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BT Vision vs. Sky
[Deleted User]
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I have been a Sky customer for many years, but am looking to combine, BB, Phone and TV all into one package, currently the BB and Phone are with BT and TV with Sky...
Really, no nothing of BT vision and I am wondering if it is worth swapping over to?
I currently only use Sky for what perhaps I can get on Freeview, plus watch the likes of Alibi, Watch and Gold – other than that I hardly use Sky, reason I kept Sky was mainly for the recording facility on the box!
Initially I was going to take the Phone and BB over to Sky, but speaking with BT this afternoon they told me about BT vision and it made me more curious!
Really, no nothing of BT vision and I am wondering if it is worth swapping over to?
I currently only use Sky for what perhaps I can get on Freeview, plus watch the likes of Alibi, Watch and Gold – other than that I hardly use Sky, reason I kept Sky was mainly for the recording facility on the box!
Initially I was going to take the Phone and BB over to Sky, but speaking with BT this afternoon they told me about BT vision and it made me more curious!
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We tend to use the BTvision box for recording (many programmes but particularly football and motor racing on SkySports, ESPN and 301 for F1 practice etc), watching catchup (iPlayer, ITVplayer, 4OD etc - slicker and more reliable than on the TV) and (generally free) films.
You could switch to Freesat from sky and/or get a Freesat (BBC) PVR and/or a free satellite STB (or PVR) and/or BTvision (the cheapest way of getting a Freeview twin tuner PVR - unfortunately not HD) and you would have the best of all worlds!
If you can record sky then you have a duo or quad LNB - so you may be able to run up to 4 (freesat/Sky) satellite receivers off your existing dish.
I have Sky phone and broadband and haven't looked back. OK, my broadband speed is only 5mb, which might not be enough for some, but for me it is very good value for money. Plus with Sky it's only a 12 month contract.
To me the weaknesses with BT Vision are...
Their box doesn't do HD Freeview channels (only on demand streamed stuff is HD).
None of the pay channels are HD (obviously)
No Sky Sports 3/4/F1/News. This may not be a problem if you only watch Premier League football, but a lot of cricket/rugby/wrestling is broadcast on Sky Sports 3 and 4, which are of course not available.
ESPN is not 24/7, and even then only the main channel and none of thier other ones.
No multiroom with BT Vision.
I have to say BT Vision was once tempting for their on demand content, but Sky have got their act in gear now with Sky Anytime+, plus BBC iPlayer and the full ITV Player are due to be on Sky soon, so I really think they'll have it all sewn up.
If I lived somewhere I couldn't get Sky or cable I probably would have BT Vision, but really I can't see it as a platform offering anything not available anywhere else.
The old silver box had RF out which we used for use in other rooms - and I find it a pain not having it on the current black boxes. The boxes do have a 'companion' mode which has not been implemented (I got it working whilst I was swapping boxes and had both connected) - and probably won't now as they are switching software (but I expect once they have switched to Linux there will be many unexpected developments).
I really only miss the RF because we have the same channel on in the kitchen and the (pre)echo is annoying and it cannot be sky sports or espn anyway. I have been thinking of running a twisted pair SCART RGB through to the kitchen to get this facility back.
You need to do some research for yourself, because no-one else can really tell you whether BT Vision will give you what you want. However, if you only watch the freeview channels on Sky, plus a few extras, then you may find BT Vision may well suit your needs, especially with the new linear channels that will be available later in the year (Watch, Gold and Alibi).
This link shows you what is available on demand, catch up and box office (films)
http://www.btvision.bt.com/listings/freeview/
I can't believe that BT would go to all the trouble of implementing linear channels for just these channels. I'm suspecting something far more significant...
You forgot that FX will also become available soon as a linear channel
Interesting, what are you expecting?...
Suspecting (not expecting).
Perhaps something that makes continuing to market an HD capable internet connected box without a Freeview HD tuner make commercial sense?
