Are online streaming services still worth it?

Forums › Online streaming services › Are online streaming services still worth it?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

2743 posts

Uber Geek

#3124718 7-Sep-2023 17:08

MikeB4:

Sky Go does not show in the AppleTV App Store

It is there - I just installed it to confirm that "Sky Open" aka Prime is available. Second hit found on a search for "Sky Go"

You need a Sky account... my old Sky Go account (its been a few years since we had a Sky Decoder) still logs in and shows Prime and Trackside, but all the other channels say my subscription is expired.

rugrat

3100 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3124730 7-Sep-2023 18:01

rb99:

Just as a matter of interest, is it much of a rigmarole to cancel and rejoin, cancel and rejoin.

Is there an easier way, like suspending use but keeping settings and things?

No rigmarole. When join can start watching straight away. Quit any time and won’t be charged for following month. I.e it won’t renew at end of month paid for.

Watch lists are kept, and are still there when sign up again. There may be a time limit though, I think Netflix deletes your account around nine months of not being a paying customer, so need to join one month every nine months to keep settings.

Tinkerisk

4208 posts

Uber Geek

#3124732 7-Sep-2023 18:13

Short answer: no.

In GER, we have to pay a statutory licence fee of the equivalent of NZD 32.49 per month, for every household - regardless of whether you own a TV or not (it is assumed that you have internet and access to the public TV channels there). This contribution is used exclusively to finance the public broadcasters, whose independence is monitored by the Broadcasting Council. This ensures an (almost) ad-free basic service, private broadcasters are not financed. Every citizen has access to about 50 free national and regional television channels and stream services (yes we even have NZ TV series as content), plus many more private channels with (ads and) slightly reduced resolution, the content and quality of which can be increased for a fee.

Then there are all the usual paid streaming services - but they are by no means vital, since all important national and international events (e.g. World Championships, Olympic Games, etc.) are covered by public television.

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

johno1234

2743 posts

Uber Geek

#3124734 7-Sep-2023 18:19

johno1234:
MikeB4:

Sky Go does not show in the AppleTV App Store

It is there - I just installed it to confirm that "Sky Open" aka Prime is available. Second hit found on a search for "Sky Go"

You need a Sky account... my old Sky Go account (its been a few years since we had a Sky Decoder) still logs in and shows Prime and Trackside, but all the other channels say my subscription is expired.

Oh, it’s there on my phone but not on the Apple TV device. That’s ironic.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3124737 7-Sep-2023 18:37

@johno1234 that is what I was referring to. The only Sky Apps on Apple TV are Sport and Neon

johno1234

2743 posts

Uber Geek

#3124742 7-Sep-2023 19:03

That’s annoying. Can cast it from phone to Apple TV with airplay though?

rugrat

3100 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3124796 7-Sep-2023 20:08

johno1234: That’s annoying. Can cast it from phone to Apple TV with airplay though?

Yes.

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

BlakJak

1254 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3124825 7-Sep-2023 22:21

Tinkerisk:
Short answer: no.

In GER, we have to pay a statutory licence fee of the equivalent of NZD 32.49 per month, for every household - regardless of whether you own a TV or not (it is assumed that you have internet and access to the public TV channels there). This contribution is used exclusively to finance the public broadcasters, whose independence is monitored by the Broadcasting Council. This ensures an (almost) ad-free basic service, private broadcasters are not financed. Every citizen has access to about 50 free national and regional television channels and stream services (yes we even have NZ TV series as content), plus many more private channels with (ads and) slightly reduced resolution, the content and quality of which can be increased for a fee.

Then there are all the usual paid streaming services - but they are by no means vital, since all important national and international events (e.g. World Championships, Olympic Games, etc.) are covered by public television.

New Zealand stopped charging a Broadcasting Fee in 1999/2000. There's some recent (though overtaken by events) discussion on the modern pro/con of this on this The Spinoff article from 2022.

Our household (family of four) has Netflix, Disney, Prime and (as of three months ago) Neon (and Spotify Premium, family version). We ummed and ahh'ed about the latter because the TCO for these is now close to $100pm and onceuponatime we had said we wouldn't go there. But.. we used to rent several DVD's a couple of times a month, and given there's four of us (with varying tastes) it has, so far, been rationalised as a cross-subsidy (we don't go to the cinema particularly often either, now).

