Sky Sports 5 - how to activate?

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  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    If lots of people get SS 5 switched off now then I suspect it is only a matter of time before the media (Daily Mail money, Watchdog etc) start investigating.

    This seems to be one heck of a messed up advertising campaign by Sky as it may have sold a few broadband contracts but it risks alienating loads of other viewers who have very reasonable concerns about activating more than an extra channel by accident.

    They should not be switching people off. Plug the offer by all means. But deactivating in order to get people to go through some promo spiel to put it back on is frankly very poor.

    And will create very bad publicity for Sky sooner or later.
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    I am amazed the papers haven't said more. Okay, some papers definitely won't - but the rivals? Or is the advertising revenue too much to risk?

    Watchdog will probably do something. I did forward a Tweet to them earlier, and I expect others have too.

    I've had another Tweet with a private number to quote to get the matter sorted. I think Sky is perhaps missing the point that I don't just want them to fix the channel and make the 'activate' button to go - I want to know how I can activate the channel without having to go through the redemption offer link, and then read through T&Cs and avoid agreeing to something I don't want, or didn't know I was agreeing to.

    I speak for others who will be tricked unless Sky stops this nonsense, and don't want to hear from my parents saying they've just had loads of hassle.

    In fact, I don't want Sky to get away with this and then feel it can do whatever it likes in the future. It's not bloody Ryanair! I don't expect to have to read everything closely because I now have to assume there's a catch in every offer from now on.
  • essess Posts: 264
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    Regarding the red button icon. There's a 30 second timeout option 'remove onscreen icon' on the sky box settings too
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 135
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    There is something about Sky sport 5 that we have yet to learn about. If as sky say it part of our sky sport subscription why is there a need to activate it ?
    It might be at no extra charge at present but I think in time this will change.
  • bubblegunbubblegun Posts: 766
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    There is something about Sky sport 5 that we have yet to learn about. If as sky say it part of our sky sport subscription why is there a need to activate it ?
    It might be at no extra charge at present but I think in time this will change.

    It would certainly seem that way but the competitors Virgin and BT don't require registration to get the channel so who knows?

    To activate Sports 5 just call Sky (any department) and they just need to click a little button at the top of their screen when in your account to activate Sports 5. They will try to sell the broadband but just say you're in a contract and will think about it next year.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    bubblegun wrote: »
    It would certainly seem that way but the competitors Virgin and BT don't require registration to get the channel so who knows?

    To activate Sports 5 just call Sky (any department) and they just need to click a little button at the top of their screen when in your account to activate Sports 5. They will try to sell the broadband but just say you're in a contract and will think about it next year.

    Last time I contacted Sky using the chat facility on My Sky (so I could keep a record of the conversation) they promised to do one thing and did something very different - directly changing the nature of the account. They have not corrected it yet, just keep saying it will not effect me so do not worry!

    But I do worry and would now be extremely reluctant to phone them up and trust they would not do something else unrequested whilst 'activating' this channel.

    We still have it - unlike some others who say it has disappeared.

    I have no idea what criteria are deciding if or when you lose this channel if you do not activate.

    But obviously they are not switching everyone off at once.
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    I am not activating it until any chance of 'redeeming the offer' goes away.

    I might have time to moan here, but I don't have time to try and sort account related problems, especially ones that might interrupt my phone service.
  • shireshire Posts: 410
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    Loads of people have Sky but don't have, want or need broadband. My broadband isn't connected to my Sky box, it possibly would be if the wifi was built into my box but I was only sent the adapter thing which needs to be plugged into the electric and I'm pretty much over my limit with plugs as it is. I doubt if the channel has disappeared, mine certainly hasn't and I'm sure it said about a month ago that you had to activate it by some date about 3 weeks ago or something like that
  • mjtuohymjtuohy Posts: 7
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    Hi I had not activated SP5 As having phone and internet with BT. Was a bit concerned what would happen. My son in law was activating it as I walked into room. The first page after pressing activate had a option for SP5 only push green button which we did . Seems ok.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    shire wrote: »
    Loads of people have Sky but don't have, want or need broadband. My broadband isn't connected to my Sky box, it possibly would be if the wifi was built into my box but I was only sent the adapter thing which needs to be plugged into the electric and I'm pretty much over my limit with plugs as it is. I doubt if the channel has disappeared, mine certainly hasn't and I'm sure it said about a month ago that you had to activate it by some date about 3 weeks ago or something like that

    If you go into My Sky and bring up your package details then you can see if it has been activated.