NBC-Universal: Movies 24, Style Network, E Entertainment, SyFy Channel and Universal
Turner: TCM, TCM2, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, CN Too, Boomerang and CNN
Discovery: DMAX, Discovery, Discovery Real Time, Home & Health, Discovery Shed, Animal Planet, Discovery History, Discovery Turbo and Discovery Science
Box Televison (Bauer/Channel 4): Magic, Kiss, Kerrang, Smash Hits, Q and The Box
Viacom: MTV, MTV Music, MTV Base, MTV Classic, MTV Rocks, MTV Dance, MTV Live and VH1
TF1 Group: British Eurosport, British Eurosport 2
EPSN: EPSN Classic, EPSN (24/7), EPSN America
CSC Media Group: True Entertainment, True Movies 1, True Movies 2, Bliss, Chart Show TV, Flava, Scuzz, The Vault, Dance Nation TV, Pop, Pop Girl, Tiny Pop and Kix
Sony: Sony TV, Sony Movies, Movies4Men
The Nickelodeon/Comedy Central/National Georgraphic/History channels are joint ventures with Sky, so not sure if they could get a deal with BT. However, FX is signed to BT Vision (owned by Fox International).
There are of course other channels, out there.
If BT Vision signed up a few of the above groups to their line-up they could have a big service to really rival Sky/Virgin. It's not impossible, now they have the UKTV line-up signed up to the service. Maybe this is the start of something big?
I think Sky/Fox would be quite happy for these channels to be on a different platform due to the increased revenue it would bring in. I dont think Sky consider theses channels to be major draws to Sky say like Sky Atlantic. Could be wrong though.
I think you may be right, as most of those are carried on TalkTalk's IPTV service.
On Sky & VM these channels pay for their place it the EPG. They weigh up the cost of this against potential added viewers. BT would certainly need to charge them as compensation for the increased traffic across it's network.
Sky's channels are different, they are so popular that Sky are able to charge VM to carry it. It would be the Same with BT. Let's be honest, though there are a few good channels listed above, Sky 1 is the one BT would need to add is it were to be taken seriously as a linier provider. I know some will say that they're not interested in it, but it is the most popular payTV channel in the UK by a country mile.
Then there's the audience. Are BTV customers the type to want to buy these additional services? Surely they were persuaded by the modest cost of the original platform and were happy to go without PayTV. Will they change their minds?
And finally, why? With YouView only months away (allegedly), why would BT bother. I must admit to being surprised at the UKtv announcement, though it does seem to indicate that my theory that BT will not participate in YouView as a content provider (it always surprises me if I'm right).
All just thrown in for discussion. But I do believe that the UKtv deal signals that if they want them, BTV users will be paying for YouView boxes in Tescos like everyone else.
I've just upgraded to Infinity 2 with 70Mbps arriving at the door. I'm expecting Sky to start charging me more in September (used to have 2 mix's which resulted in getting the new two mix's for 12 months at no extra cost). We really don't watch Sky's own channels with the exception of Sky 1 occasionally. We couldn't do without the function of Sky+. We've watched HD since launch however almost exclusively on FTA channels.
With my phone and broadband already with BT it's logical to see what Vision can offer however I wouldn't rule out Freesat. However am I stuck with just Sky if I still want to watch Sky 1?
Basically I want Sky+ and Sky 1 with HD thrown in an no extra cost.
Any suggestions?
Yes, get a Virgin Tivo box
I should have mentioned that I'm not in a Virgin Media area (
Then sadly as far as i'm aware only Sky can currently offer Sky1 in HD but let's hope that changes with BT Vision in the future, I used to have it and really liked it but the lack of linear content swayed me elsewhere, it's good to see things are moving on the linear side though.
Reading the forums as I do there seems no chance of getting HD completely for free with Sky but you might get a discount or a few months free if you say you are cancelling.
Staff in the Sky forums often provide half price TV upgrade discount codes for existing customers but the only half price offers for HD seem to be for brand new customers, they do offer HD free for 3 months for existing non HD customers but that's about it.
Good luck.
Thanks. Paying Sky over £10 a month for watching the occasional program on Sky 1 became unjustifiable a long time ago when it dawned on us that the majority of our HD viewing was on FTA. We're just coming out of a promotion (they rang us) period (we had £100 credit / multiroom free for 3 months / HD free for 6 months) and it feels a nonsense expecting / haggling for another discount.
I'm going to cancel HD and multiroom later and will probably say goodbye to Sky when they ask me to pay for both mix's (I only wanted the original two mix's) and HD Vision comes out. Now if Sky were happy to negotiate a permanent (sensible) subscription for FTA / Sky 1 / Living (for Mrs Wife) then I would be prepared to stay... :eek: