Sky TV price increases

[dexpunt]

I've just had notification that my Sky monthly subscription is increasing. I've noticed that over recent years I have started using Netflix and Youtube more so therefore less reliant on Sky
I am seriously thinking of cancelling after being with them for over 20 years however before I do I would love any advice from anyone who has also cancelled letting me know of pros and cons etc,

Also any advice on alternatives would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Mr Sinister]

Sky is a waste of money, I have a Plex server and dialled into thousands of channels, all the latest movies, live sports around the world everything, ain't no way I'm throwing money away on subscriptions

[Spunky34]

Now TV packages give me the sky channels I want with greater flexibility to roll on and off than was the case at the time I switched (which was many years ago).  You can’t get 4k with Now if that’s important to you (even full HD is extra) but I can’t justify the additional cost of Sky proper.  Stream quality is good and the full HD upgrade is as good as you’d expect.  I was tempted the other day when I saw an offer for Sky Stream but overall it was still too much.  All the same channels and catch up/box sets etc are available, you don’t get the same options to record or rewind live TV but it’s fine for me (I am mostly wanting live sports and on demand movies or box sets)

I’ve also heard that Sky are pretty good with another discount if longstanding customers (even not so long standing) get on the phone to them and say they want to cancel.  So maybe give that a go before taking the plunge.

[dexpunt]

Now TV packages give me the sky channels I want with greater flexibility to roll on and off than was the case at the time I switched (which was many years ago).  You can’t get 4k with Now if that’s important to you (even full HD is extra) but I can’t justify the additional cost of Sky proper.  Stream quality is good and the full HD upgrade is as good as you’d expect.  I was tempted the other day when I saw an offer for Sky Stream but overall it was still too much.  All the same channels and catch up/box sets etc are available, you don’t get the same options to record or rewind live TV but it’s fine for me (I am mostly wanting live sports and on demand movies or box sets)

I’ve also heard that Sky are pretty good with another discount if longstanding customers (even not so long standing) get on the phone to them and say they want to cancel.  So maybe give that a go before taking the plunge.

Just got off the phone to them now. They advised that my new Monthly bill (just for basic + sports no broadband) would be 98 quid per month. When I advised them I would be leaving they reduced it to 51 quid a month with a free box upgrade. I'm so pissed off I will be leaving anyway. So suggestions are appreciated

[badsin]

Get Plex on a firstick, pretty much limitless films, sports etc.

[myothernameis]

Same with virgin, normal price increase used to be £3 per month, but now, there using a new calculation method

Total cost of package will increase by CPI % + 3.4%, meaning around £20 increase per month

[YoungerStill]

I think with the rise of online video content sky is redundant and the price is unjustifiable. I now only watch YouTube, Amazon prime and some stuff on Apple TV. I think a lot of people will be cancelling sky or reducing their packages.

[Spunky34]

Just got off the phone to them now. They advised that my new Monthly bill (just for basic + sports no broadband) would be 98 quid per month. When I advised them I would be leaving they reduced it to 51 quid a month with a free box upgrade. I'm so pissed off I will be leaving anyway. So suggestions are appreciated

Now TV with Sky entertainment package, Sky Sports channels and the upgrade to 1080p HD would be £50 a month, and you literally pay for a month at a time.  There’s a new customer offer right now which would also give you movies with that for another £2.

So basically no saving compared with what they offered you on the call, plus you lose the functionality of the Sky box.  However, it illustrates that generally it’s a lot cheaper than the standard renewal quote.

[Matrix]

Folk actually pay to watch TV? 

[Spunky34]

I think with the rise of online video content sky is redundant and the price is unjustifiable. I now only watch YouTube, Amazon prime and some stuff on Apple TV. I think a lot of people will be cancelling sky or reducing their packages.

I agree - 20 years ago when Sky was using satellite dishes, decoder boxes etc you could see there were hardware and infrastructure costs they had to cover with their pricing.  Unless they pivot totally to the streaming only model and reduce their pricing accordingly they will lose a bunch of customers.  The Sky Stream service (and the Sky Glass TV unit as well) show them taking steps in that transition but the pricing remains the same. 

It risks a vicious cycle for them as if they lose customers their cash position will worsen and they won’t be able to keep their premium sports rights etc - already starting to see this in some sports.  And services like Disney + mean that some movies etc will take longer to come to services like Sky or will cost more.  Less incentive for customers to stay with them.  Hard to see how they break that cycle.

[RandomGuy99]

I've just had notification that my Sky monthly subscription is increasing. I've noticed that over recent years I have started using Netflix and Youtube more so therefore less reliant on Sky
I am seriously thinking of cancelling after being with them for over 20 years however before I do I would love any advice from anyone who has also cancelled letting me know of pros and cons etc,

Also any advice on alternatives would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

It's just a game Sky play. Call them up and politely talk about cancelling or downgrading your package and you'll soon find thst they'll do you a deal.

