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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand why people pay for sky?

254 replies

CanAnybodyMakeSenseofThis · 26/04/2013 22:20

Due to technical issues, I'm running my tv through an old sky box I found in the loft. I don't have a subscription so can't watch any of the sky channels. However, I can see the listings.

It's so much poo it's unbelievable. Why do people pay for this?? Are they mad?

OP posts:
mrsjay · 27/04/2013 13:23

Sky movies and anytime.

Plus it's convenient.

And it's only fifty quid a month which is a negligible amount to me.

this really we dont go out much so why not eh

ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmmmmmmmm · 27/04/2013 13:42

YANBU.........If you are the "only ever watch improving documentaries on my 3 1/2 inch black and white 30 year old tv we keep concealed inside a stuffed moose head , next to the floor to ceiling bookcases filled with 20,000 penguin classics..........."type hysterical MN'er......

Everyone else.............YABU

ihearsounds · 27/04/2013 13:48

When I moved here, having a box was the only way to get tv. The communal area was rubbish and could only pick up 2 channels, itv and channel 4 or 5, I forget which one.
So, we first tried OnDigital, which was fine for what we wanted, until it went bust.
Then we went to sky.
After getting bombarded with stuff from telewest we went with them, lasted a year.
Then went back with sky (aerial still shit).
Virgin then took over telewest, so we eventually went with them. That relationship lasted 4 months. Even they admitted, finally, after a million lies, that they were shit and set us free without penalty.
Communal aerial still not working.
So went back to sky.
Communal aerial finally got upgraded. But I'm not connected because the week they did it, we were on holiday, which aerial people wanted us to cancel. 2 years later, still with sky, still no aerial because aerial people tell us they are coming, and don't bother showing up. Plus now I don't want connecting to the communal because the thieving shits, aka landlord, charge an extra £15 a month per socket for the service.

ChocolateCakePlease · 27/04/2013 13:54

I can honestly say that apart from sky Atlantic that dh liked, there is nothing on sky that we watched that we do not get on freesat. On sky all we seemed to watch was repeats of things that we have watched so many times before. We can record, rewind, pause and series link record on our freesat box like we could on sky but we save 40 quid a month instead.

New channels are added all the time too. I am suprised at how many music channels have popped up on it too. For us it is a great saving but if you watch sport or other things on sky then it is worth it but for us we were just flicking through repeats all the time.

verytellytubby · 27/04/2013 14:02

Sky plus completes me Grin

Grinkly · 27/04/2013 14:42

We get limited freeview as it's from a small local transmitter or something. Bought a humax to use with it and it freezes constantly (am sure I have all the downloaded software on it) so to record anything must have sky. V annoying as have to pay same licence fee as everyone else.

Bunbaker · 27/04/2013 16:51

"Because I love my Sky plus box so much and never ever have to waste time watching adverts."

We have a hard drive recorder that we can set to record entire series. From what I can see it does everything that Sky Plus does except offer the extra channels. As DD watches too much TV anyway and we can't keep up with everything we currently record, I don't feel the need for Sky. It isn't anything to do with being snobby. I just feel that our TV requirements are already catered for.

Sallyingforth · 27/04/2013 16:58

so to record anything must have sky.

No you don't! A decent Freesat box has just the same functions.

Fluffy1234 · 27/04/2013 17:14

I can't see how paying for sky is any different than paying for any fluid other than tap water or owning more than a couple of items of clothing etc. There are always cheaper ways to do things but I prefer to sit and watch Sky channels in the evening that look at my bank book with the extra £35 a month in it.

StateofConfusion · 27/04/2013 17:18

umm for the plus aspect so i can watch what i want when i want. Freeview plus was a bag of shite never worked property.

And i quite like a bit of shit tv and shit to keep the kids happy once in a while.

marjproops · 27/04/2013 17:20

sports, childrens channels, dicovery and factual and learning channels, music channels......radio channels....

yes many sh**channels but the good ones outweigh the bad

StateofConfusion · 27/04/2013 17:21

ojj

ouryve · 27/04/2013 17:21

I was miffed when Criminal Minds went over to Sky, only. Less so House, as that had already jumped the shark by that point.

Not enough to consider even a basic Sky package, though. We had Sky for a while before Freesat and didn't miss it all that much when we ditched it.

StateofConfusion · 27/04/2013 17:23

whoops baby grabbed the phone, meant to add £26.50 pcm for mine every thing except sport channels. I have no social life dont drink or smoke so sky and the odd chocolate bar is my luxury/treat/entertaiment.

Bunbaker · 27/04/2013 17:23

"umm for the plus aspect so i can watch what i want when i want"

Sky isn't the only way you can record TV programmes or series. Our Sony hard drive recorder records what we want to watch. We can also do time slip recording and pause a live programme, but we don't pay a monthly fee to do this.

ouryve · 27/04/2013 17:24

And we have a freeview PVR, so, if it's on freeview, we can record it. Often in HD when our aerial hasn't blown over. We can get HD channels on freeview and freesat that my parents can't on their now basic Sky package.

ouryve · 27/04/2013 17:25

The Murdochs are rich enough, anyhow.

squeakytoy · 27/04/2013 17:25

freeview and freesat boxes are available with all the functionality of sky+

I run an aerial and satellite company in the south east and many people have switched from sky to freesat now.

ouryve · 27/04/2013 17:27

Oddsocks - freesat uses the same satellites and dishes as Sky, so I don't know why that didn't work for you, but Sky does.

whiteandyellowiris · 27/04/2013 17:27

yanbu, we were paying 50 quid a month on it, and barely watching it

should have got rid of it alot sooner

queenjellybelly · 27/04/2013 17:30

I pay a fortune for the full package. I would pay double if I had to. TV is my life.

queenjellybelly · 27/04/2013 17:31

& wine Wink.

DeadWomanWalking · 27/04/2013 20:06

We had it for over 10 years, kept upgrading, got Sky+HD and multiroom for DSD. Then when DH was made redundant last year we couldn't afford it any more. We got rid of it, and at first I really missed being able to pause the TV and record. But then my dad got us a FreeSat box for Christmas and it's great. We get all the free channels (Which honestly are the mostly the ones I watched anyway) and we can pause and record. I download all the TV shows we used to watch on Sky anyway so we're not missing anything. The only ones who really miss Sky are the kids because we no longer get Disney Cinemagic and Boomerang. They watch less TV now though, which is a good thing.

Anthracite · 27/04/2013 20:10

I have Virgin TiVo rather than Sky.

I hardly watch any broadcast TV. I like documentaries, so Discovery channels, History Channel etc.

I also enjoy watching ATP tennis, which is cable only. Others in the family enjoy Premiership football, and children's/teen channels.

Pigsmummy · 27/04/2013 20:36

Sport, on demand, box office and Sky+ is our reason. Sky plus is amazing. Saturday night on BBC and ITV makes me want to weep/drink my own piss/move to mars.

My DH and I love football, today watched soccer am, the early game and late game, weather rubbish so a great relief to have sky tbh.

If you threaten to leave they normal offer about 30-40% discount to stay.

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