Is sky worth the money?

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!!

phaxx

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

Damn right, chorus are a headache - picture here is distorted on some of the channels, I'm calling them again on Monday... May just ditch them altogether and get Sky.

ONireland

The Pace Digital TV Adaptor is, basically, just a STB so unfortunately you are still limited to one channel. However, at £100 each on launch, I'm sure this time next year they'll be about £50, so buying two might easily be affordible.

I'm not sure what reception will be like of RTE Digital, but I'm sure it'll be pretty much 100%. It uses CODFM 8K (which the Pace is compatible with) and this we are told to believe is a more reliable system than CODFM 2K (actually, it will have more errors, but even more error correction built in - it should work well).