Feedback for Martin Stewart, Sky CEO

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#2382728 30-Dec-2019 09:06

quickymart:

tdgeek:

quickymart:

What I think looks bad (and this is just my opinion) where they announce their subscriber numbers have dropped...then the next day - or even a few hours later - "Sky announces they are raising their prices". It just looks really poor; it reads like the existing ones have to pay more to make up for the ones who left.

Ive never seen that at all. All companies raise prices annually, inflation. Telco's etc, everybody. Everyone complains, except they don't complain at annual salary review time.

Aside from that, get it if you like it, don't get it if you don't

I've seen it happen a bit lately. Note that I don't have Sky anymore - it no longer made sense for me, value-wise; I only watched about 6 channels but had to pay for the 100-odd others I never watched.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12205591

A bit lately, Sky increase their prices every now and then? I also have to pay Netflix, Lightbox (albeit free on my plan), Amazon, Curiositysteam for content that I havent or wont be watching. Thousands of titles too! :-)

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Rikkitic

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#2382729 30-Dec-2019 09:12

tdgeek:

A bit lately, Sky increase their prices every now and then? I also have to pay Netflix, Lightbox (albeit free on my plan), Amazon, Curiositysteam for content that I havent or wont be watching. Thousands of titles too! :-)

Every time anyone criticises Sky in any way, you jump in to defend it. What gives? I know you have said they are not paying you so why such devotion? I am not arguing the issue either way, just wondering what your motivation is.

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#2382730 30-Dec-2019 09:13

Having said that, if SkySportNow had replays, I'd consider cancelling. Miss NatGeo, BBC Earth etc though. We have a Panny Freeview box. MySky is so convenient. If they went full app only where everything is OD for a few weeks, I'd take that

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#2382735 30-Dec-2019 09:16

Rikkitic:

tdgeek:

A bit lately, Sky increase their prices every now and then? I also have to pay Netflix, Lightbox (albeit free on my plan), Amazon, Curiositysteam for content that I havent or wont be watching. Thousands of titles too! :-)

Every time anyone criticises Sky in any way, you jump in to defend it. What gives? I know you have said they are not paying you so why such devotion? I am not arguing the issue either way, just wondering what your motivation is.

Not defending, just commenting. Factual not emotive. Its actually the other way round. many here dont have Sky but spend all day bagging it, I have to ask why.

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#2382737 30-Dec-2019 09:18

Rikkitic:

tdgeek:

A bit lately, Sky increase their prices every now and then? I also have to pay Netflix, Lightbox (albeit free on my plan), Amazon, Curiositysteam for content that I havent or wont be watching. Thousands of titles too! :-)

Every time anyone criticises Sky in any way, you jump in to defend it. What gives? I know you have said they are not paying you so why such devotion? I am not arguing the issue either way, just wondering what your motivation is.

Take the comment they they increase prices a bit lately. Factually they dont. Annually like everyone else. No more than a correction of a comment that was incorrect, no more, no less

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#2382739 30-Dec-2019 09:24

I've been a Sky subscriber for a long time (since the late 90's) and I have to say, as much as I moan about the price I pay, it's entirely my choice.

I pay over $100 a month for MySky+, Sport, Entertainment and basic.

I enjoy the ability to turn on my telly and just start flicking channels until I find something I want to watch.

Streaming isn't as easy or as intuitive and convenient - I tried that for the football this morning before coming to work and it's actually not as enjoyable - unlock the iPad, open the app, turn on the ATV, turn on the TV, start the game, hit the AirPlay button on the app, hope it works this time, get an issue with the stream, due to a quirk of using an old ATV and having lots of wireless devices on in the house, restart from where I left off...etc etc etc.

I may moan, but until there's something that's as reliable or as convenient, I am unlikely to give it up...despite having threatened to a few times.

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#2382741 30-Dec-2019 09:31

Handsomedan:

I've been a Sky subscriber for a long time (since the late 90's) and I have to say, as much as I moan about the price I pay, it's entirely my choice.

