sky rant

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PaulZA

314 posts

Ultimate Geek

#150977 9-Aug-2014 16:39

Hey guys, I don't have Sky NZ, and I'm happy with my UK package, I have no desire to support those bullies. One question, is why doesn't sky have any HD channels, apart from a few? People say there's no capacity on the D1 available, to support HD, or it would involve a massive upgrade, rendering all the legacy decoders obsolete. While most of those are the same decoders, launched when sky digital first launched, so it's well in an urgent need of an overhaul, but both those are hogwash.. Since most homes now have dual throat LNBs, and those which don't are in the minority, the HD channels there already on the D3 via foxtel, all they need to do is to come to an agreement. Wasn't that the reason why sky put dual throat LNBs, on houses in the first place? Sky is after all the money they can get, and the money goes to shareholders, and towards bonuses, and despite promising to improve viewer experience, everytime prices increase, they don't give a damn. We're probably the only country in the world with almost zero HD channels.

Thanks

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6615 posts

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#1105501 9-Aug-2014 16:48

Probably the cost of bandwidth is too high..

But then again my SKY sub is Sport, HDI + ticket, Movies.. Thats like $100 a month just for SKY.. I am sure many can relate to the pricing the product.

nigelj

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1105502 9-Aug-2014 16:50

Per http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/optusd3_aus.html & http://www.optus.com.au/network/satellite/coverage/d3/ Optus D3 doesn't have any footprint over NZ. Also D3 is at 156 deg E, while D1 is at 160 deg E (I'm not a Satellite expert, but I'd hazard a guess that may also be significant - although I don't recall any issues when Foxtel shifted between D1 and D3).

invisibleman18

570 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1105530 9-Aug-2014 17:43

When there's a World Cup, Commonwealth Games or Olympics on they manage to add 3 or 4 extra HD sports channels so if that's possible then surely it would be possible to make a few other channels HD like Prime, Discovery etc wouldn't it?

nigelj

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1105538 9-Aug-2014 18:10

invisibleman18: When there's a World Cup, Commonwealth Games or Olympics on they manage to add 3 or 4 extra HD sports channels so if that's possible then surely it would be possible to make a few other channels HD like Prime, Discovery etc wouldn't it?

Historically it's generally at the expense of Sky Box Office channels. They take a couple out of rotation and rebrand them as pop-up's, loss of income would be justified by using pop-ups/event channels as justification for higher Sky Sport subs.

sdav

836 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1105552 9-Aug-2014 18:57

7 people support this post

"HD Ticket" can I have a 16:9 and colour ticket too please? That's one of the lamest Pay TV rip offs IMO.

I feel ashamed for joining in the rant against a company but Sky annoys me!

DjShadow

3170 posts

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#1105576 9-Aug-2014 19:20

A lot of Sky Dishes have dual LNBs which means they are pointing at both 156 and 160 degrees, they started popping up after the major Optus B satellite outage back in 2006 I think it was. There are 2 test channels on channels 998 and 999 which pickup from both C1 and D3 satellites.
I'm not sure if there is any capacity reserved on Optus D3 for Sky, there is a new Optus 10 satellite due to launch soon which could be used by Sky but depends where it is positioned.

Apsattv

1567 posts

Uber Geek

#1105661 9-Aug-2014 23:16

Optus D3 at 156E has 8 H pol transponders capable of duplicating Skys existing coverage. As a backup.

I don't see them using it any time soon. Much more likely that they will push out the existing legacy decoders and move all of the D1 service to DVBS2 and mpg4 with the benefits of new decoders supporting ondemand and iptv functions.

DarthKermit

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#1105726 10-Aug-2014 03:23

3 people support this post

Sky? That's that blue thing above us with the clouds, right?

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

eracode

4234 posts

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#1105732 10-Aug-2014 06:55

One person supports this post

DarthKermit: Sky? That's that blue thing above us with the clouds, right?

Yeah - and pigs fly in it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

SteveON

1917 posts

Uber Geek

#1105759 10-Aug-2014 09:28

Freeview DTS has HD. Do you run sky uk via broadband?

PaulZA

314 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1105765 10-Aug-2014 09:50

SteveON: Freeview DTS has HD. Do you run sky uk via broadband?

yep (:

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1105773 10-Aug-2014 10:33

2 people support this post

Unless Sky started to haemorrhage customers due to lack of HD etc, it is not going to happen. Sky will pay the least they can for bandwidth and rack up charges like HD ticket and sky+. I think they would rather put the money into the online streaming model.
My feeling is that nothing will change unless we get some decent competition here. Freeview has proved time and again that the advertising model is not enough any more even though they offer the best picture quality, they can't compete with Sky on content.
Lightbox is probably the only service with the heft to do that at the moment and they are attacking on a vector Sky is weak in. Just got to get content that last hop to my TV easily and it will be the way we watch TV.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

jarledb

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#1105844 10-Aug-2014 12:33

PaulZA:
SteveON: Freeview DTS has HD. Do you run sky uk via broadband?

yep (:

How does one go about getting Sky UK?

SteveON

1917 posts

Uber Geek

#1105935 10-Aug-2014 16:56

jarledb:
PaulZA:
SteveON: Freeview DTS has HD. Do you run sky uk via broadband?

yep (:

How does one go about getting Sky UK?

Visit the UK, move into a house, signup, leave the country with the box and keep the account open is my guess.

jarledb

Webhead
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#1105997 10-Aug-2014 18:44

SteveON:
jarledb:
PaulZA:
SteveON: Freeview DTS has HD. Do you run sky uk via broadband?

yep (:

How does one go about getting Sky UK?

Visit the UK, move into a house, signup, leave the country with the box and keep the account open is my guess.

Sounds like a lot of work... I have friends in the UK, but not sure it would be worth it to have them sign up for a subscription for me?

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