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Original poster

Why is sky SO expensive?

108 replies

Thefaceofboe · 08/04/2021 11:39

I just phoned to try and bring our bill down as it’s around £115 a month due to my partner having multiple sport packages, so wanted to cancel movies and see what else I could do to make it a bit cheaper.

They have offered me a ‘deal’ to stop me from cancelling movies... for £140 a month Grin

They said it’s because my current deals are going to run out. Bloody wish I hadn’t bothered now.

Anyone with virgin media and would recommend them over sky? Getting fed up of extortionate prices

OP posts:
DynamoKev · 08/04/2021 12:07

@MasterBeth
There are no decent movies on Netflix.
There are plenty actually.

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 08/04/2021 12:08

@MasterBeth good job I’m not asking you to watch any with us Wink

OP posts:
AcornAutumn · 08/04/2021 12:08

If you say you're going to cancel you will get a better deal.

It is insanely high what you are paying. My late father had the sports and it was half that. That was three years ago but he negotiated it down, I'm sure you can. Only one room for Sky though.

TokyoSushi · 08/04/2021 12:09

It is ridiculously expensive, we pay £96 per month, but we have all the sports, multi-room, Netflix etc etc. We do use it a lot and can watch basically anything that's on TV, but it's pretty much 'if you want the thing, you have to pay the price' and unfortunately we do want it, so we're stuck with the big bill!

DynamoKev · 08/04/2021 12:11

If enough people were prepared to cancel the price would come down.
I guess we are also lucky we can't stand spectator sports of almost any kind.

TwunchOfBats · 08/04/2021 12:12

Multiroom's a bloody swizz, isn't it?

'Oh, you want to be able to watch the same TV content but in different rooms of your own house? That'll be extra'.

We dropped Sky altogether. We have NowTV and tend to switch movies/entertainment on for a couple of months or so, watch everything worth watching, then switch it off for a while to let the good content build back up again - using Netflix/Prime in the meantime.

We watch F1 but just pay for a 24 hour NowTV pass for that - that itself is extortionate but at £230 a season it's still cheaper than any of the sport channel subscriptions. It also means we don't pay if any of the races conflict with other plans.

user123456778 · 08/04/2021 12:14

We'd be with virgin if we could but they aren't in our area. Sky have the monopoly

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 08/04/2021 12:15

@TwunchOfBats

I think multi room is such a novelty too, we wanted it when we bought our first house as it was something neither of our parents were willing to pay when we lived at home so I found the concept of watching sky in bed amazing Grin the excitement soon wore off.

I’m really interested in NowTv, and I like the fact you and swap and cancel whenever you want.

OP posts:
KoalaOok · 08/04/2021 12:15

Just have it in one room and use netflix and free view for the other

TrickorTreacle · 08/04/2021 12:15

Mobile - go sim-free for £6/month, unlimited everything and 4GB data.

Landline - ditch it.

Fixed line internet - get a medium tariff for £25/month.

TV - ditch Sky TV and just stick with the 4 or 5 channels like we did in the 90s. 4/5 is plenty for most people. The only people who get Sky TV are the better off single-child families.

You can thank me later :-)

Northofsomewhere · 08/04/2021 12:16

I would get researching the other options, what they offer and how they differ from Sky (how much would you actually miss from Sky?) Then actually cancel. We cancelled our broadband with Talk talk to go with Virgin for a better deal, once TalkTalk knew we were changing they called us up with an even better deal so be stuck in the end.

I'd follow through with Sky unless they offer you a genuinely amazing deal that you think it value for money. A lot of people stick a. because it's easy and £5 a year doesn't seem that much until you're 5 years in and b. they don't think they're actually any good alternatives.

I always think more flexibility is good, with Sky (and other providers) you can be locked in for 2+ years and circumstances or usage may change during that time. I've genuinely found NowTV to be the easiest service to change and cancel, most make that function a little difficult to find or use, NowTV advertise it as part of their service.

KoalaOok · 08/04/2021 12:17

@Thefaceofboe

No we don’t need multi room as it’s in our bedroom so really unnecessary, which I also tried to cancel but it barley brings the price down because of the current deals ending. I rang up to cancel as much as I could and the price went up!

