Is sky worth the money?

obrien0107

Is sky worth it?

lukin

No freakin way, I wouldn't give a penny to a lowlife like Murdoch & anyone who does should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

DMC

Well, I am happy.

Its far and away better than what went before, and what is currently out there.

Value for money? I think the Family pack is a decent price, if you dont like sports or films. And for the amount of channels recieved?
Movies might be a bit overpriced, as they recycle them a lot.

But for this cricket fan, I love Sky Sports.

Yes, there are the added bits like UTV and BBC channels that we want, so I'd give it 8/10 overall.

PacMan

Yes, the family pack is worth the money.
I had *Crappy Chorus* for years. I paid them for a crap picture and sound. As for their customer service!!!
I always say that the Sky customer service people are very polite. They may not always have the answers, but they are polite.

Mossy Monk

it is value for money but at least with all the British terrestrials and News 24 (surely no programming rights problems) as seen on cable with the other unavailable channels it would be even better (obviously)

Genghis

Overall value for money? I'd say yeah.

Different value than what you might expect - ..... - the 'over 100 channels' line probably sells a lot of systems on quantity of channels.

However, the true basis for comparison has to be quality. Sky are already marginally ahead all factors considered, though way ahead on quantity of channels and picture quality. Get the quality broadcasts / channels on there and Sky will be exceptional.

Samson

As far as I am concerned they would be good value for money if I could receive all terrestrial and British channels (eg: TnaG, TV3, RTE1, NET2, Chan4, etc.) so that I could drop NTL.
I hate having to pay Sky AND NTL.

chernobyl

Originally posted by lukin
No freakin way, I wouldn't give a penny to a lowlife like Murdoch & anyone who does should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

How can you vote, you dont have sky.

Guinnessman

Is sky worth the money in england it is

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by lukin
No freakin way, I wouldn't give a penny to a lowlife like Murdoch & anyone who does should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

Let me see, a choice between 10 channels with reception that could be classed as moody, customer support the Taliban would be ashamed of, or, a massive amount of channels with perfect reception and customer support that are just so damn nice, you couldn't give out about them (even if they haven't a clue).

I know which I would choose...regardless of where my money goes.

TD.

Clinical Waste

Even if you think its not worth it, there is F*CK ALL ELSE, thats even close.
And it is one of the best services I have seen in any other country.

dmeehan

considering the lack of alternatives, yes it is deffinately worth the money.

movies could be better though, far too many repeats led to me dumping the movies. i kept sky sports though, much to my girlfriends disgust!
;-)

I cannot give a definitive answer to this question as there is no competing platform(excluding the elusive chorus and ntl digital) available to me at present.

If there was, we all might be paying less.
If theres a possibility that we all could be getting this or any other service for less then I would have to conclude Sky is not value for money-I like it though
mm

Waylander

I think it is great. I got it for the sport but I really like the movies, fair enough there are alot of repeats and recycling, but there are 13 channels as part of the package including TCM and there is usually something on one of them. Also, if you go out on the town you will easily spend more then €50 in one night, for this amount you get sky for a month with all channels. I think it is well worth it

dmeehan

UK GOld are now showing a movie every monday nite
last nites was Clear and Present Danger....
(or was it Patriot Games)??? my memory's not what it used to be

Also, if you go out on the town you will easily spend more then €50 in one night, for this amount you get sky for a month with all channels. I think it is well worth it

Very good reasoning-But it is time they provided us with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound , so with the right amp and speakers,those movies channels could be viewed DVD style in your own UCI

They have the technology to provide this real cinema experience,currently only available on their Sky plus boxes.
mm

chernobyl

Originally posted by madman


-But it is time they provided us with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound , so with the right amp and speakers,those movies channels could be viewed DVD style in your own UCI

They dont have the bandwidth, the crush on channels is getting even worse by the month.
Even Sky1 has very noticable pixelation, theres not a hope of them sqeezing DD in there, anyways how many peeps have a DD amp/speaker setup?

