New Sky set top box

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#2543837 18-Aug-2020 17:09

tdgeek:

They say content is king. For me, there is plenty on Sky, they seem to have added a few more channels over time. 5 is quite good, Ive been watching Sinkholes. There is a LOT of stuff on Sky I have no interest in, but I can say the same for the others I have, Amazon Prime, Lightbox/Neon, Netflix, Curiositystream, its the same everywhere. One box for Sky and FTA, recording, Sky Go.

Value for money is king, which is a combination of content, quality, viewer experience and price.

I have been muttering about dropping Sky for a while, but haven't done so yet. From my perspective the range of content is reasonably (but getting worse as content providers like Disney pull their programming to make it exclusive to their own streaming channel. Quality (picture/sound) is OK, and I can live with the price.

Viewer experience is where it isn't working for me. Too many of the channels are ruined by having ad breaks in the programming. So while Channel 5 (which you refer to) has decent content, I find it unwatchable and haven't watched anything on it this year. In addition, the UI on the box is a bit clunky (esp scrolling through on demand programming), and I am tethered to the room the box is in.

If they want to keep me then they should look at:

Providing a fully ad-free option (even if it's at a higher price).
Dropping the STB entirely for an app with a Chromecasting option (or making a Roku app etc), or put a media server into the STB so that other clients can view what's recorded on it.
Improving the UI.

These changes would let me watch the content I'm paying for enjoyably and where I want, increasing Sky's value proposition to me. Otherwise, it's kind of hard to justify the price they are charging, when I look at the pricing for Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ etc - which are cheaper, ad free, have a decent range of content and chromecast-able.

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#2543855 18-Aug-2020 17:48

I would rather interlacing go away and get 1080p before they worry about 4k. I would have thought that the move to h264 boxes and eliminating the SD duplication would have allowed for that. Inexcusable to have interlaced and non square pixel feeds.

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#2543928 18-Aug-2020 20:22

JimmyH:

tdgeek:

They say content is king. For me, there is plenty on Sky, they seem to have added a few more channels over time. 5 is quite good, Ive been watching Sinkholes. There is a LOT of stuff on Sky I have no interest in, but I can say the same for the others I have, Amazon Prime, Lightbox/Neon, Netflix, Curiositystream, its the same everywhere. One box for Sky and FTA, recording, Sky Go.

Value for money is king, which is a combination of content, quality, viewer experience and price.

I have been muttering about dropping Sky for a while, but haven't done so yet. From my perspective the range of content is reasonably (but getting worse as content providers like Disney pull their programming to make it exclusive to their own streaming channel. Quality (picture/sound) is OK, and I can live with the price.

Viewer experience is where it isn't working for me. Too many of the channels are ruined by having ad breaks in the programming. So while Channel 5 (which you refer to) has decent content, I find it unwatchable and haven't watched anything on it this year. In addition, the UI on the box is a bit clunky (esp scrolling through on demand programming), and I am tethered to the room the box is in.

If they want to keep me then they should look at:

Providing a fully ad-free option (even if it's at a higher price).
Dropping the STB entirely for an app with a Chromecasting option (or making a Roku app etc), or put a media server into the STB so that other clients can view what's recorded on it.
Improving the UI.
These changes would let me watch the content I'm paying for enjoyably and where I want, increasing Sky's value proposition to me. Otherwise, it's kind of hard to justify the price they are charging, when I look at the pricing for Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ etc - which are cheaper, ad free, have a decent range of content and chromecast-able.

I watched last night Air Crash and something else, as a recording I had I forgot to do. Ads were a pain, but 99% I watch recorded content, ads easy to FFD through. If I was stuck with ads, ouch.

UI, yes its old, I dont care, its quick to use (but slow)

I also watch Sky go of two iPads, one is 12.9 bought solely for SVOD. We have two living rooms, if I needed Sky on both, yes that wouldn't work out of the box

allstarnz

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#2546713 21-Aug-2020 06:52

networkn:

What have Sky taken away they said they would offer? 4K Sport is an incredibly niche product. <5% of Sky subscribers would have a setup and desire to make use of it. That's not exactly a good return on what would almost certainly be a massive investment.

Is 4K a niche product anymore though? Almost every TV above 40" is 4K these days, so it is very much mainstream. Why would you bother to buy a largish HD only TV these days. I don't now NZ prices off the top of my head, but for about C$500 you can get a basic brand (TCL, Hisense etc) 50" 4K HDR TV.

Spyware

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#2546810 21-Aug-2020 09:10

The only niche part about it is that Sky have no 4K decoders in service by design. I would hazard a guess that greater than 30% of TVs in NZ homes are 4K.