Does you partner watch that much sport?
Yes Blush I’m hoping I can convince him to cancel bt sport and find a way to stream the games on his laptop.

Ah sorry missed this update. Can he find a mate who watches the sport and they both pay for a different package each?
user123456778 · 08/04/2021 12:17

Oh and I was disgusted that with the boxing they don't actually tell you how much you are about to pay!

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 08/04/2021 12:19

@KoalaOok I’ll suggest that to him. I’m hoping when he gets in from work he just says cancel the lot Grin but we will see. I’m hoping to cancel at least bt sport if there’s any chance of us staying with sky.

OP posts:
fairydustandpixies · 08/04/2021 12:20

There are lots of deals you can get to access sky programmes without paying for sky. I use Now TV, Starzplay and Discovery +, all apps on my phone that I cast to the tv via a chrome cast. Less than £20 a month.

peak2021 · 08/04/2021 12:23

Do you really need sport? Now TV as you observe for the few sporting events that are really important (no football ones if he follows Manchester United, no need to induce a sulk from watching if Liverpool).

Films there are Netflix, BFI subscriptions, various other streaming platforms. Others have covered the alternatives to the rest.

Pineapplemonkey · 08/04/2021 12:24

I pay them less than £40 a month for tv (inc box sets) and super fast fibre broadband. I don't have multiroom, sports or movies. I think the tv element is £10 if I remember correctly. Doesn't seem that excessive, it's the addons that boost the price

williowrosenburg · 08/04/2021 12:26

Isn't football season coming to an end soon. We always used to cancel sports over the summer for that reason.

You could cancel the whole lot, then in a few months they will email with a deal to entice you back.

Think we pay £40 a month for sky and broadband but we don't have sport or movies. My husband just streams the matches he wants on his iPad....

terribleg · 08/04/2021 12:30

It's the sports, you can get a basic sky package for £10-20 a month

TwunchOfBats · 08/04/2021 12:31

[quote Thefaceofboe]@TwunchOfBats

I think multi room is such a novelty too, we wanted it when we bought our first house as it was something neither of our parents were willing to pay when we lived at home so I found the concept of watching sky in bed amazing Grin the excitement soon wore off.

I’m really interested in NowTv, and I like the fact you and swap and cancel whenever you want.[/quote]
The other advantage to NowTV is the boxes are cheap and often include passes for 1-2 months of movies and/or entertainment so they pretty much pay for themselves.

It's definately worked for us and I never feel resentful for paying ££££ for TV we're not watching because I can just cancel the subscriptions and use the boxes for freeview/Netflix/Prime streaming for a while. Great at the moment when film production slowdown means very little being released.

MythsandSparkles · 08/04/2021 12:33

We pay £28 a month to Sky for the internet, then I think about £15 to NowTV for the entertainment and movie package, plus Netflix and Amazon prime.

So all in less than £60, all TVs are either smart TVs or have fire sticks which now have the NowTV app on them.

We pick up sports as and when there’s something decent to watch through a day pass with NowTV.

We have BT sport through a tablet contract which includes data and airtime so basically feels like a free add on.

If we wanted the same viewing package with Sky as we pick up through all the subscriptions I think we were quoted £130/140ish which is ridiculous.

Best thing with NOWTV is that you can change or cancel with minimal notice and fuss, you just login and change your passes.

RJnomore1 · 08/04/2021 12:33

Just a thought but perhaps if everyone who illegally watches the sports for free online actually paid for the service they use perhaps the cost would come down for the rest of us... 🙈

terribleg · 08/04/2021 12:34

Sports are expensive because look at what footballers etc are payed.

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 08/04/2021 12:38

Just a thought but perhaps if everyone who illegally watches the sports for free online actually paid for the service they use perhaps the cost would come down for the rest of us... 🙈

I know!! Sky being so expensive has turned me into a criminal for suggesting we just try and find a stream haha!

OP posts:
DelBocaVista · 08/04/2021 12:40

If you're not bothered about being able to record stuff the NowTv is a good option. It's owned by sky.

We're unable to get sky where we live but now tv has worked well for us.