lukin

Look, it's people's own businesss how they spend their hard-earned cash but personally I can't understand how Sky subscribers can justify spending such huge amounts of money every month on something as unimportant as TELEVISION.
As The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy once said: "Television, the drug of the nation, breeding ignorance and feeding radiation"
Also Bruce Springsteen : "57 channels and nothing on"

chernobyl

Someone should have specified that you have to have or had Sky to post here, Sky haters love these threads.

lukin

I'm not a Sky-hater, I actually had the thing for a few years in it's terrestrial format but I dumped it when I started shift-work which meant I would be working evenings every second week.
I discovered after a while that I didn't miss it and when I got back on normal hours I didn't bother with it anymore!
I also hated the way the kept upping the price for Sky Sports and actually showing less on the channels (eg losing the Nationwide League to ITV and switching the top games to PPV).

chernobyl

Originally posted by lukin
actually showing less on the channels (eg losing the Nationwide League to ITV and switching the top games to PPV).

Anyone with Sky here can tell you that sky gets better and better channel wise (with the exeception of the loss of .tv), and as regards Division1, ITV has bitten of far more than they can chew when they outbid sky for the Nationwide league and will loose it to sky for even less than they paid (ITV= idiots, there only saving grace may be the PS2 broadband network.).

DMC

Well, as regards switching the top games to PPV, this is not so.
Sky Sports still has first pick for the Sunday 4pm kick-offs, so they will show not only the top game that weekend, but also making sure that each team gets a fair look in. Yes the Man U's and Liverpools will be shown sligthly more than Fulham or Boro, but that goes without saying....

In my opinion, the PPV experience has only diminished the rights that ITV hold for highlights. One less game for them to cover on a Saturday night, on their main show.

And they paid a lot, lot more for them this time round.....

ONireland

I love ITV Digital because it has all the good channels for a couple of quid less than Sky and NTL, is very easy to install and has better picture quality (yep, tis true)/. ITV Digital customer service are always very nice and often give you free ITV Select movies if you had to wait a long time (happened me twice).

However, if you're asking is Pay TV worth it, the answer is no. If I could get Enterprise on analogue, I wouldn't subscribe to any platform. Feckin' Murdoch!

Prisoner6409

How does one go about getting ITV Digital and is there a listing of the program packages I could study.

dmeehan

ONireland, where do you live that you can get ITVdigital?

OnIreland will reply,but he is up in Northern Ireland-so no probs with ITV dig in Belfast or somewhere like that.
Its possible in parts of Cavan and other places with a strong enough Brougher Mtn signal (greater than 80db's-I would say)

And last but not least:) You can get very good ITV digital down here in North Wexford-and whats more I subscribe to them from my Co Wexford Republic of Ireland address which really makes a mockery of all the "rights" issues being talked about here

And yes via ITV digital I get an English version of Sky one here in Wexford complete with English adds And Channel four is there as well as BBC News 24 and the CBBC channels
mm

ONireland

I live in Belfast, about 2 miles as the photon files from Divis Transmitter.

I haven't yet got to try my Digibox up in Donegal, but I'll soon be up there giving it a try. I will send results.

I, like most people, seem to get perfect ITV Digital pictures. This is based on the fact that anyone I've ever met who has ITV Digital thinks it works fine and have never had any problems with it, and on the fact that people who complain that their TV doesn't work to other people on the internet are sad and lonely and probably are just making up their TV problems in a desperate attempt to communicate with another lifeform (other than their cat).

If you'd like to meet sad and lonely people who complain about their TV not working, go here: www.digitalspy.co.uk

If you'd like more info on ITV Digital and talk to decent people, go here: www.dvbcomment.com

PacMan

Posted by MadMan You can get very good ITV digital down here in North Wexford-and whats more I subscribe to them from my Co Wexford Republic of Ireland address which really makes a mockery of all the "rights" issues being talked about here

ITV Digital are sending out viewing cards to a Republic address!
MadMan is correct when he uses the word Mockery
ITV Digital is owned by carlton and Granada. ITV network has most of its members television stations owned by...Granada and carlton. And the very same ITV have blocked UTV to viewers on Sky Digital in Ireland.

