is the only option if you want anything more than RTE.

    I would be expecting to be required to be a Sky Broadband subscriber for that to roll out properly, but who knows



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,863 ✭✭✭✭Andy From Sligo


    Ah well it looks like the day has finally arrived in Ireland and Sky Glass launched today (25/8/2022)

    - I am really tempted ... but the winter of discontent of high heating and utility bills and high cost of living are coming!



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