    If it has then Sky Sports 5 will be separately shown with a green tick alongside of it.

    We did not activate it either but it seems Sky must have done as the tick is there. And we have not lost the channel.

    Those who did not activate and report not having the tick claim on the very long (25 page) thread about this on the Sky forum that they had lost the channel until some of them used chat via My Sky or phoned Sky and they activated it and the green tick appeared against it on their package details.

    It is allegedly(at least on that thread) more than just a broadband sales campaign but also an extra layer of security having to activate this channel in an attempt to defeat bogus Sky Sports access being sold out there. If you have a non valid card then you will have no ability to activate Sky Sports 5 and it would not then unscramble via your non Sky registered card.

    If true, then it might not be the last such activation exercise we see. Of course, it might just be something someone on the phone at Sky told someone in speculation as to why they had to activate.
  • me_plus_oneme_plus_one Posts: 701
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    Has anyone activated it and found the red button not appearing anymore?
    Its so annoying that the red button keeps showing despite activation.
  • daniel99daniel99 Posts: 12,119
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    Has anyone activated it and found the red button not appearing anymore?
    Its so annoying that the red button keeps showing despite activation.

    activated Sky Sports 5 before it launched and i'm still getting the press red to activate Bug too.
  • sodafountainsodafountain Posts: 16,829
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    When watching live, press pause, wait a few seconds, then press play, watching on delay, even by a few seconds, stops the red button notification all channels, including BBC.
  • pete taylorpete taylor Posts: 1,977
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    I have never activated SS5, however on checking my account online it has a green tick against Sky Sports 5!

    We are in an area that is not Sky LLU at the moment, so the only product they would be in a position to offer would be the inferior Sky Broadband Connect product, could that be the reason why some people have been automatically activated with Sky Sports 5?

    Are people connected to a Sky LLU exchange the only ones who actually need to activate it?
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    I have never activated SS5, however on checking my account online it has a green tick against Sky Sports 5!

    We are in an area that is not Sky LLU at the moment, so the only product they would be in a position to offer would be the inferior Sky Broadband Connect product, could that be the reason why some people have been automatically activated with Sky Sports 5?

    Are people connected to a Sky LLU exchange the only ones who actually need to activate it?

    No, we are in a Sky LLU area but have no BT line connected, just Virgin. I have adopted a contract with them and as we are under contract for another year we could not switch to Sky even if we wanted to take the offer.

    But I cannot imagine Sky would know that without asking us.

    Yet we were 'activated' without asking.

    I thought it might be because we have Sky World (as was) - ie all movies and sport and the rest in HD plus multiroom.

    But not sure that this has not stopped others being switched off.

    It seems random. Though someone posted in a thread somewhere that Jeff Stelling said on some show that anyone not activated by today would lose SS 5.

    We shall see.
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    I lost it weeks ago. Still haven't, and won't, activate it as it keeps saying 12 months contract and a price rise from £73 a month to £87 even when I'm not selecting normal broadband or fibre.

    So Sky can sod off. Sky has said on Twitter to call up, but why should I waste my time on hold?
  • shireshire Posts: 410
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    As someone has pointed out further up the thread, you can get rid of the activate button (that is automatically get rid of it after it appears for 30 seconds) by going into the sky box menu, choosing Options then choosing Customise then choose On-screen icon timeout. Change it from off to on and then press the green button to save it and any red button type icons on any channel will go away after 30 seconds of displaying. It saves having to press the back up button at least
  • Robin ArmitageRobin Armitage Posts: 487
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    I don't know if this is widespread but SS5 has become viewable again after being off for 2 weeks. I did write a letter of complaint asking for a reduction in my skysports sub to reflect only getting 6 channels though.. :-)
  • StuntyStunty Posts: 45,685
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    Our SS5 has disappeared, we now have the red screen to tell us to activate it.

