Sky Stream has arrived in Ireland

robinwing

Just realized its 35 a month for 12 months to include Sky Sports ,

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121985321#Comment_121985321

Where was the ad? The ad on sky is €25 a month for the basic TV and basic Netflix

robinwing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121985623#Comment_121985623

plus 10 for sky sports = 35 per month. is Sky stream any good though ? is it reliable ?

Nigzcurran

In my experience it was a bit hit and miss. I had pucks that needed to be restarted as they were losing connection and having to watch stuff via players was a mess but the 4k picture quality was superb to be fair and price wise there can be some great deals

lertsnim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121986808#Comment_121986808

Mixed bag it seems. I have no problems with it and like it while others hate it.

IrishHomer

If I got the offer of Sky stredSky Sports for €35 pm will that include Ultra HD or will that be an extra cost?

robinwing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121988812#Comment_121988812

I dont know about Ultra HD being included , maybe someone else does .I think I might go with the offer at 35 a month as I want to see live F1 races although they are boring enough as Red Bull are winning everything. I am already paying for netflix so that would be a saving as its included in Sky offer too

lertsnim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121988812#Comment_121988812

It was free for 2 months when I signed up. It does look very good. The HDR makes a huge difference.

Nigzcurran

€14 a month for UHD, can be got for €10 a month on offer usually. Not many channels in 4k but really worth the extra money if your into your sports

Red Silurian

I wonder will sky turn this service into an app that Smart TVs can just download an app for?

If the puck had a hard drive I'd say not a chance but since it's essentially relying on streaming for recording

JDxtra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995091#Comment_121995091

Unlikely in my opinion. Sky want control of the hardware. It would be a support nightmare having their premium product running on a huge range of devices.

Besides, their cut price Now TV service is available as an app.

KildareP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995091#Comment_121995091

If they did I would in all likelihood resubscribe (I recently cancelled the contract early without penalty due to the multiple issues with it).

The puck they supply is the worst "smart" device I've ever used - clearly built as cheaply as possible and vastly overtasked.

And while it had all of the popular apps on the pucks, it was easier to get up, grab the remotes, flip over to the Apple TV and watch it there because the puck was so bloody slow to load anything.

All of our pucks would require reboots several times a week and would often drop out when watching live TV ("Please wait for your programme to load…"), particularly if you were watching something live that would be quite popular. This was both on WiFi and Ethernet to the modem.

Whereas Now TV has worked flawlessly for me for years on an Apple TV for both on-demand and watching Sky Sports live. I've never had to reboot the Apple TV. The picture quality on the live channels is as good on Now TV with the Boost add-on as on Stream apart from the lack of 4K on Now TV. Therefore it shows Sky can deliver a reliable and consistent streaming experience so long as the hardware running the app is up to the job - which the Sky Stream puck clearly is not.

Looking at ongoing development on the platform doesn't bode much hope either - the most recent hardware release of either the puck or remote (or both) have an issue where, if the puck is put into standby for more than a few minutes, you need to powercycle the puck to turn it back on as the remote will not do so. While the most recent software update being pushed out is causing significant (in the order of seconds) issues with lipsync for a large number of people. And the remotes supplied seem to have an ongoing issue where some quite literally explode internally.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995624#Comment_121995624

Yeah we have decided at home that if/when sky stop broadcasting on satellite we will be going down the Freesat+/Saorview+/NowTV road.

Your experience isn't unique from what I hear but the replacement of the hard drive with the on demand function was the killer blow before any of this anyway

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995624#Comment_121995624

Just for balance, I have Sky Stream about five months now and have experienced none of these stability issues, so maybe you just got a defective device?

KildareP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995788#Comment_121995788

These issues are widely documented on their UK customer forum and across social media channels. Which makes it all the more frustrating when there are others experiencing no issues. It seems to be a raw platform, never mind a half-baked one!

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995778#Comment_121995778

Freesat uses the same satellites as Sky, so Freesat is likely to be switched off within the same timeframe as Sky in the next few years. In the UK, Freesat is being replaced by Freely, which is the streaming platform for free-to-air services. Freely is very unlikely to be available within ROI. All the TV providers are likely to accelerate the migration to streaming in the coming years, because it gives them more control over advertising, as will as allowing them to retire the old coax cable & satellite TV distribution. They will likely force most users off satellite long before the satellites are end-of-life in 2029. Streaming can be made to work, given the right hardware and if the TV provider takes the trouble to negotiate appropriate rights with the the content owners. Eir TV works pretty well, and proves that streaming can work - although they are using the Apple TV 4K puck, and not a cheap proprietary alternative. They have cloud recording working properly for the UK channels. Sky and some of the other UK headquartered providers may take the view that the small and declining Irish market for pay-TV is too small to warrant solving the problems for Irish viewers? RTE appear to be denying the right to all streaming providers to allow cloud recording in Ireland, probably to force viewers to use RTE Player. With a declining viewership, they will probably be forced to change this policy soon. Here is a useful summary of the expected timeline for switch-off of the Astra satellites,

