Leaving SKY. Is this BT TV package offer worth exploring?

SheenaG4

Longstanding Sky TV customer. Still using Sky+ HD box rather than a Sky Q box as we use the RF output from the Sky+ box to feed a TV in the kitchen.  

Currently paying a total of £55pm for Sky Signature (+HD), Sports (+HD) and Sky Cinema.

18 month contract.  Renewal due early Feb 2025.

Spoke to Sky. Been quoted £60pm for the same package on a 24 month contract. Or, if we upgrade to Sky Q, the quote is £68pm, as we’d need to take multiroom to feed the kitchen TV (Sky have “discounted multiroom to £8pm”).

Not happy with quotes received, especially given longer 24 month contract, and no doubt 2 price rises to come within that period.  So have given Sky the required 31 days’ notice to cancel our TV package upon expiry of the current contract.

Subsequently spoke to BT, as my BT broadband (full fibre) contract is also due to expire shorty. Wasn’t expecting to discuss TV packages with BT but was asked the question by the BT advisor. The end result is that I’ve come away from that conversation with an offer of £60 for the “Full Works” package.  Also offered Full fibre 150 for £31pm, which is £7pm less than I’m presently paying for half that speed. Although to be honest we’ve had no problems at 70Mbps  

I’ve never really explored the TV package offering from BT as I’ve been with Sky for 20+ years.   I’ve tried to do some research, but it’s difficult getting an overall perspective on the pros and cons of switching from Sky TV to BT TV.  As I understand it, there are a reduced number of channels available with BT – but are these the more obscure ones that we wouldn’t miss anyway? Are there any downsides (or upsides) in terms of day to day usability and recording programs between the 2 providers?

We also use the Sky Go App on several devices. This is particularly useful when going on holiday and we download a few films / tv series onto our tablets to watch offline on the plane to pass the time. I couldn’t really get a straight answer from BT as to whether their offering provided this same functionality, both in terms of watching live sports on mobile devices and watching downloaded content?

I would really appreciate if anybody had any observations regarding the prices quoted (both from Sky & BT), and also if anyone could share any experiences, good or bad,  if they’ve made the switch from a Sky TV package to the BT Full Works offering.

Many thanks in advance.      

poppasmurf_bewdley

Maybe enquire with Sky about just keeping the Sky+ facilities, buy a Firestick and use NowTV. With BT TV, which is just NowTV with a few knobs on,  you're signing up for 24 months, which is too long in my opinion.

born_again

Are you sure that at the price quoted it includes Sky Sports HD & Cinema?

As when looking at BT site online they are extra.

Sky Sports is £33.50 month.
Cinema is £13.50 a month

You may also find you lose access to Sky Go as you are no longer a subscriber to Sky.

https://secureorder.e2e2.bt.com/products/tv-packages/

SheenaG4

born_again said:

Are you sure that at the price quoted it includes Sky Sports HD & Cinema?

As when looking at BT site online they are extra.

Sky Sports is £33.50 month.
Cinema is £13.50 a month

You may also find you lose access to Sky Go as you are no longer a subscriber to Sky.

https://secureorder.e2e2.bt.com/products/tv-packages/

Yes, the email from BT confirms the 'full works' package includes "all 12 live Sky Sports channels" and "11 Sky Cinema channels".

Rodders53

That will all be Broadband Streaming services. 
Including the "live" but delayed streaming services some broadcasters offer.

Proper live TV with BT Pro boxes require a working UHF TV aerial for Freeview, that you may not have.  (But obviously not $ky stuff as that's not broadcast on Freeview).

d123

According to the BT site the Full Works plan includes:

Full Works (formerly VIP)

• Sky Atlantic, Sky Max and more with NOW Entertainment  
• A whole library full of Sky Originals and exclusives and epic kids TV  
• Free-to-air channels and a recordable TV box 
• All 11 Sky Sports channels, including unrivalled live coverage of the Premier League, F1® and much more with NOW Sports  
• All 4 TNT Sports channels 
• Eurosport 1 and 2 
• Watch full HD channels including TNT Sports HD and Eurosport HD plus full HD channels from NOW including Sky Sports HD and Sky Atlantic HD  
• Stream the biggest blockbusters, brand new films, and award-winning movies with NOW Cinema 
• A Netflix Standard plan, watch on two devices in Full HD  
• Access to discovery+ Premium (incl. TNT Sports) 

From https://www.bt.com/help/tv/learn-about-tv/channels-and-packages/what-channels-and-add-ons-you-get-with-the-different-bt-tv-pack

SheenaG4

d123 said:

According to the BT site the Full Works plan includes:

Full Works (formerly VIP)

• Sky Atlantic, Sky Max and more with NOW Entertainment  
• A whole library full of Sky Originals and exclusives and epic kids TV  
• Free-to-air channels and a recordable TV box 
• All 11 Sky Sports channels, including unrivalled live coverage of the Premier League, F1® and much more with NOW Sports  
• All 4 TNT Sports channels 
• Eurosport 1 and 2 
• Watch full HD channels including TNT Sports HD and Eurosport HD plus full HD channels from NOW including Sky Sports HD and Sky Atlantic HD  
• Stream the biggest blockbusters, brand new films, and award-winning movies with NOW Cinema 
• A Netflix Standard plan, watch on two devices in Full HD  
• Access to discovery+ Premium (incl. TNT Sports) 

From https://www.bt.com/help/tv/learn-about-tv/channels-and-packages/what-channels-and-add-ons-you-get-with-the-different-bt-tv-pack

Yes, that's exactly the Full Works list I was quoted @ £60 in the offer I received.

On the face of it, it seems like a good offer but I just wonder whether I'm missing anything obvious in term of the day to day functionality of the BT TV system compared to the Sky TV product.
And also, whether any BT equivalent (if any) of Sky Go has similar features?     

brewerdave

My son in law recently switched from Sky for (almost) everything to BT/EE. He "saved" ~ £40 pm overall vs the best offer Sky made him prior to cancellation. The BT/EE box is OK but relatively slow to change channels.
Don't know exactly what he can stream to phone/tablet - but Discovery+/TNT Sports does stream OK ,possibly because he also has EE mobiles

steven141

Can you get Virgin Media in your area? They tend to have good new customer deals and it's the closest thing to Sky that you can get.