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Are sky pricing themselves out?
Mackemsafc
Posts: 607 Forum Member
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Sky is now pricing themselves out, and I'm now considering changing providers.
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Mackemsafc
Posts: 607 Mackemsafc
Posts: 607 Mackemsafc
Posts: 607
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Only regret is why did I pay for that repeated crap for so many years and what I could have done with all that money.
There are already 2 similar threads on this, with over 600 posts in them!!
The broadband packages and phone has saved them for a few years but even that's an ever growing and competitive market.
The entertainment market is saturated with digital channels and it's hard to tell which ones are FTA and pay as they both have loads of ads and new shows. Sky got desperate and got ITV Encore but it's no better than any previous ITV effort. Sky will come again with 4k and improved HD boxes though. I guess in the end with them losing Champions League in the next few years I think they will have to offer a lower entry price for Sky maybe less channels? Sport or movies maybe taken as a standalone for Freesat people too?
Sky use to be the best way to get TV, even the only way for some with no cable coverage but Freeview is improving. People are getting more picky of what they want to pay for as they turn to things like Netflix. When people look at cutting back they don't see a £20 quid Sky bill it's a £100 bill with movies, sport, broadband and it can all be found cheaper, even all be it with a few less junk channels like Sky1 and GOLD.
You can't keep having inflation busting rises and not expect people to say enough is enough eventually.
The problem Sky has got is they keep having to hand over more and more £billions for football rights. They are stinging everyone with increases to pay for this. I think people who have no interest in football are starting to resent that. Especially this time when the family pack has increased by triple the amount the sports pack has.
It is now rapidly reaching the point where we cannot justify paying £71.25 pm and now with a £4.50 increase on top for an average of 4 hours TV viewing per day.
To 'er indoors and myself the ability to record and then watch when we want to watch is brilliant but now we are both drawing our State Pensions a decision will need to be made. Don't get me wrong it is not because we cannot afford Sky TV it is because I believe that Sky and Football are now taking the pi55 out of all of us.
I occasionally log in to my parents Sky Go account** to see what I'm missing on a full Sky subscription and can honestly say I quickly log out and return to my Now TV package as it's usually just Gold or Fox that I want to watch...well apart from the odd movie.
**I set Sky Go up for them so know the details, and checked first and they are OK with me viewing on their subscription.
Also with the increase in streaming providers such as Netflix and prime etc many people may just use them instead alongside freeview/sat.
Once enough people are on it, and Sky digital starts to drop off, the price of Now TV will rise slowly, a pound a year perhaps.
I think more people are going over to Freest and Freeview, but Now TV will take some of thee back.
Sky are too big to "be done". They do need a reality check on premium football bidding though (as do the football industry). Blowing £4.2bn on football, then increasing Sports packages by £0-£1 whilst increasing the lower packages by £2-3 then saying "the increases have nothing to do with the football". Some of us may be 'slower' than others, but come on, we're not that thick... ;-)
There is always more thick "whatever" people than there is savvy/smart people. Look at the calibre of TV nowadays to see who its geared towards.
I don't know, people in numbers tend overall to get things right. But Sky has a great deal of inertia, slowing Sky down, peak Sky, and Sky's decline all takes time. I suspect we are close to peak Sky, or possibly we are just past it (just referring to Sky Digital, and excluding Now TV subscribers and broadband).
bully for you. Instead of a few channels of quality tv you get dozens of tatty ones.
Yes I know its still Sky - but it's still a damned sight cheaper.
But the fact they charge for it is why they have so many HD channels, compared to the paltry few elsewhere.
Really....where is it the norm that you don't have to pay extra for HD?
Then they rang up and offered me 50% off. I do love having the sports channels, and do watch enough import stuff to justify the cost with 50% off. I can't justify paying full price any more, it may have the best content, but not at any cost.
As for broadband, I'll keep flip flopping every 12 (or 18 if I HAVE to) months - I'll switch to whoever gives the best deal at the time. Its absolutely barking mad financially to stay with one company.
Its dire when I scroll page after page through the EPG and how there is so much white SD channels than there is yellow/orange HD listings in 2015. Even a lot of the HD listings is questionable due to the poor bitrate and sound.