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View Full Version : Sky - Price hikes, I'm getting fed up with it - Alternatives?


The Black Adder
23-09-2026, 07:35
My sky subscription is about to go UP £30 per month and I can't see anything for it.

Sky Q is great, it's slick, fast and behaves itself most of the time.

But, this latest hike as I'm coming to the end of contract is absolutely ridiculous.

I'm not able to get Virgin, so what else is out there?

Basically, I'd like to record and skip ads. Already have a Netflix account so that's okay.

Thanks

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Pigmy Pony
23-09-2026, 14:26
There are lots of streaming services out there - Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Paramount+, HBO Max to name a few, as well as the Netflix you already have. Also the mainstream channels like BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 have their 'on demand' services. I don't know what the cost would be when purchased outside of Sky, most of ours are part of the £130-odd pm we pay.

Anita had words with Sky recently and chipped about £15 a month off. Worth trying, they can only say no. We have thought before about binning Sky, but it just works so damn well and a doddle to navigate.

I think you can go 'ad free' on most of these services, but they do charge extra for that.
Barry
23-09-2026, 15:49
I'm quite happy to pay the annual £180 licence fee (= £15 a month), to watch all the terrestrial channels; which are all that interest me. I have absolutely no interest in streaming anything.

There is talk that the annual licence fee might be replaced with an £11 monthly charge, and that would make it even cheaper.
Macca
23-09-2026, 16:21
From the amount I watch BBC the license costs me about £5 an hour. Not cheap.
Barry
23-09-2026, 17:17
From the amount I watch BBC the license costs me about £5 an hour. Not cheap.

That is 36 hours, or 41.5 minutes a week. Agreed that is not good value for money in your case.

I probably watch 20 hours a week, which works out at 17p per hour.
Pigmy Pony
23-09-2026, 18:24
That is 36 hours, or 41.5 minutes a week. Agreed that is not good value for money in your case.

I probably watch 20 hours a week, which works out at 17p per hour.

I'm not sure the BBC has 20 hrs per week of programmes I'd want to watch, but no matter - like the Royal family, the BBC is an institution I'm happy to pay towards.
Lawrence001
23-09-2026, 18:28
My sky subscription is about to go UP £30 per month and I can't see anything for it.

Sky Q is great, it's slick, fast and behaves itself most of the time.

But, this latest hike as I'm coming to the end of contract is absolutely ridiculous.

I'm not able to get Virgin, so what else is out there?

Basically, I'd like to record and skip ads. Already have a Netflix account so that's okay.

Thanks

Sent from my moto g13 using TapatalkDon't they still make Freeview boxes with hard drives so you can go forward a week or two in the EPG and set up plenty of recordings? You can skip the ads and save a lot of money. I assume the modern ones also have most of the apps, there are lots of free ones, all the terrestrial broadcasters plus quite a few ad funded ones with films, classic series etc
Barry
23-09-2026, 20:36
I'm not sure the BBC has 20 hrs per week of programmes I'd want to watch, but no matter - like the Royal family, the BBC is an institution I'm happy to pay towards.

The "20 hours a week" are not solely the BBC, but Channel 4, ITV3, Sky Arts, as well as Film4 and Great TV. Between them they satisfy all my viewing needs. And if that is insufficient I have a collection of about 500 DVDs and Blu-rays to fall back on.
Pigmy Pony
23-09-2026, 21:40
Ah, I see. I thought you meant just BBC. But even so, and despite all the complainers, I still think it's value for money.
Alex_UK
23-09-2026, 21:57
We have everything Sky has available I think, including Sports and movies, as well as most of the other streaming subscriptions. I rarely watch TV, but Sue is never off a Netflix or other series. Sky is expensive, but I’m with you Steve that it is just so easy to use, but I guess you pays your money and takes your choice…


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The Black Adder
24-09-2026, 11:41
I'm not interested in most stuff they offer. So long as I can skip the ads, I'm happy. And Netflix...
Macca
24-09-2026, 11:49
I'm not interested in most stuff they offer. So long as I can skip the ads, I'm happy. And Netflix...

They're all moving to systems where you can't skip the ads. Virgin are after me to 'upgrade' the box but the new one just streams on demand, it doesn't record.

I always record the shows that I want to watch properly so I can fast forward through the ads, I never watch them as they air. Can't do that with the new box. At some point they'll fix it so those with the old boxes have to change. Quite glad I hung on to my Philips VCR and some NOS tapes.
The Black Adder
24-09-2026, 12:42
They're all moving to systems where you can't skip the ads. Virgin are after me to 'upgrade' the box but the new one just streams on demand, it doesn't record.

I always record the shows that I want to watch properly so I can fast forward through the ads, I never watch them as they air. Can't do that with the new box. At some point they'll fix it so those with the old boxes have to change. Quite glad I hung on to my Philips VCR and some NOS tapes.

Ah, yeah... That's what I mean. I can't skip ads on live TV, I just record it, then skip them.

Virgin isn't available where I am, it looked okay too.

Makes me want to buy a VCR too, wierdly. :)
Macca
24-09-2026, 13:04
Ah, yeah... That's what I mean. I can't skip ads on live TV, I just record it, then skip them.

Virgin isn't available where I am, it looked okay too.

Makes me want to buy a VCR too, wierdly. :)

It's rubbish really, not the tech but there's almost nothing on telly any more. Same old shows continually repeated, because all the rest are on the 'on demand' services now, where you pay a subscription and then they want you to pay per episode on top of that to watch some programmes.

Cable used to be really good, loads of good channels like Sony TV, Paramount, TCM, Bravo. They've all gone. It would take ages to go through all the channels, now it takes about a minute. Thinking of getting rid of it entirely.
CageyH
24-09-2026, 16:21
Have a look at Freely - the replacement for freesat/freeview and see if that meets your needs.
ianlenco
01-10-2026, 09:47
You could have a look at NOW TV https://www.nowtv.com/
It has packages that cover most of Sky. It used to be in standard definition only but it's a long time since I tried it.