Cancelled sky, best alternatives?

kevc1985

My sky package is increasing from £46.50 (sky Q - no movies, sports or kids channels, it also comes with phone and broadband) to £73.50 a month, called Sky and the best they could do was reduce to £63.50 a month - still too expensive so I went ahead with the cancellation.

I dont want to go to Virgin media, had that before and didn't like it. EE TV is around the same price as sky but not as many channels.

I'm looking at buying a freesat box as I want to be able to record, is freesat any good? How about TalkTalk tv? Is there another alternative that I am missing?

Green_hopeful

We have free sat. It’s fine and we can record programmes. We were paying for sky and only watching channels we could get for free. 

prowla

I've just ditched my Sky Q service (it stopped on Jan 1st).

• My TV gets the Freeview services, but isn't great on streaming (I think it's not got enough buffer cache) and doesn't seem to get HD.
• I have an Amazon Firestick and an AppleTV, both of which work pretty well, but the downside is you have to keep switching apps for other channels.
• I'd like a single box which handles everything, both broadcast and networked.
• I've tried a Nokia 8000 Android TV streamer, but it turned out it doesn't support iPlayer, itvX, My4, so it's not a TV replacement and is going back to Amazon.
• I'm now pretty much left with Freesat as an option, but I've got the Sky Q LNBs in the satellite dish, so I've got to choose the more expensive model (to give recording too). The box is quite ugly, though.
  

cymruchris

The best alternative is a subscription free alternative. I cancelled my dad's Sky just before he passed in 2021 - I still haven't missed it. Have seen enough tv on 'free channels' that I'm happy enough with. The odd person says 'have you seen this or that' - and it doesn't bother me that I haven't as I've not been spending £X a month just to watch a 6 part series every now and again. I'd go cold turkey for a few months using just the free channels. Just go for a basic no-frills broadband contract - go through something like topcashback - for additional financial incentives.

Andy724246

I’ll be cancelling in a months time when mine goes up. Doing some research I’ll be better off having Freesat and then subscribing to NowTV, Netflix and Prime when needed. 

jbrassy

First of all, ditch Sky.

Then, just get yourself a standalone broadband subscription. You shouldn't pay more than £25 a month for this, even for fast fibre.

I would then recommend buying a BT Youview box which allows you to record live TV as well as watch Netflix, iPlayer etc: https://amzn.eu/d/60gNzQl

I bought a Youview box for £90 back in August 2019 and it's still going strong. It's saved me a small fortune not having to pay Sky or Virgin for TV services.

In terms of a land-line, I would ask if you really need one? Most mobile contracts come with unlimited calls these days. 

Krakkkers

Ditch Sky, ditch TV license and watch Youtube.

ChooseLife

We got rid of sky about 18 months ago as it was a rip-off.  Was costing £120 per month incuding broadband, basic tv package and sky sports, no movies or anything.  We switched over to BT and got the same package for £50!!!  However, since we moved house a year ago, we've found that the channels constantly freeze on live tv which is so annoying! Happens on recordings too. So most of the time we end up watching stuff via the apps like iplayer etc in order to avoid this.  It must be due to the internet speed.  We also have a fire stick which we tend to use for watching films or live tv if the BT is playing up.  We may end up getting rid of BT altogether and just using the fire stick.

kevc1985

Thanks for the replies, I'm thinking I'll go for fibre broadband from the cheapest provider and may just do away with any TV box, I have a new TV that will record when you put a USB stick in. I rented a flat last year and use this, so I think it makes sense, a little bit of a pain because I can record a series but a huge saving on the other hand.

The price rise for basic TV is huge, its not something I can justify paying.

ballyblack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/tv-moneysaving