15 May 2024 05:26 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more@BartlettAM The two platforms are completely different and aren't really comparable the fact you could do it yesterday and not today is purely because sky chose to charge extra for the privilege on glass/stream but not satellite
15 May 2024 05:26 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@BartlettAM wrote:I understand that, but yesterday with my HD+ box I didn't need to pay for the same thing. I just don't understand the logic.
The logic is because the broadcasters have to stay in business which requires funding from advertising revenue. Ad revenue has decreased because of people recording and fast forwarding the ads, this is why all major streaming platforms now contain ads at a lower cost price (to force viewers to watch them and thus increase the rate they can charge for them) or provide the ability to remove or fast forward through the ads (i.e skip so you don't have to watch them) for a fee to make up for the lost advertising revenue.
Quite logical standard really which is why its being adopted industry wide pretty much.
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15 May 2024 07:15 PM
And of course Sky, through their Sky Media division, are one of the UK's biggest ad sales agencies handling advertising on not just Sky channels but many third-party channels too. It's in their interest for as many people as possible to see adverts.
15 May 2024 07:24 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@xenon81 wrote:And of course Sky, through their Sky Media division, are one of the UK's biggest ad sales agencies handling advertising on not just Sky channels but many third-party channels too. It's in their interest for as many people as possible to see adverts.
Indeed - a very good point.
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15 May 2024 11:01 PM
The whole Entertainment OS is basically an advertising platform. You're bombarded with adverts for all types of content from multiple streaming services as soon as the Home Screen appears. Much like the Amazon FireTV UI too. It's horrible. I much prefer the Apple tvOS whose Home Screen is just filled with apps you choose, not adverts.
16 May 2024 01:33 PM
I don't care about the way the industry is going, because all others streamers that have adopted adverts have a true ad free paid option which sky do not and charge a much larger premium that similar streaming services. It is a disgrace I don't mind offering a cheaper ad plan that is fine for customers who are happy with that although personally there was a time when content with ads was free ie ITV for example.
However Sky really should offer ad free on demand even at an additional price its extra revenue and then caters to both customers. Especially frustrating you can watch all content on NOW TV ad free with the boost add on.
The only thing keeping me with sky stream is UHD, HDR and mainly 4K premier league football if Now TV had this I would get rid of stream in a heartbeat its a premium priced service for a very average ad filled mess of a service not premium not enjoyable.
16 May 2024 01:47 PM
@Mr+Michael+P wrote:I don't care about the way the industry is going, because all others streamers that have adopted adverts have a true ad free paid option which sky do not and charge a much larger premium that similar streaming services. It is a disgrace I don't mind offering a cheaper ad plan that is fine for customers who are happy with that although personally there was a time when content with ads was free ie ITV for example.
However Sky really should offer ad free on demand even at an additional price its extra revenue and then caters to both customers. Especially frustrating you can watch all content on NOW TV ad free with the boost add on.
The only thing keeping me with sky stream is UHD, HDR and mainly 4K premier league football if Now TV had this I would get rid of stream in a heartbeat its a premium priced service for a very average ad filled mess of a service not premium not enjoyable.
I agree. A UHD/HDR Boost tier on NOW would be very popular... but it would lose Sky a lot of Stream customers... They've invested a lot in this hardware and they want people to use it.
16 May 2024 02:15 PM
If they really want ppl to use it and enjoy it and stay with sky they really need to consider a premium product should have at least a paid ad free on demand option. Has it stands its a very expensive product for a cheap experience and I don't just mean removing ads from on demand they actively need to be working on a puck version 2, whilst I quite like the interface it is very sluggish by todays standards compared to similar style devices, I've never use the puck and felt it was snappy and responsive. Also things like continue watching, individual profiles for continue watching, and continuing a show in UHD instead of it auto switching to the HD version very rarely work as advertised which was the whole premise of the sky stream product a smooth device that works out the best quality where to get the episode from, etc.