One annoying thing with Sky is you have to pay them a £10 admin fee to recontract and get access to their discounted rates.

[RandomGuy99]

I agree - 20 years ago when Sky was using satellite dishes, decoder boxes etc you could see there were hardware and infrastructure costs they had to cover with their pricing.  Unless they pivot totally to the streaming only model and reduce their pricing accordingly they will lose a bunch of customers.  The Sky Stream service (and the Sky Glass TV unit as well) show them taking steps in that transition but the pricing remains the same. 

It risks a vicious cycle for them as if they lose customers their cash position will worsen and they won’t be able to keep their premium sports rights etc - already starting to see this in some sports.  And services like Disney + mean that some movies etc will take longer to come to services like Sky or will cost more.  Less incentive for customers to stay with them.  Hard to see how they break that cycle.

The Sky spend on infrastructure is shifting from satellite dishes and satellite broadcasting to servers for holding their content and network bandwidth to deliver it all. I'd have thought the streaming model is probably cheaper than the satellite model, so there may be a reduction in time.

[Spunky34]

The Sky spend on infrastructure is shifting from satellite dishes and satellite broadcasting to servers for holding their content and network bandwidth to deliver it all. I'd have thought the streaming model is probably cheaper than the satellite model, so there may be a reduction in time.

Absolutely - once they have transitioned off their legacy infrastructure they will need to reduce prices or they will just be horribly uncompetitive.  But to complete that transition they would need to incur big costs in, to take one example, redundancy and hiring new staff for the new infrastructure or in retraining, and while they have a decent chunk of customers who still use the old infrastructure they can’t just switch it off, so it needs to be maintained until then (it won’t be quick to persuade those customers to switch to streaming either - it isn’t that long since they were heavily pushing the Sky Q box).  I don’t see them reducing prices significantly any time soon. 

[sir wanksalot]

You've got to play the Sky Cancellation Dance.

Tell them you want to cancel. Test the resolve of the advisor you're speaking to. In some worst case scenarios they will activate your cancellation request and put you on 30 days notice.

More likely they will almost ask you to name your price

[Bonker]

How does Plex work? Any more information going?

[Steve2]

How does Plex work? Any more information going?

Google is you friend, Don't be a lazy barsteward   

[Ghost89]

Sky no longer has the monopoly on tv anymore. The likes of streaming services has taken that from them and when I got the inevitable price increase I was straight through to cancellation to do a deal. Got a new Q box and a much cheaper bill. In all honesty I don’t watch a great deal on Sky but like the record facility and they do occasionally put stuff on I like so I keep going with them. At least for now.

[garfield]

Google is you friend, Don't be a lazy barsteward   

Is there a reason why we can’t talk about that on here?

[daviemac]

Is there a reason why we can’t talk about that on here?

If you search for and go on the official website you get all the information you need about how it works and what you have to do to use it, including all the terms and conditions and that is more accurate than someone posting their opinion of how it works here.

[mr.bluesky]

How does Plex work? Any more information going?

Looking at it's tv channels listing I wouldn't bother, hardly in the same league as Sky 

[garfield]

If you search for and go on the official website you get all the information you need about how it works and what you have to do to use it, including all the terms and conditions and that is more accurate than someone posting their opinion of how it works here.

I already had a look and had a few questions, wasn’t sure if its an illegal piracy thing and if we can talk about it on here.

[garfield]

Looking at it's tv channels listing I wouldn't bother, hardly in the same league as Sky 

Apart from the football (and a few decent boxsets) skys a load of dogshit

[mr.bluesky]

Apart from the football (and a few decent boxsets) skys a load of dogshit

To be honest I only have sky for the sports channels  otherwise I wouldn't bother. Sky is still the best channel for Football,  F1 and Rugby League which are the main sports I'm interested in

[Bru1901]

Iptv is more flexible. Sky is all repeats

[NewGuy89]

My bill will be going up from £89.95 to £94.95 and I dont even have the sports anymore. I think I will be moving over to FreeSat shortly to save a few quid.

[DastardlyDick]

If you have an Amazon Prime membership, it might be worth looking at a Fire stick or box - there's quite a lot of stuff on there that's free, and £79 a year is a lot cheaper than Sky!

[jackdaw]

My bill will be going up from £89.95 to £94.95 and I dont even have the sports anymore. I think I will be moving over to FreeSat shortly to save a few quid.

As others have said you will probably get a chunky reduction by phoning Sky and telling them you plan to quit. A mate did that regularly at end of each football season.

But if you’re not signed up for sports package, personally think there’s a ton of better alternate legit options, and certainly better “pirate” options.