I pay over $100 a month for MySky+, Sport, Entertainment and basic.

I enjoy the ability to turn on my telly and just start flicking channels until I find something I want to watch.

Streaming isn't as easy or as intuitive and convenient - I tried that for the football this morning before coming to work and it's actually not as enjoyable - unlock the iPad, open the app, turn on the ATV, turn on the TV, start the game, hit the AirPlay button on the app, hope it works this time, get an issue with the stream, due to a quirk of using an old ATV and having lots of wireless devices on in the house, restart from where I left off...etc etc etc.

I may moan, but until there's something that's as reliable or as convenient, I am unlikely to give it up...despite having threatened to a few times.

Thats pretty much me

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#2382774 30-Dec-2019 10:14

Different people have different ways of doing different things. Sky is easy because everything is laid out in advance, but it's not hard to set something equivalent up for streaming. What I have found with Android is that NZ and Oz FTA are almost as simple and straightforward as the Sky remote, thanks to the IPTV links provided by @Apsattv and another. There are also many additional links, some of which don't work so well, some of which are rubbish (as with Sky), most of which do not have EPG data so that is a trade-off, but NZ and Oz FTA work perfectly. These days we no longer use satellite at all but stream everything and just keep the receiver as back-up.

Of course we use Kodi to manage everything, and that works very well. Limitations are lack of recording capability with Simple IPTV and inability to time-shift live streams. For the rare occasions I feel a need to do these things, there are alternatives, admittedly not as straightforward as Sky. On the other hand, there is no nonsense about recording not being allowed or expiring after a certain time. Not using Sky also gives you a lot more flexibility.

In addition to IPTV, I also have a number of (legal!) On-Demand services and other links set up in the Kodi Add-Ons. An example is SBS, which has a lot of movies and other content that appeals to us. We also watch a lot of overseas public service broadcasting, none of which would be available via Sky. With some experimenting and fiddling, I have found an ideal mix of apps, add-ons and browser links that with shortcuts give us a standardised Sky+ range of content choices at the flick of the universal remote. All of this took some trouble to work out and set up, but it only has to be done once and it is almost as easy to use as the Sky remote.

There are also other subscriber options, like Netflix and Lightbox and Disney(?) and maybe even Neon, that can easily be set up next to Kodi and probably also all controlled from the same Harmony remote (don't know, haven't tried).

My point is that it isn't that black and white. It isn't just a choice between Sky/easy and non-Sky/difficult. A Sky-like experience is also possible without actually having Sky. I am not advocating one or the other here, just saying that the choices are not that stark. If you are into sports and older DVD films, Sky is probably the more convenient choice, but for other things there are good alternatives.

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DS9

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#2382777 30-Dec-2019 10:20

I know this is a bitch about SKY Post, but I took the 50% off Grabone voucher and I'm a happy SKY customer for at least another year.

I aim to misbehave.

tdgeek

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#2382824 30-Dec-2019 10:39

Rikkitic:

Different people have different ways of doing different things. Sky is easy because everything is laid out in advance, but it's not hard to set something equivalent up for streaming. What I have found with Android is that NZ and Oz FTA are almost as simple and straightforward as the Sky remote, thanks to the IPTV links provided by @Apsattv and another. There are also many additional links, some of which don't work so well, some of which are rubbish (as with Sky), most of which do not have EPG data so that is a trade-off, but NZ and Oz FTA work perfectly. These days we no longer use satellite at all but stream everything and just keep the receiver as back-up.

Of course we use Kodi to manage everything, and that works very well. Limitations are lack of recording capability with Simple IPTV and inability to time-shift live streams. For the rare occasions I feel a need to do these things, there are alternatives, admittedly not as straightforward as Sky. On the other hand, there is no nonsense about recording not being allowed or expiring after a certain time. Not using Sky also gives you a lot more flexibility.