    I went onto the Sky website as instructed, as I always tend to read the small print I was very dubious of the 12 month contract bit though. No way was I going to click on that and get lumped into a 12 month contract.

    I knew that DS would have a thread on this, and have read all the comments. It may not be a start of a new contract but I'm not taking the chance.

    Have ben considering cancelling, ths may be the last straw if I have to call them just to get a channel that should be automatically part of our expensive subscription. >:(
  • RadiomikeRadiomike Posts: 7,925
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    Stunty wrote: »
    Our SS5 has disappeared, we now have the red screen to tell us to activate it.

    I went onto the Sky website as instructed, as I always tend to read the small print I was very dubious of the 12 month contract bit though. No way was I going to click on that and get lumped into a 12 month contract.

    I knew that DS would have a thread on this, and have read all the comments. It may not be a start of a new contract but I'm not taking the chance.

    Have ben considering cancelling, ths may be the last straw if I have to call them just to get a channel that should be automatically part of our expensive subscription. >:(

    It's not the start of a new contract providing you only activate the channel and don't take up any related broadband offer.

    It does seem that Sky have irritated a lot of people with this ploy though no doubt they will claim it justified in terms of new broadband customers.

    Why are you thinking of cancelling by the way?
  • StuntyStunty Posts: 45,685
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    Radiomike wrote: »
    It's not the start of a new contract providing you only activate the channel and don't take up any related broadband offer.

    It does seem that Sky have irritated a lot of people with this ploy though no doubt they will claim it justified in terms of new broadband customers.

    Why are you thinking of cancelling by the way?

    I really don't trust clicking on anything that they may in the future claim that we are on a new contract ..... we have been out of contract for years now. If they can pull daft tricks like this one why should we trust them at all?

    Why am I considering cancelling .......
    Sky really don't look after their long term customers, they care more about the new customer incentives, 'sign up today and we'll give you a good deal then rely on your apathy to keep on paying the subs at full price'.

    As long as you pay your subscription they offer you nothing in return for your loyal 'patronage', then they do this SS5 malarkey that really has annoyed me. I only needed an incentive to give them a call, I have been putting it off for months saying 'perhaps tomorrow when I have the time and energy to hang on the line for 40 minutes'!!

    We don't even have an HD box yet, just the standard Sky+ (yes I perhaps should have got in touch with them), we have Freesat HD and BT Vision and thus feel a bit cheated that we are paying £53 per month for not very much more than we have already. In addition to that our Sky box does have a tendancy to lose the signal and keeps telling me to turn it off, wait 30 seconds, and then it takes another 5 minutes to pick up the signal again ....... unsure whether it is the box or the dish.

    I know this is a long post, but you did ask why I was cancelling.:blush::D
  • DragonQDragonQ Posts: 4,807
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    So does activating Sky Sports 5 (without taking broadband) renew an existing contract to 12 months or not? The website is very vague about this.

    My Sky Sports 5 channel still works but I'd obviously prefer it not to disappear, plus Sky keep sending me bloody "activate now" emails.
  • GBCULLENGBCULLEN Posts: 1,128
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    No It Does Not Renew A 12 Month Contract. I Hope By End Of November They Get Rid Of It Most Annoying Gimmick Ever
  • d'@ved'@ve Posts: 45,452
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    Not really been interested in SS5 but out of interest I have just tuned in to it. There's that stupid "activate SS5" nag thing, which I got rid of in 0.5 seconds flat with Back Up, but why would I (or anyone) pay attention to the nag anyway? I'm watching the damned channel already - Sky must think we are idiots! :D
  • GBCULLENGBCULLEN Posts: 1,128
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    ha, it keeps coming back!!
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