Another boxsets question (sorry)!

[mjstokes85]

Hi all, a while ago I posted a box sets question. Basically I have been with Sky a few years and am on the "old" package. So I have "Original Bundle", "Sports", "Movies" and "HD Pack". I pay around £61.75 a month at present. I get box sets for the channels I subscribe to, eg. at the moment I am watching all the Prison Breaks because I have HD and Sky 1 I am able to do this. I have been told if I didn't have HD this wouldn't work and I would need the variety pack. I cannot get box sets or on demand content from anything out of my subscription, eg. I cannot get and Kids or Discovery box sets. This is where my question now lies. ABC Studios box sets. This has always been a grey area. A while ago I tried to watch an ABC Studios box set, Ugly Betty I think it was. I was told by my box I didn't have the right subscription as I needed EE+ at the time. Today I was on the Sky site adding SS5 to my package and decided to do the live chat and ask about this, I was told I need the variety pack at £6.50 a month extra for ABC box sets. So tonight I just randomly tried to download "Scrubs" which is an ABC Studios box set. To my shock and amazement it downloaded and I could watch it. So, have Sky given me this by accident? Is it a free trial period or are the ABC studios sets now just standard? I have not added anything to my subscription or added anything during my live chat, so I guess these are now just included?

[gymno]

I've never even tried to understand what the whole ABC studios thing was / is about.

ABC aren't even mentioned as part of any channel name in the EPG yet get their own on demand section?

For a while i thought on demand access might depend on which channel the boxset has been 'pulled' from, but that can't be right.
I was told by sky that all boxsets are only available to those subscribing to the new family bundle or its old legacy equivalent, but if you're watching boxsets that can't be right either.*

Then there's the show 'scandal'.
Search results show that every episode of series 1 & 2 are available via the boxsets section, from both ABC studios & Sky Living (which is in the original bundle).
Episode 21 is also being broadcast as a repeat by channel 4 on tuesday with series link but they don't have it on demand.
Series 3 is in mid-series broadcast on sky living & only they have it on demand (not only on catch-up but also in the boxsets section even though it's not complete yet).

Technically, you should have access to all of the boxsets provided by the channels you subscribe to.
However, it's impossible to subscribe to a package that has 'ABC studios' in it because the don't exist as a channel.
Too confusing.
Sort it out sky.

*At the time of the previous package change, there was much talk of:
E = entertainment = 2 of the old 6 categories of channels.
EE = entertainment extra = all 6 of the old 6 categories of channels.
EE+ = entertainment extra + HD & access to boxsets.
There was very little (if any) mention of E+...

[Isitme]

If you have the old E or EE+ with the original full HD pack, you get box sets for the channels included in your package. ABC is a bit of a puzzle as it does not appear in any of the packages, it appears to have slipped Sky's notice. I use it quite often and have the Variety (old EE) bundle with the full HD pack. I don't have any problems with Catch up or Box sets. The top pack now is the Family pack, which is really the same as the Variety bundle except it includes HD and 3D. The HD in the Family pack is only for that pack, if you want HD with Sports or Movies, then it is another £5.

[mjstokes85]

If you have the old E or EE+ with the original full HD pack, you get box sets for the channels included in your package. ABC is a bit of a puzzle as it does not appear in any of the packages, it appears to have slipped Sky's notice. I use it quite often and have the Variety (old EE) bundle with the full HD pack. I don't have any problems with Catch up or Box sets. The top pack now is the Family pack, which is really the same as the Variety bundle except it includes HD and 3D. The HD in the Family pack is only for that pack, if you want HD with Sports or Movies, then it is another £5.

So basically nobody, not even Sky really know about the ABC studios box sets! I just don't understand why all of a sudden I can watch them. Hopefully they don't remove them as I'm going to start watching Lost when I have finished Prison Break.