https://rxtvinfo.com/2024/how-soon-is-satellite-tv-switch-off/

icdg

The particularly annoying fact about RTE’s attitude is that a lot of the “adverts” are in fact promos. I watched part of the Sunday Game last night on the RTE player and in one block of six advertisements the same promo ran twice!

Look, I know they’re in dire straits and need the income, and could understand if they were actual paid commercials but forcing frustrated viewers to watch a pile of promos for the same shows over and over again is just maddening.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996327#Comment_121996327

You can skip the ads/promos on Sky Stream.

Schorpio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995971#Comment_121995971

That article (along with every other article on the topic) is speculative, bordering on clickbait.

I'll eat my hat if the satellite switch off occurs before or on 2030. For one, there are literally millions of Sky satellite installs across the UK and Ireland. Migrating them all to an IP-based service in 5 years would be a mammoth task; doubly so when you consider that not all will have (or want) broadband of sufficient quality for an IP-based replacement.

And then we have the commercial Sky subs (i.e. pubs). Will they be happy with an IP-based solution; bearing in mind that their revenue stream is linked to their ability to show sport reliably? How will they feel putting Sky Stream on their network, competing for bandwidth with customers using the free WiFi? (And yes, there are technical solutions to this, but will a rural pub want to hire an IT tech to set it up and hope the same IT tech is available at short notice if the system does down?) By contrast, satellite just works with no messing about. These are very real issues that Sky will have to address.

Also, that article suggests that Freeview (terrestrial) may be kept on in the UK as a back-up to the IP-based service. The elephant in that room is that Freesat's raison d'etre is to be a back-up to Freeview, for areas where Freeview reception is poor.

Californeeway

Their 10 euro a month for Sky Sports ends on Thursday, is this likely to come around again before the end of the summer?

icdg

The issue is that the Astra satellites are end of life in 2030, and SES will not invest in replacements unless they know they’ve a long term customer for them.

That’s not to say that they won’t drag another couple of years out of them mind, but I doubt either Sky or Freesat will be around by 2035. Freesat will go when Sky does, or not long after.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995971#Comment_121995971

I highly doubt that freesat and the sky satellite service will go at the same time

When freesat was first announced it was as an alternative to freeview in order to allow the UK Public Service Broadcasters, or PSBs, to reach 100% UK population coverage. Freeview maxed out at about 90%. Freely is going to be internet based so realisitically it won't reach anywhere near the same 100% population coverage as freesat. Substituting freesat for freely would effectively remove PSB television for anybody without a high speed internet connection. Astra will likely have freesat as a customer for the foreseeable future

Sky's reasoning for wanting to get getting rid of satellite is cost saving and targeted advertising. These are important elements for a commercial TV provider but much less important for PSB's whose entire remit is based on maximising population signal coverage

I agree that when freely comes in it will likely be UK only, although I suspect there will be ways around this also

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121995962#Comment_121995962

I think Sky Stream was available in the UK for about a year before it launched in Ireland, so that might be part of it.

I don't know, I can only speak to my own experience. As a survivor of Eir TV and the Horizon Box, I know a dud offering when I see it and I like the Stream.

babelfish1990

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997348#Comment_121997348

The PSB services are piggy-backing on satellites that have been launched primarily to carry commercial services such as Sky. If all the commercial providers move off satellite, the cost of PSB alone paying for replacement satellites is likely to be prohibitive. For the small % of "off-grid" homes in UK that want PSB but don't have suitable Internet it would likely make more sense for the British Govt to pay for Starlink connections to deliver Freely to them. If necessary, the satellite connections could be limited to Freely only. I can't see Freesat surviving in it's current form.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121996442#Comment_121996442

With sky there's no way of knowing, some offers get extended, others don't. If you want it, get it now would be my advice

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997416#Comment_121997416

It's unlikely to be freesat alone paying for the Astra satellite. Astra would probably have other TV and broadband providers on their books. Sky would likely be a small player in that regard and their moving away from satellite doesn't mean the satllites are no longer needed

Not sure if it's possible to have a broadband satellite feed that would only work with one particular method but it would be one possible solution indeed.