ONireland

Okay, I've just gone a read through the whole UTV on Sky thread. Basically, here are some points not yet stated explicitly:

1. UTV tells lies
2. Sky tell lies
3. ITV don't tell lies but won't answer questions

I have a theory about digital TV, and it is a simple one;

"Analogue will never switch off because digital TV is just too complictaed."

That's why I think it is essential to keep analogue antenna rigs in good working order (for all the tiny effort it takes). With analogue, I get 9 channels in every room of my house in crystal clear reception. Through my BBC aerial, I get a further 60 channels, also available through every TV in my house thanks to this gizmo:



However, because I get such excellent analogue signals (UK and Irish channels), there is not a significant improvement in quality via digital for me to justify ever buying FTA digiboxes. The only reason that I can justify paying for digital TV is the extra channels. Other than that, analogue has everything I ever need.

So that comes around to answering the opening question, "Is Sky worth the money?". Frankly, it is up to individuals to ask are the individual programmes worth the money. I reckon that ITV Digital's line up is worth the money, so I suspect that most people will consider Sky is worth it too.

However, I can only consider the quality of programmes. Interactive TV, digital text and the likes are all gimmicks which I reckon will die out with time.

I agree with ONireland regarding the question at the head of this thread.
It's really on a case by case basis that you can decide whether Sky is worth it.
If your analog reception is bad-then theres no argument.
I actually prefer analogue as I hate the artifacts on digital pictures.
I know you shouldn't be near enough to the tv to see them, but once I know they are there, thats digital ruined for me
Where I am located,analogue Presely reception is probably better than it is over in Wales where it is Supposed to serve-so like Onireland,I too am getting 9 crystal channels(the 5 uk and the four Irish) andmore often than not am watching them rather than Sky.
Sky should really clear out all the Dross from their EPG and only have maybe 30-40 quality channels there.
As Bruce sang years ago and he was right "#57 channels and nuttin on...#"
there is a lot of Quality on Sky digital-so why don't they get rid of the Dross and use the savings to pay for the channels being campaigned for on this forum?
Probably because thy are a monopoly whose aim is to maximise profit and not to "over please" the customer.
mm

Krusty_Clown

Madman: 'so why don't they get rid of the Dross'?
Sadly, one man's dross is another man's brain candy...
I actually confess to occasionally watching Men and Motors and the lifestyle channels, but only for the motorcycle shows that they air occasionally.. Different strokes, and all that..

What I would really appreciate, is the means to remove Channels from a customisable EPG. Or even, only pay for the channels which I would like to watch. (Yes, I know about 'favourites', but it's not really the same)..

Besides, Channels pay Sky for the right to appear on Sky's platform, don't they (with the exception of RTE, right?), so removing the dross would likely increase the Sky rates?

Krusty,
In my view thats the whole problem,
Sky a monopoly takes money where it can get it and provides us with countless channels we don't want(Al jazeera and all the shopping channels,countless others including the Aisan ones but thats my list of unwants and could make others very happy).
Why can't they be ppv? along with all the minority interest stuff...!

Yeap a customiseable epg would be big on my wish list also.
To a certain extent ITV digital's channel list can be customised.
mm

dmeehan

oh for a customizable epg

Who can honestly say that they have watched the God Channel?
Well?

yeap and it's paid the other god murdock to be there...
mm

Genghis

Not even a customisable EPG, an improved favourites would be a start. Some other top of head ideas:

1. Why 20 channels - does this square with Sky's 'more choice' motto.
2. And why can't you scroll back down through the favourites? 3. And why not an area on the programme guide that lists all your favourite channels for you to scan through?
4. And here's another idea - what about a properly organised EPG - don't classify by channel, but by programme. If I want to watch sport, for example, why can't I receive details of the sport on one of the terrestrials, or perhaps a sports biog on one of the documentary channels. Or a sports show on the radio? Same with Movies, News, entertainment.
5. And how about they just take off all the channels you can't have - can't be too difficult, CBBC and CBeebies were on and off within a day - get rid of Tara!

