Help! Is live TV possible w/out Sky 7 January 2020 at 10:25PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in TV MoneySaving 27 replies 2K views

Teeheedeedee

Hi roomies,

After 10 years I've bit the bullet and cancelled my Sky TV package! :j

I have Netflix and the On Demand apps on my Phillips Smart TV. It also comes with Freeview Play which doesn't seem to show live TV. :huh:

How can I make it a possibility for the odd times I want to catch a live show on the terristrial channels? What tools or gadgets do I need w/out signing up to another subscription service? :search:

tempus_fugit

You certainly don’t need another subscription service. You should get live TV with Freeview Play, assuming you have an aerial connected to the TV. If it is just giving you the catch-up services, then I assume that you do not have an aerial connected? You would need this to get live terrestrial channels, which you should get through the TV as well as the catch-up services. Having said that though, some of the catch-up services like iPlayer will give you the option to watch programmes that are currently showing too, so you could get some live TV without an aerial.

Another option is to get a Freesat box to connect up to your Sky cable(s), which although of course will cost some extra money, doesn’t involve a subscription.

Teeheedeedee

Thank you. I don't have an aerial at the moment as you rightly suspected and I will need to return the sky box when my subscription ends. Is there another benefit to having a free stat box over an aerial? I don't mind one off costs. Will recording be possible with any of these options. It's not a deal breaker, I'm just curious.

Thanks again :beer:

ididntgetwhereiamtoday

I would get an normal aerial installed and use Freeview.
You could then buy a BT Youview box which will give you similar features to Sky plus.

unforeseen

Wasn't there a way to get the FTA channels through your Sky box after you ended the contract?

No idea about costs.


ETA

Found. £25 one off cost.

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Did-you-know/Freesat-from-Sky/ba-p/2806740

frugalmacdugal

Hi,


do you still have your old Sky box, could use it for Freesat.

Inner_Zone

unforeseen wrote: »

Wasn't there a way to get the FTA channels through your Sky box after you ended the contract?

No idea about costs.


ETA

Found. £25 one off cost.

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Did-you-know/Freesat-from-Sky/ba-p/2806740

No the FTA channel are just that free to air no card required. The card adds about five FTV channels. However an existing non Sky Q card and box will continue to work and give these five FTV channels anyway

Inner_Zone

Teeheedeedee wrote: »

Thank you. I don't have an aerial at the moment as you rightly suspected and I will need to return the sky box when my subscription ends. Is there another benefit to having a free stat box over an aerial? I don't mind one off costs. Will recording be possible with any of these options. It's not a deal breaker, I'm just curious.

Thanks again :beer:

Is it Sky Q?

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Is it Sky Q?

I took it to be a Sky Q box, as seemingly they need to be returned when contract ends, whereas before you could just keep old box.

Inner_Zone

frugalmacdugal wrote: »

Hi,

I took it to be a Sky Q box, as seemingly they need to be returned when contract ends, whereas before you could just keep old box.

So did I, but we need to OP to confirm either way. As the suggestion to use a Freesat box above may require addition work.

Gizmo247

The "tvplayer" app will give access to live tv. You will need to create a login but no need to subscribe to a service to get free live BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, ITV, CH4, CH5 over the internet.