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#2546822 21-Aug-2020 09:12

allstarnz:

networkn:

What have Sky taken away they said they would offer? 4K Sport is an incredibly niche product. <5% of Sky subscribers would have a setup and desire to make use of it. That's not exactly a good return on what would almost certainly be a massive investment.

Is 4K a niche product anymore though? Almost every TV above 40" is 4K these days, so it is very much mainstream. Why would you bother to buy a largish HD only TV these days. I don't now NZ prices off the top of my head, but for about C$500 you can get a basic brand (TCL, Hisense etc) 50" 4K HDR TV.

I didn't say 4K TV's. I said 4K Sport.

PolicyGuy

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#2546825 21-Aug-2020 09:14

allstarnz:

networkn:

What have Sky taken away they said they would offer? 4K Sport is an incredibly niche product. <5% of Sky subscribers would have a setup and desire to make use of it. That's not exactly a good return on what would almost certainly be a massive investment.

Is 4K a niche product anymore though? Almost every TV above 40" is 4K these days, so it is very much mainstream. Why would you bother to buy a largish HD only TV these days. I don't now NZ prices off the top of my head, but for about C$500 you can get a basic brand (TCL, Hisense etc) 50" 4K HDR TV.

True, but what proportion of NZ households, or Sky households, have bought a TV since 4K became the standard capability for larger screen TVs?
I'd guess that an average TV lasts ten to twelve years before it needs replacement, so probably only 10% to 15% of all TVs currently in homes can handle 4K.

Yes, I think it's probably fair to describe 4K Sports as incredibly niche

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#2546852 21-Aug-2020 09:47

PolicyGuy:

True, but what proportion of NZ households, or Sky households, have bought a TV since 4K became the standard capability for larger screen TVs?
I'd guess that an average TV lasts ten to twelve years before it needs replacement, so probably only 10% to 15% of all TVs currently in homes can handle 4K.

Yes, I think it's probably fair to describe 4K Sports as incredibly niche

We only went full HD about 4 years ago!

Prior to that we had a 720p "HD Ready" TV which is now in the kids' room for gaming/streaming etc. That must be at least 15 years old. Still going strong.

I'd love to have a 4K TV, but to be honest, it's a nice to have, not a must have. I think the vast majority of NZers would be in the same boat.

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c3rn

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#2546957 21-Aug-2020 12:17

Mainstream media have picked up on this thread. It has allowed a response from Sky:

Sky TV spokeswoman Chris Major said the company was looking at “a broad range of options to give our customers more of what they most value, and we’re actively engaging with them”.

“The survey ... for our 20,000 strong Sky Nation panel is part of our commitment to really listen to what our customers want, and to use insights to guide our decision-making,” she said.

“We ask a lot of questions about all sorts of initiatives, and it’s great to have this mechanism to hear directly from our customers.”

Source: Stuff.co.nz

MikeB4

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#2547128 21-Aug-2020 16:00

I hope they bring this to market as I am thoroughly feed up with Vodafone and their mess.

networkn

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#2547130 21-Aug-2020 16:08

I suspect (though I have no proof) that this box is already more or less, in the works, it's more a case of what features they turn on/prioritize and how they charge for it's use.

therockwwe

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#2547810 22-Aug-2020 20:18

Isn't this just going to be like the Foxtel IQ4 box?

https://www.foxtel.com.au/shop/foxtel-iq.html

old3eyes

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#2548581 24-Aug-2020 11:20

therockwwe:

Isn't this just going to be like the Foxtel IQ4 box?

https://www.foxtel.com.au/shop/foxtel-iq.html

Looks like in their promo video you can't input a channel number anymore you have to go thru the guide. Not interested unless I can input the channel number.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#2548639 24-Aug-2020 11:38

old3eyes:

therockwwe:

Isn't this just going to be like the Foxtel IQ4 box?

https://www.foxtel.com.au/shop/foxtel-iq.html

Looks like in their promo video you can't input a channel number anymore you have to go thru the guide. Not interested unless I can input the channel number.

If the iq4 is the same as the UK’s “Sky Q” then its remote has number keys (+ a voice button) which would be a bit redundant if it doesn’t allow channel numbers (unless just for PINs in guess).

Hopefully, if the remote is Bluetooth it can be paired with my Harmony remote.

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#2548648 24-Aug-2020 11:45

To be fair, it wouldn't be hard for Sky to replace the default remote with one that had buttons if they felt the majority of people wanted it.

In case Sky is reading this thread (which I suspect they do), trust me when I tell you, you need to ensure buttons are present on the remote if you want increased uptake. A good portion of your customer base will find this enough of an adjustment that you don't want to add any artificial barriers to its adoption.

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