Ditching the Sky/Virgin Subscription/TV Licence/iPlayer - Anyone done it? Any Advice?

[Gimpymoo]

All we really watch is films anyway and broadcast TV is that bad nowadays (In my opinion) we mainly have music on instead or I just play games or mess around on the internet.

Films can be purchased as and when I need them so no loss there. Sky Movies/Cinema is the only thing I will miss.

The BBC store now seems viable with decent pricing so if I did want to watch a series, I could purchase it there and watch without a licence, for example Planet Earth II, £12.99 for HD Stream.

Anyone else took the "Jump"?

Negatives/positives for you?

Thanks.

 

[Gimpymoo]

"An online TV service is any streaming or smart TV service, website or app that lets you watch live TV over the internet. This includes services like All 4, Sky Go, Virgin Media, Now TV, BT TV, Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video and ITV Hub"

Youtube is mentioned there as "live tv". So if you watch live streams on youtube you need a tv license.

The key there is "Live" TV.

I have no plans to watch Live TV, just on-demand streams which are NOT on iPlayer.

The "Live" element on Youtube refers to Live TV streams on Youtube, not some dude doing a "Live" unboxing of a cabbage.

 

[Gimpymoo]

I was bored last night so did this...

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx...=file,xlsx&app=Excel&authkey=!AGSsCEEX9vkz9Lc

Make sense to anyone?

So, for the sake of ditching Sky Sports (which I rarely watch anyway) and the ability to watch live TV/iPlayer, and not having a landline, I save about £25 a month in the first year (average including costs of purchasing equipment in the first year).

After the first year, savings go up to about £30 a month but it is certain the nowTV costs will increase although may not be by much if still trying to gain traction but IPTV is definitely going to be the way forward so costs may stabilise until it is more widely adopted maybe?

Ditching the landline seems a quick "WIN" but they way they tie their bundles and discounts up, if I remove the telephone line, that affects my bundle/loyalty discounts which negates any savings made.

If my bundle was at full price, I would switch away in a heartbeat but what averages out to be about £30 a month for each service does not seem a bad deal I guess.

Is it worth it changing?

 

[Gimpymoo]

Well, I have just cancelled everything with Virgin.

They wanted to me to commit to 12 months on a "bend over" price for broadband so I said no and they said OK.

Got the cancellation email almost immediately

Need to plan what to do now

I have two Roku 2 boxes but unsure if to open them or just sell them on.

 

[Gimpymoo]

That's insane, anyone else find that morally objectionable?

I've not paid my TV licence for 15 years, I never will. Never had any trouble, I just put their mail in the bin. I don't watch TV, but I do watch a lot of stuff on youtube, pray for my soul.

Do not be so silly.

They do not mean the whole of youtube.

What they mean is a TV broadcaster who may simulcast their channel on youtube.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Well...

Virgin offered me everything all in for £81 a month and will throw in a V6 box too.

I would spend £40 on broadband, leaving £40 for me to spend on TV/Movies and telephone elsewhere.

All in phone sim = £15
NowTV - Entertainment/movies = £15

Saving a tenner and not sure if worth it for the hassle.

Personally, I am not impressed with the Roku/NowTV.

Very limiting feature set compared to a standalone STB, no recording (Yes, I know that is not the point of a streaming box but useful none the less).

Search function does not cover all apps. Have to use Apps own search for example.

Channel hopping is cumbersome if not an option really. Switching between channels is cumbersome.

You cannot shortcut to the live channels on the home screen for BBC, ITV, CH4, Ch5 channels or the streaming channels on nowTV. You have to open each separate app beforehand then navigate to the live stream.

I think I expected too much. My PC does a better job in my opinion regarding accessibility/usability.

IPTV is the way forward but we need to get away from these under specced, low power boxes in my opinion.

I personally do not believe IPTV can yet be used as a direct replacement for conventional TV through a STB. As an addition to an existing setup as a way to get cheap subscription TV, it will do the job, just.

There is a HUGE market out there for someone to release an IPTV box which functions like a conventional STB, the technology is definitely there but nobody wants to make the first move it seems.

BT TV seems to be the nearest thing but that has limitations on live channels and is not available "off network".

Ditching everything for a few months would be an interesting experiment. Who knows, it might not be that bad.

4G Internet, cheap all in sim for phone calls, PC for streaming etc.