Well just watched a bit of Boardwalk Empire and have got to say I am disappointed with the presentation. There are multiple ad breaks and a very obtrusive channel ident in the top-left corner.
I am so used to watching HBO content without either of these. For that reason alone Sky Atlantic will never truely feel like HBO UK and downloading the episodes will remain the best way to view HBO programming.
Here is what Sky had to say about there reasons for deciding to air 'The Pacific' on Sky Movies rather than Sky One.
"The directors of The Pacific envisaged that each episode would be shown in full (ie without ad breaks), unedited, in HD and free from on-screen logos or graphics - as such Sky Movies is the most appropriate channel for the series," the statement continued.
There are 24 hours in a day and only THREE of them are "prime viewing hours." There is no reason why the other 21 hours should have anything but filler -- and that is exactly what the other channels have in those off-peak hours. It seems to me that when it comes to what you call the "chasm between expectation and actuality," the fault lies in your expectation, not the new channel's actuality.
What did people expect? Top quality new shows for 24 hours a day? Show me any channel which offers that - or any channel which shows their best programming when most people are at work.
Yes, it has a lot of repeats but it's a chance for people to see a lot of shows that they may not ave seen before right from the beginning.
Well just watched a bit of Boardwalk Empire and have got to say I am disappointed with the presentation. There are multiple ad breaks and a very obtrusive channel ident in the top-left corner.
I am so used to watching HBO content without either of these. For that reason alone Sky Atlantic will never truely feel like HBO UK and downloading the episodes will remain the best way to view HBO programming.
Here is what Sky had to say about there reasons for deciding to air 'The Pacific' on Sky Movies rather than Sky One.
"The directors of The Pacific envisaged that each episode would be shown in full (ie without ad breaks), unedited, in HD and free from on-screen logos or graphics - as such Sky Movies is the most appropriate channel for the series," the statement continued.
Each episode of The Pacific was more like a film than a TV show, hence why they could get away with showing it on the Movie channels.
10% of Sky's profit comes from ads, you can't expect them to have this new channel which has had tons of PR and not have ads in it. Yes it would be nice if the shows didn't have any but no one expected it not to have them. The number of ad breaks was about right, plus in fact they seemed a little shorter than normal. The first episode of Boardwalk Empire is 80min, Sky showed it in a 90min slot so we only had 10min worth of ads which is what we normally got in a 60min slot.
I don’t see that much to celebrate in a supposed new channel that fills over 20 hours a day of it’s output with repeats of X-Files, ER, 24, Star Trek Voyager etc.
There are as yet undiscovered Amazonian tribes that do not even know what a television is that have seen every episode of all those shows!
Which would be fine if they weren’t publicising it like they are. Should be done for false advertising IMO.
You might like something I don’t and vice versa. Does that automatically make it “crap” and easily dismissed? I daresay some of ITV1’s lower rated shows will get more viewers than even Boardwalk Empire and as it’s impossible to arbitrate taste who’s to say one channel is doing a better job than the other in catering to it’s audiences needs?
Sky have scored an own goal with this channel I reckon. I was aghast when I first clapped eyes on the full listings and that massive chasm between expectation and actuality was entirely down to Sky’s own arrogance in starting a new 24 hour channel merely to show off a couple hours of programming and then going on to advertise it like God himself had personally endorsed Uncle Rupert’s folly.
Now Sky Arts 1&2....There are two channels that they should promote more. I cry inside every time I read their listings, so packed with good stuff are they but I, as a Freeviewer, am locked out of seeing them. Curse you Uncle Rupert!!!!
They can't be that packed with good stuff, or you'd be subscibing to them? You're only 'locked out' through your own choice...
That's pretty much what TV is like in the US. Good stuff between 9-11pm and trash for the rest of the day.
It's rapidly turning into that over here too.:rolleyes:
I keep an eye on the Sky Arts channels but there's an awful lot of 'churn' on these too. The 'Russian Propoganda' Soviet shorts have been very watchable, could do without the Andre Rieu overkill though.:o:sleep:
I thought Boardwalk Empire was awesome, beautifully shot with fantastic performances.
Blue Bloods is very good with the potential to be great.
I see they're starting The X-Files from the beginning too. I'd be interested to go back and see how it holds up today.
The freeview channel, VirginOne/ChannelOne did this already and not that long ago. Same with Star Trek Voyager. They seem to be filling the slots with a lot of Channel One slots, which has made it a little underwhelming although there are some good repeats that haven't been on the TV for a while which is good.
They can't be that packed with good stuff, or you'd be subscibing to them? You're only 'locked out' through your own choice...
Not enough hours in the day to watch the stuff on the channels I already have so it wouldn’t make sense to add more to that.
Went through the first 11 days of Sky Atlantic and out of a total of 250 hours of broadcast time, less than 17 are original first-run programming. Several full days have zero new programmes - They’re solid repeats from 6am to 6am.
Went through the first 11 days of Sky Atlantic and out of a total of 250 hours of broadcast time, less than 17 are original first-run programming. Several full days have zero new programmes - They’re solid repeats from 6am to 6am.
