SKY Cinema lack of HDR content

[gordym]

So, I recently signed up to Sky Cinema on a 30 day rolling contract.  What on earth is going on, there is virtually nothing worth watching in HDR?  Most of the 'newer' movies are only available in UHD, but without HDR its somewhat pointless.

Is this the norm?  I haven't been a Sky Cinema customer for very long, so maybe this is just unfortunatell timing?  I appreciate the free Paramount plus, albeit with its extremely limited non-UHD content, but the movie selection supplied via Sky is absolute garbage.

Keen to get folks options and perspective on this.  Should I just cancel Cinema?

Thanks

[TimmyBGood]

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@gordym wrote:

 Most of the 'newer' movies are only available in UHD, but without HDR its somewhat pointless.

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Sky can only distribute the format which a studio is prepared to provide them with: if there are better returns to be had from offering a different distributor a 'better' version, or keeping it for 4K Blu-ray release then that's entirely up to the rights-owner.

[gordym]

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to respond.

I appreciate where you are coming from when you state "Sky can only distribute the format which a studio is prepared to provide them with", however surely part of that also comes down to which provider is willing to pay for the better version, in this case HDR?   Based on how much Sky charge for their services, versus the likes of Disney+, you'd think SKY would be willing to put their hand in their pocket to secure the best version of a given movie?  I'm not overly convinced that it's the movie studios simply choosing who gets what.  It will undoubtedly come down to who is willing to pay the highest price and it would appear SKY is not willing to do so.

[fizzdisco · Accepted solution]

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@gordym wrote:

So, I recently signed up to Sky Cinema on a 30 day rolling contract.  What on earth is going on, there is virtually nothing worth watching in HDR?  Most of the 'newer' movies are only available in UHD, but without HDR its somewhat pointless.

Is this the norm?  I haven't been a Sky Cinema customer for very long, so maybe this is just unfortunatell timing?  I appreciate the free Paramount plus, albeit with its extremely limited non-UHD content, but the movie selection supplied via Sky is absolute garbage.

Keen to get folks options and perspective on this.  Should I just cancel Cinema?

Thanks

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I got rid of Sky Cinema earlier in the year because even at the reduced rate of £6pm I found it to be very poor value for money. I worked out that over the course of the 18months I was in contract for, I watched just two movies. 

It's a convenient library of old movies to dip in and out of if you have a lot of time on your hands, but little else. If it's quality you're after then you definitely need to look elsewhere. 

I found that all the newer movies I wanted to see I was able to get from other sources (iTunes, Rakuten, Prime, Disney+, Netflix) at full 4K with HDR or Dolby Vision, and at the correct frame rate, months before their availability on Sky Cinema. 

Sky Store is even worse. You'll pay the same amount (sometimes more) for a newer release and get it in worse quality, at the wrong frame rate. 

With Sky it's always about convenience, not quality. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@gordym wrote:

Based on how much Sky charge for their services, versus the likes of Disney+

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Comparing Sky pricing with any of the streamers is somewhat misleading: Disney (and Apple/Amazon et al) currently massively cross-subsidise their app subscription rate from other revenue sources in order to gain market share, and frankly can mostly afford to do so indefinitely.

Long-term the Sky Cinema distribution model may well not be viable going forward: as a general observation, satellite television is very much a 1990s technology, and we're somewhat past there now.

[Mark39]

@gordym even if it were possible for Sky to secure more HDR content by putting their commercial hand in pocket, how much more would you be willing to pay for it?

Sadly it's not an option anyway as the studios call the shots, not Sky.

[gordym]

@Mark39 I would have said that we already pay enough, especilly at the full price of £18pm, although, to be fair, I am only paying £8 with the offer I was given.  Now that we have discussed the very different procurement models of the streaming service providers vs Sky, I can see that, perhaps it's not as black and white as I initially thought.  I reckon @fizzdisco summed it up quite nicely with "Sky it's always about convenience, not quality"

[Mark39]

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@gordym wrote:

@Mark39 I would have said that we already pay enough, especilly at the full price of £18pm.....

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You may think so and I wouldn't necessarily disagree. But it's unrealistic to think that Sky would reduce their profits by paying more for content. Their shareholders wouldn't like it. More likely they would pass on the cost to subscribers.

[d2h]

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@gordym wrote:

So, I recently signed up to Sky Cinema on a 30 day rolling contract.  What on earth is going on, there is virtually nothing worth watching in HDR?  Most of the 'newer' movies are only available in UHD, but without HDR its somewhat pointless.

Is this the norm?  I haven't been a Sky Cinema customer for very long, so maybe this is just unfortunatell timing?  I appreciate the free Paramount plus, albeit with its extremely limited non-UHD content, but the movie selection supplied via Sky is absolute garbage.

Keen to get folks options and perspective on this.  Should I just cancel Cinema?

Thanks

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Sky Cinema isn't sustainable in the long term and, like you, many people find it really poor these days. I only keep it because I pay next to nothing for it each month.

I've not watched a single film on Sky Cinema this year, whereas I've watched a fair few on Disney+ and Netflix in the same period. 

The only thing Sky is good for when it comes to HDR is Sky Sports but even that continues to lose content. I only subscribe these days for Premier League in the best quality... if they were to lose those rights then my cancellation would be in.