First look: Sky gives glimpse into its new EPG

[SadBloke]

Sky's marketing model is effectively hire purchase. While I have nothing against this their billing should be more transparent and show cost of box plus interest and how much is still owing on each monthly bill. then, once the box is paid for, the subscription should be reduced to the true cost of providing the service.

No, it's a free box as an incentive to sign up. I'm sure the accountants will include a write-off figure in their calculations but there is no option for existing subscribers to take out a new contract after 12/18/24 months. As Isitme says, the alternative is the VM model that will factor in a similar cost but means you never get to keep your equipment should you leave.

I've managed to get a few upgrades in my time with Sky by contacting the exec office. The last one was a refurbished Sky Hub for free in return for a new 12 month contract. They are not good at giving existing customers incentives but equally if you don't ask you don't get!

[Koala5]

Well I finally got my 2TB box on order for £49! Phoned Sky to discuss my subscription and ended up talking about my knackered old Sky box as well. The girl said well I can upgrade your box to the new 2TB box for £49! But like a donut I hesitated and said I would think about it and ring back because I am a bit skint at the moment! Well I did ring back spoke to someone else who said 'No I can't have it for £49 it's £149!! :-(
So got a bit annoyed! And the girl said she would find the original person I spoke to, turned out she worked in retentions and was able to offer the box for £49!! :-) got there in the end just a shame they can't be a bit more consistent with there offers!!

[dgmckenzie]

Can't torrent with Sky BB :-(

Although Usenet had it so I got it that way. Will get the BluRay as a belated Christmas present.

[Isitme]

Can't torrent with Sky BB :-(

...............

Don't tell Scubbie that, she will wonder where those hundreds of Gbs she downloads each month are coming from.

[Scubbie]

Following various court actions Sky has blocked direct links the main torrent sites. However only their direct addresses are blocked.

There are ways and means of circumventing the blocking which really makes the whole purpose of blocking them in the first place a total waste of money for everyone concerned.

Google is your friend .

[bubblegun]

One of the biggest issues IMHO with Sky is that there is no simplified 'upgrade path' every few years for all their customers.

I am not sure how VM handles things, since they continue to own their STBs, but could someone confirm if they offered free STBs to ALL their customers when they introduced the new Tivo?

I wonder how people would react to a fee of say £3-£5 per month per STB were added to your Sky bill to cover the cost of a box upgrade say every 4 or 5 years?

Was this a leading question?

Anyway no-one answered it:
For existing customers to upgrade to TIVO it is/was £49 for the box plus £49 to get it installed.
All for a box they would take back if you cancelled.

Puts Sky in a better light perhaps.

They do tend to drop one or the other charge for existing customers to upgrade to their first TIVO box more recently but additional TIVO boxes are still charged for both, I believe.

Can't torrent with Sky BB :-(

Although Usenet had it so I got it that way. Will get the BluRay as a belated Christmas present.

My torrents run fine as long as protocol encryption is enabled. I always have it set as forced for incoming connections just to be sure.

Sky's marketing model is effectively hire purchase. While I have nothing against this their billing should be more transparent and show cost of box plus interest and how much is still owing on each monthly bill. then, once the box is paid for, the subscription should be reduced to the true cost of providing the service.
This would also enable those who wished to pay for the box up front to pay a flat subscription from day one.

At the same time Sky Protect should be brought in house. It could still be underwritten by Domestic & General Insurance PLC but should be administered by Sky and show up on the Sky bill for those wishing to avail themselves of the service.

Sky don't charge for their boxes above any up-front charges the customer pays. They used to charge "equipment clawback" charges for customers breaking contracts but they don't do this anymore - they must have lost some court cases I presume.
So equipment costs on bills aren't going to happen.

For Sky to include the Service Protect, or similar services, as part of a subscription package they would need to train all of their advisors up to Financial Conduct Authority quality levels as these products are covered by the Financial Conduct Authority guidlines since they are insurance products. These kind of products would mean that all calls would need to be scripted which Sky (and advisors, and customers?) don't like. So Sky don't sell these products so that advisors can have open and honest discussions with customers about their needs.

If they want these products they can have a scripted conversation with a Domestic & General advisor.



On the subject of the new EPG it looks like a backward step unless, like the previous "quick links", there is an option to remove them.

[Smir]

that does look good, any idea how you get into there beta?

[Scubbie]

that does look good, any idea how you get into there beta?

Sky run various beta groups from time to time.

About 2 years ago they opened one up for the DRX89x STBs. A little later they opened up another for the Pace, Samsung and DRX780 STBs. Sky has also run betas for various other products.

Sometimes they post a message on their forum, which we will normally cross-post here, other times it is by invite.

Beta testing sounds great as you get to see their new products earlier than everyone else, but it does require some commitment. Regular feedback, for example, is needed so that they know how things are progressing. Things also go wrong. Sometimes a firmware is unstable and will cause the item to crash or you can lose some recordings. It is a testing ground and as such things like this are to be expected.

For now keep your eyes open and hopefully something new will be made available soon.

[mattylad]

Well I have the new epg - the program guide looks awful!
The separation between items is IMO not clear enough.

I dont know what else there is in the new epg, is there some info on the new features anywhere?

[Scubbie]

There most certainly is...

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-h...y-hd-stbs.html