Help with changing broadband and tv

catkins

Hi, I could really do with some help as I am totally confused by all the different packages on offer.

At present I have my home phone and infinity broadband with BT. I have never had any problems with them.

I have Sky tv - no movies or sports but I do get the F1 channel included at no extra price.

I really need to reduce the amount I am paying. At present I pay £39 a month to Sky although I believe this is going up and £52 to BT but this is going up too.

Apart from wanting a reliable supplier I definitely do not want to lose Sky 1 or F1. It seems lots of providers do not have either of those channels.

Someone told me I could watch the F1 channel through Amazon Firestick but having looked at their website that doesn't seem true.

Also I only want the Sky F1 channel as I want to watch the races live but also the practice and qualifying live.

At the moment it seems as though keeping Sky tv and changing my broadband to them may be the best option. I think if I change my contract with Sky though I lose the free F1 and I don't want to have to pay for the whole sports package.

I did speak to someone at Virgin but they told me it would cost £91 a month for what I want so not worth changing.

Any advice would be appreciated. My head is spinning at present with trying to read about all the different suppliers and packages

HappyMJ

You can watch the Sky channels through the Amazon Fire Stick by sideloading an application called Kodi on to the stick and then loading another app onto Kodi allowing you to watch Live TV.

I get Sky One along with a lot of (but not all) of Sky channels, Sky Sports and lots of "on demand" movies. I also get "on demand" TV programs after they've been shown on TV with the advertising removed.

It's free.

The apps I use on Kodi to watch Live TV are Cast Away, CCloud, Cosmix, FilmOn.TV, Phoenix, Sports Mix, USTVnow Plus and UK Turks. I've also got a EPG called IVueTV Guide which tells me what's on.

The app I use to watch Movies and TV programs on demand is Exodus.

almillar

You're on the same pack as me - with the old £10 per month HD pack. This includes the F1 channel. You can't get it any more, and the only way Sky will give new customers F1 is if they take Sky Sports, which is a rip off. So you really don't want to touch your TV package. I've got my BB and phone with Sky too, and this at least gives me two other things to bargain with them over. I'd be around £35 for phone and fibre broadband with them I imagine, so switching those over, taking up whatever offer you can find.

I get Sky One along with a lot of (but not all) of Sky channels, Sky Sports and lots of "on demand" movies. I also get "on demand" TV programs after they've been shown on TV with the advertising removed.
It's free.

Also being distributed illegally, if you care about that kind of thing.

catkins

almillar wrote: »

You're on the same pack as me - with the old £10 per month HD pack. This includes the F1 channel. You can't get it any more, and the only way Sky will give new customers F1 is if they take Sky Sports, which is a rip off. So you really don't want to touch your TV package. I've got my BB and phone with Sky too, and this at least gives me two other things to bargain with them over. I'd be around £35 for phone and fibre broadband with them I imagine, so switching those over, taking up whatever offer you can find.


Also being distributed illegally, if you care about that kind of thing.

Thanks. I think I will contact Sky and ask about phone and broadband. I believe they have a deal for existing tv customers who take out broadband. I will have to check that they won't remove F1 as they may well class it as a whole new contract.

Otherwise I will probably have no choice than to stay as I am. Really not prepared to lose F1 as both myself and OH are big F1 fans and not interested in other sports.

I keep thinking Sky will start charging for F1 which would then make it slightly easier to change

HappyMJ

How about Sky's Now TV service?

I just checked Sky Go and Sky Sports F1 is on that. That would cost £6.99/month. You would need a Now TV box, a Chromecast or a games console to watch it on the TV.

catkins

HappyMJ wrote: »

How about Sky's Now TV service?

I just checked Sky Go and Sky Sports F1 is on that. That would cost £6.99/month. You would need a Now TV box, a Chromecast or a games console to watch it on the TV.

Is sky1 on it. I thought I had looked at Now and ruled it out but can't remember why

HappyMJ

catkins wrote: »

Is sky1 on it. I thought I had looked at Now and ruled it out but can't remember why

Yes Sky One is on it too. You would have to have the Entertainment option which is £24.99 for 6 months then £6.99/month. You can add the Sports to that.

edit: The Entertainment option has 11 channels that are not on Freeview.

edit: The reason that I use Kodi is that I can't get Sky TV in HD as I live in a flat. I watch Game of Thrones in HD which is shown on Sky Atlantic and it is only available on the Sky TV satellite platform. It's on Sky Go and Now TV in SD...but not in HD.....so the only way for me to watch it in HD is by using Kodi on the Fire Stick.

catkins

HappyMJ wrote: »

Yes Sky One is on it too. You would have to have the Entertainment option which is £24.99 for 6 months then £6.99/month. You can add the Sports to that.

edit: The Entertainment option has 11 channels that are not on Freeview.
.

Ok not sure if I am being thick here but have looked at the Now tv site and whilst I can see that the entertainment package is £24.99 for 6 months then £6.99 it says the sports packages are bought separately as passes and a months pass is £31.99. A day pass is £6.99. That would work out expensive. Where did you get £6.99 a month from.

almillar

so the only way for me to watch it in HD is by using Kodi on the Fire Stick.

Still not legitimate. Can't believe I'm defending Sky!

Bigphil1474

Now TV has 3 bundles, soon to be 4.
Entertainment has a few channels and access to catch up and box sets - Sky 1 is in that bundle @ £6.99 a month.
Movies is a separate package (about £10 a month).
Sports is £32 ish a month, but you can save money by getting day passes for those races that aren't being shown live on Channel 4 (about half?). The day pass is for 24 hours from time of activation, so you won't get Friday practice within the 24 hours, but you might be able to time it to get qualifying on the Saturday and the race on the Sunday. Might be a push though. Don't know if they do a 6 month pass which should be cheaper per month.
The advantage of Now TV is that it's monthly, so you can cancel it as soon as the F1 season ends, so might be economical to pay for a number of day passes for the 12 or so races not live on Channel 4 - needs careful planning, and might not be much cheaper than what you pay now.
If you went for the monthly passes for a full F1 season it would cost you about £32 per month for 8 months (£256), which is equivalent to about £21 a month, and the entertainment package for £6.99 a month, you could cancel Sky TV saving you £39 a month, net saving £11 a month? Then go with the cheapest phone and fibre provider. You'll need something to play Now TV through though e.g. smart tv, PS4, firestick etc.

HappyMJ

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Now TV has 3 bundles, soon to be 4.
Entertainment has a few channels and access to catch up and box sets - Sky 1 is in that bundle @ £6.99 a month.
Movies is a separate package (about £10 a month).
Sports is £32 ish a month, but you can save money by getting day passes for those races that aren't being shown live on Channel 4 (about half?). The day pass is for 24 hours from time of activation, so you won't get Friday practice within the 24 hours, but you might be able to time it to get qualifying on the Saturday and the race on the Sunday. Might be a push though. Don't know if they do a 6 month pass which should be cheaper per month.
The advantage of Now TV is that it's monthly, so you can cancel it as soon as the F1 season ends, so might be economical to pay for a number of day passes for the 12 or so races not live on Channel 4 - needs careful planning, and might not be much cheaper than what you pay now.
If you went for the monthly passes for a full F1 season it would cost you about £32 per month for 8 months (£256), which is equivalent to about £21 a month, and the entertainment package for £6.99 a month, you could cancel Sky TV saving you £39 a month, net saving £11 a month? Then go with the cheapest phone and fibre provider. You'll need something to play Now TV through though e.g. smart tv, PS4, firestick etc.

I've not been able to get the app Now TV to work on the Amazon Fire Stick. It works on Roku though.