Schorpio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997416#Comment_121997416

A home doesn't have to be 'off-grid' to not be able to adequately receive Freely. DSL may be technically broadband, but even VDSL may not be sufficient for Freely (depending on external factors).

I don't foresee the UK Gov paying for bespoke broadband solutions to accommodate Freely, when the status quo is an option.

As per my last post, I really don't see Sky moving all of their satellite install base over the IPTV before the Astra EOL date. Maybe I'll be proved wrong, but I just don't see it happening.

It's also notable that SES have 2 satellite launches planned for their 19e position, so satellite TV for mainland Europe doesn't seem like it's going anywhere. If 28e does go dark (and I don't think it will), it would make more sense to try to get TP space at 19e, and just have any users adjust their dishes. WOuld be a one-off change, and you wouldn't have the UK taxpayer funding Starlink installations. All just speculation though.

Butson

Flicking around a few days ago…The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson is on one of the free to air stations. I added to my playlist.

Sat down to watch last night….it's linked it to Sky Cinema, which I don't have.

Absolute racket.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121997606#Comment_121997606

I recommend you get in touch with sky on this issue and please report back the findings as that is what I consider to be a very sneaky move. Do you remember what FTA channel it was on and if there's an app for that channel?

TAFKAlawhec

With respect to Sky's eventual sunsetting of their satellite service, Freesat etc.

The youngest satellite at 28 East is Astra 2G whose EOM date is given for 2030 - however SES are known to squeeze the lifespan of their fleet quite well (e.g. Astra 1KR will have launched 18 years ago later this month and is still in active service at 19.2 East) and neither the three satellites at 28 East are operating at near full capacity with no suggestions of malfunctioning either.

Freesat isn't dependent on Sky's satellite operations - the Beeb, ITV, Channels 4 & 5 rent their own capacity at 28 East.

What is a problem for the longevity of Freesat is that the services from its main owners (the four broadcasters listed above) are dependent on spot beams generally limiting reception to the UK, Ireland & nearby continental Europe. Sky can keep their pay-TV service using pan-European transponders should they need to, Freesat doesn't have that luxury. At the moment, there's no satellite in the SES fleet that I'm aware of outside of those at 19 & 28 East that have Ku Band spot beams (and the two at 19 East are older than Astra 2G) that SES could redeploy to 28 East should it be required for continuity of Freesat services).

In terms of transferring subscribers from their satellite to their streaming service, there will be a number of refuseniks that are happy with their Q or HD+ service and have no wish to adopt Stream. Ultimately there will come a point for Sky where the satellite service is no longer profitable and will announce a switch off with those customers ending up in the dark if they don't take up Stream, but what amount of customers is the tipping point on that would be anyone's guess on here. Not to mention when.

As for the high-speed internet connection required for Stream, the amount of premises in the UK that are capable of getting at least a 30Mbit/s download speed via a landline stands at ~98% through a combination of FTTP/H, DOCSIS and VDSL2. Unless you're in a household that has people regularly streaming multiple 4K videos at once, Sky Stream is fine for such capable VDSL2 connections (you don't need a gigabit connection to make use of Sky Stream - even a higher-speed end of ADSL2+ would be fine on its own for single HD streaming, individual circumstances apply).

For the other ~2%, there's a matter of seeing what can be done with what's available locally e.g. wait for a roll out time for FTTP/H, or use what may exist from FWA, LEO satellite, 4G/5G internet etc. Ultimately all forms of broadcasting are subject to "best endeavours" and can never provide complete 100% coverage.

The licences for the six main Freeview DVB-T/2 multiplexes are due to run in 2034 IIRC - that seems like a nice round date as to when Astra 2G will probably become too old to remain in use for Freesat's services to promote a "dual" switch off. Time will tell as to what plans the UK has regarding traditional broadcasting platforms, the only thing for sure is that both terrestrial and satellite - in their present forms - won't last forever.

It took Sky around 3.5 years to convert its old analogue TV base to digital TV, and that was with a subscriber base of around 5 million. The current satellite subscriber base is somewhere between 8-10 million and while there was little reason to remain on analogue instead of digital (not to mention the "free" incentives at the time), a job transferring them on to Stream is not a directly fair comparison to what happened around 25 years ago. Expect some sweeteners to entice satellite subscribers to Stream, but I think 2028 - the date Sky reportedly has capacity contracted with SES at 28 East - may be too soon for Sky to close the satellite service down on its own.

'nuff blatherin' for now.