Ring and find out...

tdgeek:

 

Bit of a turnup, Sky increases subscriber numbers and average spend. I guess that blows away the dearth of Sky often mentioned, adnnthe effect of SVOD

 

 

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/77295996/sky-tv-grows-despite-competition

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books! Having said that, I did speak to someone the other day who said they had called to cancel and was offered a deal they couldn't refuse to stay, the first time I've ever heard of something like that out of Sky Retentions.

So many people I know handed in their box and subscription after the RWC.

Something seems fishy.

networkn:

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books!

 

Foxtel also reported a 8% rise in subs this month http://tvtonight.com.au/2016/02/foxtel-subscriptions-rise-to-2-9m.html .

The big question for me is the demographics of subscribers. I imagine Sky / Foxtel are very much skewing towards an older demographic where as the under 30s are all going online. This is also the pattern seen in FTA.

networkn:

 

tdgeek:

 

Bit of a turnup, Sky increases subscriber numbers and average spend. I guess that blows away the dearth of Sky often mentioned, adnnthe effect of SVOD

 

 

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/77295996/sky-tv-grows-despite-competition

 

 

 

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books! Having said that, I did speak to someone the other day who said they had called to cancel and was offered a deal they couldn't refuse to stay, the first time I've ever heard of something like that out of Sky Retentions.

 

 

 

So many people I know handed in their box and subscription after the RWC.

 

 

 

Something seems fishy.

 

When I handed in my bos, I only got offered free 3 month stand down.

I can see these numbers. For many many people there is  huge difference between a single remote that just works, and faffing around with multiple devices, airplay type wifi, and issues of work or not work, buffering. Too hard for many, or not too hard but too fragmented. 

I found Sky very good. It doesnt have a huge amount of anything but it has a lot of everything. FTA, movies, docos, kids, various home and living contents. And its does very well for sport, both in content and HD. For those that whine about its movie to TV series catalogue, it never went out to be a Netflix or Lightbox. 

The subscriber numbers did drop. But they include Neon and Fanpass which effectively is counting that churn as new customers. Dodgy? Not really, they accept churn and provided smaller revenue streams to grab some of it back. 

RWC. I don't feel that accounted for a great amount of churn. Rugger fans didn't get Sky for the RWC, they already have it for Super rugby and AB's. 

We all read here about dissing Sky, yet when there is a deal, its all hands to the chequebook. Its about cost. $59 for Basic, MySky, Sport, Movies, HD is a no brainer, its great value. I'd see $75 as the same

But SVOD needs to be easier to setup and use,  to get great traction. I want Netflix, Lightbox, Fanpass, Neon, etc on my ATV4, or any other easy to use SINGLE STB.

SINGLE box, with a remote, thats the key. To me, thats a big part of Sky holding station at the moment.

stinger:

 

networkn:

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books!

 

 

Foxtel also reported a 8% rise in subs this month http://tvtonight.com.au/2016/02/foxtel-subscriptions-rise-to-2-9m.html .

 

 

 

The big question for me is the demographics of subscribers. I imagine Sky / Foxtel are very much skewing towards an older demographic where as the under 30s are all going online. This is also the pattern seen in FTA.

 

Not sure about that. Do people get Sky for the first time when they turn into an older person? And the effect of SVOD is new. Sky has lost subscriber numbers, they say a small amount, which was offset by Neon and Fanpass. They will lose more every year, but I can see them decreasing prices, that will have a huge effect on retention. And fully new customers.

What I don't get is why rights costs increased. Rights holders are getting rights fees from more and more SVOD operators, yet Sky has to pay more???  They all should be paying a bit less. Or maybe it might be a small number of contents were a lot more expensive?

networkn:

tdgeek:

Bit of a turnup, Sky increases subscriber numbers and average spend. I guess that blows away the dearth of Sky often mentioned, adnnthe effect of SVOD

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/77295996/sky-tv-grows-despite-competition

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books! Having said that, I did speak to someone the other day who said they had called to cancel and was offered a deal they couldn't refuse to stay, the first time I've ever heard of something like that out of Sky Retentions.

 

So many people I know handed in their box and subscription after the RWC.

 

Something seems fishy.

JarrodM:

networkn:

 

tdgeek:

 

 

 

Bit of a turnup, Sky increases subscriber numbers and average spend. I guess that blows away the dearth of Sky often mentioned, adnnthe effect of SVOD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/77295996/sky-tv-grows-despite-competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot understand those figures at all! I'd almost be inclined to call BS or make an accusation of cooking the books! Having said that, I did speak to someone the other day who said they had called to cancel and was offered a deal they couldn't refuse to stay, the first time I've ever heard of something like that out of Sky Retentions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So many people I know handed in their box and subscription after the RWC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something seems fishy.