In addition to IPTV, I also have a number of (legal!) On-Demand services and other links set up in the Kodi Add-Ons. An example is SBS, which has a lot of movies and other content that appeals to us. We also watch a lot of overseas public service broadcasting, none of which would be available via Sky. With some experimenting and fiddling, I have found an ideal mix of apps, add-ons and browser links that with shortcuts give us a standardised Sky+ range of content choices at the flick of the universal remote. All of this took some trouble to work out and set up, but it only has to be done once and it is almost as easy to use as the Sky remote.

There are also other subscriber options, like Netflix and Lightbox and Disney(?) and maybe even Neon, that can easily be set up next to Kodi and probably also all controlled from the same Harmony remote (don't know, haven't tried).

My point is that it isn't that black and white. It isn't just a choice between Sky/easy and non-Sky/difficult. A Sky-like experience is also possible without actually having Sky. I am not advocating one or the other here, just saying that the choices are not that stark. If you are into sports and older DVD films, Sky is probably the more convenient choice, but for other things there are good alternatives.

A perfect solution. Im sure many do that. Personally I cant be bothered, I dont watch much TV, I like sports and a few bits and pieces, and docos. I pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Curiositystream, each of which I don't use much either. My use case suits me, but ups to you for putting that together

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#2382848 30-Dec-2019 12:15

There were two main reasons why I was glad to put Sky behind me. One was cost. As a non-sports fan, it just did not give me value for money.

The other was because it kept annoying me. I felt like they were arrogantly going out of their way to be as annoying as possible. One big example of this is the constant promos, but there are others. I felt I was crazy to pay significant money to be annoyed. It just didn't make sense.

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rugrat

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#2382860 30-Dec-2019 12:37

Apsattv:

eracode:

Apsattv:

What about if you watch via sky on demand? do those shows still have the adverts?

TVNZOD has ads but way fewer ads than watching live - and TVNZOD via Freeview has even less than that (or more - not sure which way round - but there is a difference with the Freeview version).

Doesn't really answer my question, I guess I should finally bother to put the wifi password into my Sky receiver and look for myself. But was trying to avoid that as one less "complicated" tv thingy for an elderly family member to get confused with

There is no adds on most things. Even some Prine TV shows have no adds, Broken Wood if still there. Stuff under the catch up TV will probably have adds, but most is add free. Once downloaded, they play the same way as recordings from the planner.

Bit above answers your question, next bit just a rant about what’s wrong with Sky on Demand for me, Sky Go casting works as should and more reliable.

I have the Sky Link and it doesn’t hold it’s wifi connection, every time I want to use it have to press the red reset button on decoder next to smart card, then after about a 3 minute reset will connect, but will drop off in next 12 hours or so.

when had Sky tech out mentioned it, he said they know that it drops off but nothing they can do about it so a known fault that Sky has no intention of fixing.

The ones with built in wifi maybe better, don’t know.

Also I was getting clicking noises in the sound, like a scratched record, no one else has reported heard it so only seems to be me, Sky Go chromecasting the sound is click noises free in sound, so I prefer to do it that way.

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#2384149 2-Jan-2020 13:09

Ok, some new feedback. As per my earlier feedback on this thread, Sky don't get any money from me and under current offerings won't, but ...

Today I wanted to watch the final of the 2020 darts championship. I had a look on YouTube only to find Sky NZ had blocked all live feeds due to rights issues.

You block access and then add insult to injury by not providing an app with option to pay-for-view by event. If you had, I would have happily logged on and provided credit card details to view the final match. You would have been happy (you got my money) and I would have been happy (I would have settled in front of the telly for 90 mins to enjoy the final).

As it is, denying me all access because I'm not a long term subscriber just hardens my resolve against Sky.

Rikkitic

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#2384151 2-Jan-2020 13:19

That kind of thing seems to be a new trend. I tried to look up The Day After recently, only to get a smarmy notice that Disney, who seem to have bought up everything, now owns it and is enforcing their copyright. With no option to view it, even for a price.

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Rikkitic

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#2384154 2-Jan-2020 13:20

By the way, is Sky still trying to control what overseas sites people are allowed to visit, or has the new management given up on that?

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