Sky TV vs Now TV

[IfYouPutASausageInItItsNotAViennetta]

We've been with Sky for many years now and the cost has just gradually crept up and up until now, when we're paying almost £40 a month - and it seems like a colossal waste of money for us.

We're not interested at all in sports, movies or indeed most of the stuff that Sky themselves make. Mostly, we use it (old-fashioned Sky HD box - not bothered about Sky Q, Sky Glass or any of that) as a platform to watch the standard terrestrial channels, as well as less premium free-to-air (I think?!) repeats channels like Challenge, Dave and some of the music ones (Now 80s etc).

There are a few of Sky's own programmes that we enjoy - Never Mind The Buzzcocks, some of the dramas and the like - but we've also somehow ended up with a subscription to Now TV, which is around a tenner a month, which seems to have all of these on there anyway.

We're just chucking a huge amount of money away, aren't we? What is the actual reason for us not to cancel the Sky subscription and keep using the box without a viewing card in it as a FreeSat box, then watch any Sky-specific programmes on Now TV on a laptop or phone? We don't even have a smart TV - not interested.

Why does it actually cost £40 for a basic Sky package anyway, compared with the Now TV cost? Is there any added value, or are they just banking on inertia and legacy customers who aren't online? Or is it just that they expect their customers to be mad keen on the sports and movies and we're just doing the TV equivalent of paying for a full unlimited gym subscription when we only pop in every now and again to use the vending machine?!

I'm going to check when our contract ends and then cancel - I anticipate enormous barricades and marketing bombardment from Sky to do everything in their power to stop us doing so; but I'm actually staggered (and annoyed at all the money we've spent through inertia) as to why they charge so very much in the first place, especially as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and the like are vastly cheaper for a lot more content.

Does anybody have any thoughts, suggestions or justifications as to why we shouldn't cancel? It's a complete no-brainer, isn't it?

If you have a Sky subscription, why do you have a Now TV one?
Now TV doesn't have all the programmes as Sky but might have the ones you need!
There are new bundles now in Sky, like Sky essentials for £15 for example.
If you want to be able to watch it on your phone or tablet, you can download Sky go for that.
Now they also have Sky stream which is like the old box but smaller and you don't need a satellite dish for that, it uses broadband.
https://www.sky.com/deals?section=tv&highlight=stream_essential&dcmp=knc-uk-ppc-ggl-18603152879-MB~SKY_MK~UK_SC~SEA_PF~GGL_AT~PRF_BD~STV_TM~SKT_SB~SST_CA~TAO_TG~PRS_BM~PPCB_CFF~BST_CN~STRM&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18603152879&gbraid=0AAAAADvAOqfpj9Cz2M3TcX8LivBZRvOT8&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0qTCBhCmARIsAAj8C4aC0xaDh1M-kWwztgdEIgv3r4eVqtdjuEkLrxbgmdqlztb8LRr8sTwaApzZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks very much, @MsBubbles85

I can't actually remember why we got the Now TV subscription- we might have been on holiday or something.

Thanks for the suggestions - we'll look into the Sky Essentials (I thought we were on the cheapest one); but I'm thinking we'll probably end up just binning the standard Sky sub completely.

I have had Now TV for a few years and it's not without it's faults (spinning dial of death) I pay £27 for broadband and around £5 a month for Now TV entertainment pack which gives me Sky Atlantic and Gold for OFAH. We also have Netflix and that's about enough really. I still get the best Sky channels and.Sky Sports News which is all I need