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Alternatives to Pay TV

13

Comments

  • mbmonty
    mbmonty Posts: 149 Forumite
    Second Anniversary
    If you want to really save the most then don't just ditch Sky and Virgin, dump live TV and iPlayer, you then save the price of TV Licence, you will also get back a huge amount of time in your life.

    Watching what you want rather than what is dished up on the schedule changes your whole approach to TV.

    the TV Licence saving alone will fund Netflix and leave you some money.
  • ahai1
    ahai1 Posts: 1,589 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I thought you had to pay the TV licence now as they closed the loopholes.
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Freeview, NowTV (which includes iPlayer, other on-demand services and YouTube) and Netflix, total £14 or so per mth plus licence fee, and that's more than I/we have available viewing time for ...

    Most of the latest blockbusters (Game of Thrones, etc.) are available this way. We're lacking in sports, but....
  • A._Badger
    A._Badger Posts: 5,881 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I suppose it depends on your tastes. I have Amazon Prime (as a replacement for LoveFilm) and I think it's rubbish. Most of what's on offer seems to comprise trashy Hollywood films and low quality American series (The Man In The High Castle very much excepted).

    I suppose if that's the sort of material you want to watch, it might satisfy, but the lack of serious programming and the loss of all the non-fiction that used to be available on LoveFilm gets it a thumbs down from me.

    I'll probably ditch it come renewal time and stick with Freeserve.
  • mbmonty
    mbmonty Posts: 149 Forumite
    Second Anniversary
    ahai1 wrote: »
    I thought you had to pay the TV licence now as they closed the loopholes.

    The only so called loophole was iPlayer, but if you do not watch LIVE TV or use BBC iPlayer do you not need a TV Licence.

    Netflix is a streaming service, so does not need a licence, nor do you need a licence for catchup tv online for C4, ITV and C5, but if you use a TIVO or similar that is actually recording as the programme is being broadcast then you need a licence.

    The BBC needs to move to a subscription model, then sell their content worldwide online, we can then be rid of crapita (assuming they do not go bust before).
  • ttoli
    ttoli Posts: 825 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    unsure whether you can access in the UK , I live in Cyprus and get all current UK channels via http://tvcatchup.com/, no fee
  • ahai1
    ahai1 Posts: 1,589 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    A lot of the stuff on the BBC is so awful you couldn't pay me to watch. Or repeats or even better same as BBC News Channel. Close down BBC2.
  • RumRat
    RumRat Posts: 5,085 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ahai1 wrote: »
    A lot of the stuff on the BBC is so awful you couldn't pay me to watch. Or repeats or even better same as BBC News Channel. Close down BBC2.

    Apart from a usual anti BBC rant, what can you add? What do you watch, that you consider good enough, for instance?;)
    Drinking Rum before 10am makes you
    A PIRATE
    Not an Alcoholic...!
  • takman
    takman Posts: 3,876 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    RumRat wrote: »
    Apart from a usual anti BBC rant, what can you add? What do you watch, that you consider good enough, for instance?;)

    I have to agree that BBC programs are pretty poor these days when you compare them to something like Netflix. I have seen quite a few Netflix Originals recently that have been very very good.

    Maybe if you sit and watch hours of TV each day you might accept watching some lower quality programs. But i only watch TV when there is something decent i want to watch and very rarely do i watch something produced by the BBC.
  • RumRat
    RumRat Posts: 5,085 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    takman wrote: »
    I have to agree that BBC programs are pretty poor these days when you compare them to something like Netflix. I have seen quite a few Netflix Originals recently that have been very very good.

    Maybe if you sit and watch hours of TV each day you might accept watching some lower quality programs. But i only watch TV when there is something decent i want to watch and very rarely do i watch something produced by the BBC.

    However, that is just subjective. Netflix also has it's share of dross and as you don't say what you consider very good it's hard to judge your taste.
    I do agree that TV is only worth watching when there is actually something you want to watch....Only an idiot would watch TV just because it's there (that said, there are plenty of those around).
    I have Netflix and Skygo (neither of which I pay for) and Freeview. Most of what I watch is recorded and watched when I have time.
    I don't find the BBC any worse than any of the others to be honest.
    The result of so much choice is always going to be dilution of standards.
    Drinking Rum before 10am makes you
    A PIRATE
    Not an Alcoholic...!
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