 

Subscriber numbers are only up due to neon and fanpass, without adding those it would be down. Average spend up 2cents, which is not even the price increase from last year. This is per the Chris keall article on NBR(behind paywall)

Correct. But you'd have to say that they are fending off the SVOD revolution solidly. Possibly because there is no SVOD revolution yet. I can see one day when it does start to bite more, that they will drop Basic price by a good amount

I despair.

We ditched Sky last year and haven't really missed it until now. My wife will be home a bit more over the next 6 months, so we thought that we would take up a telemarketing deal that they called us with two weeks ago. From memory;

- Free install (incl dish, which we already have)

- Sky Basic

- MySky

- Could of been a free channel for 6 months, but don't quote me

- Can cancel at any stage

- $30 to $40 per month for first 12 months

I rang them now and went through to Sales. "Sorry, I don't know what offers they make, as they have different offers to us". It transpires that it is a contracted company that does their telemarketing and they have no notes on who, what, where, when etc. Couldn't give me a number to call them back either. Transferred me to Customer Service and the guy there couldn't see either. 

Net result: They can offer $49 per month plus free sport for 6 months (plus free install).

It must be demoralising to the Sales staff to have an inferior product offering to contractors. 

The number to call for the good deals: 0800 4 SKY TV (0800 475 988)

SumnerBoy:

 

You definitely have to return the box, that is the only niggly bit of the whole process I guess. But I am not sure if they ever cancel your account, or if they just put it on hold. As now that I have signed up again, on a new 12 month deal, I still have the same account number, SkyGo still works for my same login, even the Sky app remote record started working instantly.

 

I really can't believe more people don't do this, $50 for Sky, sports and movies is quite reasonable IMO. The OnDemand stuff is pretty cool as well with the new software, they have all the RWC AB games!

 

I found I only watched about 6 channels out of the 200-odd in the basic package. When I first had Sky I watched Movies quite a bit but the novelty gradually wore off as they repeat the movies so much. Not interested in sport at all, and I thought it was a rip-off paying for Soho (that should really be part of the basic package). Decided the $50 per month I was paying would be better spent elsewhere, so I cancelled it around 12 months ago and haven't had any interest to get it again since. It's still overpriced, IMO.

Rang up Wednesday afternoon on the off chance of an urgent install (to record Football this morning).

Great response and well informed sales rep (marked difference from past conversations with Sky direct employees).

They spelled out the current deals plainly and efficiently:

~$29 for basic

free MySky

~$10 for Sport add-on

~$10 for movies add-on

$10 for HD ticket (no discount)

Option of box:

1. MySKy+ with wifi add-on unit (for ondemand), 1TB, and big physical size.

2. New box, 500GB, and small(er) physical size.

So I got it installed Thursday afternoon! less than 24 hours from calling. (I have had sky before so install was just the guy plugging in a box).

My package: Basic + sport + HD + New Mysky Box, all for $49 instead of 105 :)

(I was tempted by movies at $10 but global netflix still edges it).

So $49 for Basic, MY Sky, Sports, HD Ticket. Free install also?

12 month contract correct? 

What am I missing here...

You are missing nothing - only correction is it is $49 for Basic, MySky, free install + 2 packages (i.e. Sports and Movies). 6 months minimum contract, and reverts to full pricing after 12 months. You have to pay an extra $10 for HD - so $59/month.

It is a ridiculous deal. Why everyone doesn't do it I will never know!

SumnerBoy:

 

You are missing nothing - only correction is it is $49 for Basic, MySky, free install + 2 packages (i.e. Sports and Movies). 6 months minimum contract, and reverts to full pricing after 12 months. You have to pay an extra $10 for HD - so $59/month.

 

It is a ridiculous deal. Why everyone doesn't do it I will never know!

 

Oh 6 month contract? Sounds good.

SumnerBoy:

 

You are missing nothing - only correction is it is $49 for Basic, MySky, free install + 2 packages (i.e. Sports and Movies). 6 months minimum contract, and reverts to full pricing after 12 months. You have to pay an extra $10 for HD - so $59/month.

 

It is a ridiculous deal. Why everyone doesn't do it I will never know!

 

Sky's website doesn't offer the good deal as above. I suspect most people wouldn't know to phone the telemarketers to get that deal, so can only judge Sky by what's on there website