Have not yet been inclined to buy Youtube Premium, but do spend quite a bit of time watching 'less intense' content there, i'm on the fence about giving them money because I actually think their advertising has gotten worse and worse lately (to the point where i'm less inclined to give them money on principle) but I think if we wanted to pick up another pay service, we'd have to drop one.

Netflix is probably first on the chopping block, there's less there now that acts as a draw (dilution to the other options) and I am sick of them cancelling stuff for Hollywood-accounting reasons.

Nutshell though is that it's our subs that leads to content and you can either do the rolling-sub thing as others have said, or accept that in return for the convenience, there's a premium to be paid.

No signature to see here, move along...

Tinkerisk

4208 posts

Uber Geek

#3124833 7-Sep-2023 22:40

BlakJak: New Zealand stopped charging a Broadcasting Fee in 1999/2000. There's some recent (though overtaken by events) discussion on the modern pro/con of this on this The Spinoff article from 2022. Our household (family of four) has Netflix, Disney, Prime and (as of three months ago) Neon (and Spotify Premium, family version). We ummed and ahh'ed about the latter because the TCO for these is now close to $100pm and onceuponatime we had said we wouldn't go there.

I can understand that. The good thing is that the public broadcasters in Europe work together and support each other. They even come up with useful own content, like "The Swarm", which they have financed themselves. I'd rather pay the monthly broadcasting fee than see it all commercialised.

Stu1

1742 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Subscriber

#3124883 8-Sep-2023 07:41

It’s scary how much it adds up a month, it’s also music subs as well as consoles. We have a sub for the ps5, Xbox and switch and Spotify premium for family listening.

I try and get yearly subs when specials come up , sky sport and Disney are for year, prime is free at the moment through 2dgrees but expires next month but Ivan be discounted as a 2degrees customer.I will always subscribe to prime when a new grand tour or Clarksons farm season appears can’t resist. Netflix is constant for the kids , neon everyone and then will get for a month for shows like the last of us. We find we watch a lot of free tv like the block on Aussie tv and British tv BBC and ITV. I can see why banks include it as an outgoing expense for calculating affordability it certainly adds up:(

JPNZ

1520 posts

Uber Geek

#3124885 8-Sep-2023 07:50

MikeB4: @johno1234 that is what I was referring to. The only Sky Apps on Apple TV are Sport and Neon

I was going to add it would be very unlikely Sky would add a skygo app to apple tv. It would ruin SSN

Panasonic 65GZ1000, Onkyo RZ730, Atmos 5.1.2, AppleTV 4K, Nest Mini's, PS5, PS3, MacbookPro, iPad Pro, Apple watch SE2, iPhone 15+

alasta

6688 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#3124896 8-Sep-2023 08:11

Considering that I only spend $13 a month on subscription TV, I was shaking my head at some of the spend figures you guys have quoted, but then I added up all of my online subscriptions including things like Geekzone, Strava and the local media contributions I mentioned earlier. It turns out that I'm averaging $72 a month for all of that!

I am quite deliberate about how I budget for it though, so I am confident that I am getting value of out the things that I have chosen to subscribe to. I don't think I could say that if I had a Netflix or Neon subscription.

mclean

581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#3124939 8-Sep-2023 10:39

BlakJak: ...Have not yet been inclined to buy Youtube Premium, but do spend quite a bit of time watching 'less intense' content there, i'm on the fence about giving them money because I actually think their advertising has gotten worse and worse lately (to the point where i'm less inclined to give them money on principle) but I think if we wanted to pick up another pay service, we'd have to drop one...

The whole point of YouTube Premium is it has zero advertising. Apart from sponsorship messages within the content, which is pretty minimal and usually related to the topic.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3124943 8-Sep-2023 10:49

Has Neon improved in recent times? I just realised that I can get Neon cheaper on my Spark account

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#3124947 8-Sep-2023 11:07

MikeB4:

Has Neon improved in recent times? I just realised that I can get Neon cheaper on my Spark account

I'd otherwise be keen to take out a Neon sub, but will refuse to do so until they make good on their ongoing failure to provide quality audio/discrete surround sound.

I can accept basic audio from free VOD services like TVNZ but I'm just not willing to pay for a service with substandard sound. A classic example is The Last of Us - the audio on that added so much to creating atmosphere, so watching that via Neon would not be nearly the same experience.

I get that I may be an outlier on this, and it's likely this won't be a deciding factor for you, Mike!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5