The biggest problem with the EPG is that you forget about channels in the later numbers - I like National Geographic, but rarely if ever go as far as 500 without coming back to the start. And before you suggest it, my favourites are full (see one above ...)

G

PacMan

Originally posted by madman
,Sky a monopoly takes money where it can get it and provides us with countless channels we don't want(Al jazeera and all the shopping channels,countless others including the Aisan ones but thats my list of unwants and could make others very happy).
Why can't they be ppv? along with all the minority interest stuff...!

Sky is not a monopoly. Last time I looked Chorus and NTL were still in business. Both NTL and Chorus have UTV and Ch4, two channels we want on Sky as they are popular.
Other channels such as Al Jazeera, Asian channels etc are on the epg to target viewers who may want to watch them. I have neighbours to suscribe to Star news and Star plus, because they are Indian citizens working over here. As such Tara TV is on Sky in the UK, for the ex-pat irish community there. The six-one news etc and Prime Time are not on Tara to compete with BBC, but to serve the Irish community.
Sky is providing a platform for all viewers. Al Jazzeria, B4U, and all the dreadful shopping channels are not my choice of viewing, *but* I dont pay for them. If I dont like, I dont watch

pugwall

I've had sky digital for the past two months and I think its a big waste of cash. The moveis are complete tripe. There seems to be a great movie on boxoffice all the time where as the ordinary movei channels are full of tripe. Any half decent movie they show is repeated over and over again. MTV2, Kerang, and Q(sometimes) are all right. I like play UK only because ut shows the office. E4 isdecent enough and I only watch paremount for Seinfeld and cheers. Trouble is good for that 70s show. Sky sports for wwf and the odd fussball match.
I could deffo live without sky digital.
Come to think of it, my fave channel these days would be between rte1 and net 2.

Mossy Monk

i would never give back my minidish or cancel the subscription. too many things i really enjoy on it. what Sky desperately need to do is sort out the EPG. why are there channels on the EPG we are not allowed to watch. i think Sky Travel and the Travel Channel should be pushed back with channels such as TV Travel Shop. Discovery Home and Leisure and Discovery H+L + should be with the other Discovery channels. more suggestions later

Originally posted by Pacman:

Sky is not a monopoly. Last time I looked Chorus and NTL were still in business. Both NTL and Chorus have UTV and Ch4, two channels we want on Sky as they are popular.

Well my apoligies Pacman for overstepping the mark,in calling Sky a monopoly,it sure as heck behaves like one.
Do Chorus and NTL have a nationwide,universally available digital platform?????
mm

I have neighbours to suscribe to Star news and Star plus, because they are Indian citizens working over here. As such Tara TV is on Sky in the UK, for the ex-pat irish community there. The six-one news etc and Prime Time are not on Tara to compete with BBC, but to serve the Irish community.

Thats not the *point* I am making here,I am just worried about their motives,in that they provide these channels but not the ones we are campaigning for.
Of course all the channels,you mention and others should be there and available.
Some should be extras Film four style or ppv and some should not in my opinion,depending on demand.But it is good that they are all there.You can subscribe to Star news and plus if you want as an add on and that is good.