That seems to be par for the course of Sky these days. Looking back over the schedules for Sky1 they typically have one (or two half-hour) new episode of one programme per night. Everything else is repeats.
That seems to be par for the course of Sky these days. Looking back over the schedules for Sky1 they typically have one (or two half-hour) new episode of one programme per night. Everything else is repeats.
To be fair, with so many channels fighting for content from the US this was bound to happen. Everything is spread thin over a wide range of channels instead of being clumped together in just one or two channels which would then give the impression of new content all the time.
Which I suppose is one of the negative side-affects of Sky Atlantic. If they just stuck all these new shows on Sky1 along with the new content they already have you would have people praising Sky for improving the channel instead of just moaning saying that it and Atlantic are full of repeats with only an hour or two of new content a day.
I am looking forward to catching up with shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Oz (hope they show it) - the sort of shows which you hear so much about but never get round to watching.
I'll watch the channel as long as it remains 'free' to those on the Entertainment Mix, but i wont be paying for the Variety package if thats where its going after 6 months.
To be fair, with so many channels fighting for content from the US this was bound to happen. Everything is spread thin over a wide range of channels instead of being clumped together in just one or two channels which would then give the impression of new content all the time.
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Yes, that's my view too. The major effect it's had on me is that there's almost never "a good nights telly" any more. There may be one or two programmes spread across Sky1 and FX that I haven't seen before and would watch, but on the Sky package it's only those two channels, if the rest didn't exist I wouldn't even notice any more. The problem is that with such sparse content I've got into the habit of keeping the TV off and only switching on when there's something I specifically want to watch. Gone are the days of surfing the channels after a high-quality and original programme has drawn me in.Now it's <click-on> watch <click-off> and fill the rest of the evenings with more interesting activities.
The prospective rewards of accidentally finding something else that's good is outweighed by the difficulty and poor odds of finding anything.
Comments
I am so used to watching HBO content without either of these. For that reason alone Sky Atlantic will never truely feel like HBO UK and downloading the episodes will remain the best way to view HBO programming.
Here is what Sky had to say about there reasons for deciding to air 'The Pacific' on Sky Movies rather than Sky One.
"The directors of The Pacific envisaged that each episode would be shown in full (ie without ad breaks), unedited, in HD and free from on-screen logos or graphics - as such Sky Movies is the most appropriate channel for the series," the statement continued.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/news/a202115/sky-responds-to-pacific-airing-criticisms.html
What did people expect? Top quality new shows for 24 hours a day? Show me any channel which offers that - or any channel which shows their best programming when most people are at work.
Yes, it has a lot of repeats but it's a chance for people to see a lot of shows that they may not ave seen before right from the beginning.
Why in the UK do the logos always have to be in the top left or right.
Each episode of The Pacific was more like a film than a TV show, hence why they could get away with showing it on the Movie channels.
10% of Sky's profit comes from ads, you can't expect them to have this new channel which has had tons of PR and not have ads in it. Yes it would be nice if the shows didn't have any but no one expected it not to have them. The number of ad breaks was about right, plus in fact they seemed a little shorter than normal. The first episode of Boardwalk Empire is 80min, Sky showed it in a 90min slot so we only had 10min worth of ads which is what we normally got in a 60min slot.
They can't be that packed with good stuff, or you'd be subscibing to them? You're only 'locked out' through your own choice...
It's rapidly turning into that over here too.:rolleyes:
I keep an eye on the Sky Arts channels but there's an awful lot of 'churn' on these too. The 'Russian Propoganda' Soviet shorts have been very watchable, could do without the Andre Rieu overkill though.:o:sleep:
The freeview channel, VirginOne/ChannelOne did this already and not that long ago. Same with Star Trek Voyager. They seem to be filling the slots with a lot of Channel One slots, which has made it a little underwhelming although there are some good repeats that haven't been on the TV for a while which is good.
Not enough hours in the day to watch the stuff on the channels I already have so it wouldn’t make sense to add more to that.
Went through the first 11 days of Sky Atlantic and out of a total of 250 hours of broadcast time, less than 17 are original first-run programming. Several full days have zero new programmes - They’re solid repeats from 6am to 6am.
I would guess the early ones are not available in WS.
Same here and a rerun of series 2 of Rome, if they show it. The rest of the programming I couldn't care less about.
To be fair, with so many channels fighting for content from the US this was bound to happen. Everything is spread thin over a wide range of channels instead of being clumped together in just one or two channels which would then give the impression of new content all the time.
Which I suppose is one of the negative side-affects of Sky Atlantic. If they just stuck all these new shows on Sky1 along with the new content they already have you would have people praising Sky for improving the channel instead of just moaning saying that it and Atlantic are full of repeats with only an hour or two of new content a day.
I'll watch the channel as long as it remains 'free' to those on the Entertainment Mix, but i wont be paying for the Variety package if thats where its going after 6 months.
The prospective rewards of accidentally finding something else that's good is outweighed by the difficulty and poor odds of finding anything.