16 May 2024 03:35 PM - last edited: 16 May 2024 04:13 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@Mr+Michael+P wrote:
I don't care about the way the industry is going, because all others streamers that have adopted adverts have a true ad free paid option which sky do not and charge a much larger premium that similar streaming services.
There are no 'similar streaming services', because Sky is at least a decade older than all those which arrived in the era of high speed internet access, and has a huge legacy infrastructure (with associated costs) built around being a broadcaster, channel owner, news provider and traditional media company. That's an increasingly serious disadvantage when users inevitably compare a Sky subscription rate with the c£15pcm which they've come to expect from a 'streamer' (although this is almost certainly losing money for that provider anyway)
16 May 2024 03:38 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@Mr+Michael+P wrote:If they really want ppl to use it and enjoy it and stay with sky they really need to consider a premium product should have at least a paid ad free on demand option. Has it stands its a very expensive product for a cheap experience and I don't just mean removing ads from on demand they actively need to be working on a puck version 2, whilst I quite like the interface it is very sluggish by todays standards compared to similar style devices, I've never use the puck and felt it was snappy and responsive. Also things like continue watching, individual profiles for continue watching, and continuing a show in UHD instead of it auto switching to the HD version very rarely work as advertised which was the whole premise of the sky stream product a smooth device that works out the best quality where to get the episode from, etc.
A "premium no-ad tier" would offer little value for on-demand content on Sky's platform as Sky would only be able to offer that for programmes broadcast on its own channels. The on-demand content for the other broadcasters comes through the broadcaster's own streaming apps (e.g ITV X, C4), for which they will only remove ads if you are on the premium tier of their own service.
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16 May 2024 03:54 PM
I have to disagree there is a value of ad removal on sky content that is the premium content you are buying with sky TV exclusive shows that you have paid to watch and should be ad free on demand this obviously would only cover sky channels on demand library just like how we pay extra on sky to remove ads on Netflix or prime video both work really well through sky stream with the ads removed.
Also to use your example ITV do remove ads from there own content but very much even on the premium ITVX Premium still have ads for some US Shows so there is a benefit to sky offering an ad free add on for on demand for there own content. They can still offer the ad version as well its something the customer can choose between.
13 Aug 2024 04:51 PM
Will they just give us what everone wants and make 'ad skipping' 'ad skipping', no one wants to pay extra money to have to pick up their remote and work to use the paid-for function, it's supposed to make the watching experience more relaxing not making you have to pick up your remote every time an ad comes on
13 Aug 2024 05:02 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@Madachamberlain wrote:Will they just give us what everone wants and make 'ad skipping' 'ad skipping', no one wants to pay extra money to have to pick up their remote and work to use the paid-for function, it's supposed to make the watching experience more relaxing not making you have to pick up your remote every time an ad comes on
Won't happen the advertisers pay money to sky to advertise allowing customers to just whizz through the ads will be seen as a waste of money by advertisers hence the cost for the privilege of skipping the ads
13 Aug 2024 05:05 PM
Sky are quite stubborn on ads and it doesn't look like it's going to change. I think the majority of customers prefer a cheaper ad-skipping feature rather than a more expensive ad-removal service, so that's how it'll stay.
Even on the NOW TV service, with the Boost add-on which is supposed to be ad-free, they now give you a 30 second promo of other Sky content before you can watch anything. Worst of all, it's unskippable.
Personally I'd be happy to pay more for a completely ad-free service, and I do pay extra for Netlix Premium, Disney+ Premium, Apple TV+, ITVX Premium, Channel 4+ and several other US services just to avoid them. If Sky offered ad-free streaming for a premium cost I'd probably pay for it, but they don't, and it's part of the reason I'm no longer a subscriber.
13 Aug 2024 05:25 PM - last edited: 13 Aug 2024 05:26 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@Madachamberlain wrote:
Will they just give us what everone wants and make 'ad skipping' 'ad skipping',
Realistically the advertising-supported channels would demand a considerably higher payment than a tiny sliver of £5 a month per household for that.