The Sky digital service is very good, even with the messy EPG line up-They should sort it.
mm

PacMan

Point taken Madman!!!
I am sure there are many Chorus and NTL customers who wish they had digital......:D

ONireland

They should do it like ITV Digital:

1. As many favourties as you want
2. The ability to re-order the channels as you so wish
3. Scroll up and down through favourites

Also, they really ought to reorganise away from the themed channel numbers (ie - all channels of one type in eg, the 600s). Put all the good channels in from 1 to 99, all the crap from 200+. That way you have a nice barrier between the good stuff and the dross.

dmeehan

well at least the tellyvangelist channels and the al jazeera's are all way down the epg

i'd shoot myself if i had to flick through that every night!

chernobyl

Have you guys missed the favourite button?
You can skip the crap you dont have.

tombenjr

Originally posted by madman
OnIreland will reply,but he is up in Northern Ireland-so no probs with ITV dig in Belfast or somewhere like that.
Its possible in parts of Cavan and other places with a strong enough Brougher Mtn signal (greater than 80db's-I would say)

And last but not least:) You can get very good ITV digital down here in North Wexford-and whats more I subscribe to them from my Co Wexford Republic of Ireland address which really makes a mockery of all the "rights" issues being talked about here

And yes via ITV digital I get an English version of Sky one here in Wexford complete with English adds And Channel four is there as well as BBC News 24 and the CBBC channels
mm

Can you get any Free To air channels on ITV digtal?
If yes what are they?
How muc does it cost for ITV Digital setbox?
what equiment do yo need like aerias?
write back

ONireland

FTA Channel - No card required:

1. BBC1
2. BBC2
3. UTV
4. CH4
5. CH5
6. ITV2
7. BBC Choice
9. Teletext
10. BBC4
11. BBC News 24
12. CBBC
13. CBeebies
14. FourText
15. ntl (TV listings)
17. BBCi
19. Shop!
44. TV Travel Shop
48. ITN News
88. ITV Digital Information

From March 30th, a box with no subscription can be bought for £100. This box will be compatible with the RTE digital terrestrial system.

The system requires a normal TV aerial (pointing to a digital TV aerial, naturally - Divis, Brougher Mountain, Limivady (or in Wales)).

obrien0107

Would one of the £100 boxes work with RTE digital services anywhere in the country?
+ without the card?

irishguy

ONireland does that box enable you to watch whatever channel you want on any tv at the same time?

chernobyl

How could it, the FTA channels are in a digital format and i assume that the same rules apply to Digital Sat as to Digital Terrestrial tranmissions.

Genghis

Originally posted by ONireland
They should do it like ITV Digital:

1. As many favourties as you want
2. The ability to re-order the channels as you so wish
3. Scroll up and down through favourites

Also, they really ought to reorganise away from the themed channel numbers (ie - all channels of one type in eg, the 600s). Put all the good channels in from 1 to 99, all the crap from 200+. That way you have a nice barrier between the good stuff and the dross.

All of this sounds great, and even better that there is a precedent for it. Maybe Sky might follow. I would certainly love more power / customised EPG's.

In reply to tombenjr and in addition to what Onireland has said:

All the channels Onireland has mentioned are fta on an ITV digital box.
Plus when you are on presely you get the all welsh S4C as well as Channel four.
And of Course BBC One Wales,BBC2W,HTV Wales instead of BBC NI and UTV.
The crucial extras for us in Wexford would be the fact that you would get the English version of Channel four from Presely on DTT and ITV 2-both of which are FTA.

The reception on the whole is great in the summertime,however in the winter,you will lose some of the channels from time to time depending on the weather.I have never lost all channels, which says something for the fact that the presely tx is well in excess of a 100 miles from here albeit over a good seapath.

The nice lady at the Itvdigital call centre told me that they had customers on the Southern side of the Irish border and in Wicklow and Wexford! That was last may.The box I have was originally the £99 stg prepaid box with card and was bought in Dixons in the Uk.A call had to be made to ITV Digital(then ondigital) to switch on the card.
The £99stg included a year of Sky one,MTV,Granada plus,GB Eurosport,E4 and paramount.
The £99 box is not owned by those who buy it. Essentially at that time to increase their Sub numbers,Ondigital gave out free boxes "on loan " and expected people to continue with the Sub after a year.


It is expected though that when the Irish DTT service gets going, it's signal will be so strong, that it will completely wipe out the DTT overspill from the UK into Wexford.
mm

p.s i suspect this thread if it continues to talk about DTT will soon be moooooving!!