Sky Sports F1 Channel

[sparkymark]

Last year I had to take out the entire sport package just to watch the F1 (I don't watch any other sport on Sky). I paid the £27pm for the rolling 30 day contract as it worked out cheaper than taking out the 18month contract.

Anyway, I notice that you can now subscribe to just the F1 channel. When I login to My Sky, I see the option to "upgrade" but when I click it I get presented with a message about not being able to process your request online just now.

Has anyone else managed to get the Sky F1 channel added to their Sky Stream package?

[Fothergill1 · Accepted solution]

@sparkymark  When I go to "Your Products" to look at increasing (or cancelling) my viewing packagers I get the same message.  This has been going on for nearly 3 months now. Despite various online and in person chats with Sky we have not been able to resolve the issue.

Unfortunately you will need to call Sky to discuss taking out the F1 only sport package.  Be aware that last year the reduced F1 only option was not available to Glass or Stream subscribers (only Sky HD or Sky Q).

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@Fothergill1 wrote:

@sparkymark  When I go to "Your Products" to look at increasing (or cancelling) my viewing packagers I get the same message.  This has been going on for nearly 3 months now. Despite various online and in person chats with Sky we have not been able to resolve the issue.

Unfortunately you will need to call Sky to discuss taking out the F1 only sport package.  Be aware that last year the reduced F1 only option was not available to Glass or Stream subscribers (only Sky HD or Sky Q).

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The T&Cs on the website for the offer do state "Requires a Sky Q and Sky TV subscription". Basically implying you need Sky Q and at least the base Sky package to be able to redeem this offer.

[Fothergill1]

@MarkGoldsmith  Thanks for that info.  Not being able to see it in My Products I was not sure about this years offer.  I cancelled my Sport subscription at the end of the last F1 season and was not intending to renew it this year as it was getting too expensive for just F1 and a little cricket. I might have been tempted to renew for F1 only if it had been available but sadly not.  I will just make do with the highlights on C4.

[sparkymark]

It appears this is still the case. I did ask why and if that was going to change but she didn't know. She did suggest because its Sky Stream I can cancel anytime but the packages available on Sky Stream are contract or rolling, the choice is yours.

[sparkymark]

Yeah its a bit galling that a SkyQ customer can pay £15 to watch F1 but Sky Stream customers have to pay £27 (cheaper to take out the rolling contract and cancel when F1 season ends) to watch just F1.

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@Fothergill1 wrote:

@MarkGoldsmith  Thanks for that info.  Not being able to see it in My Products I was not sure about this years offer.  I cancelled my Sport subscription at the end of the last F1 season and was not intending to renew it this year as it was getting too expensive for just F1 and a little cricket. I might have been tempted to renew for F1 only if it had been available but sadly not.  I will just make do with the highlights on C4.

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I don't quite get the logic in not offering it to customers on the sky streaming platform, unless there is a technological reason why they can't. You would think getting an extra £15 or so a month from customers who only want the F1 of Tennis channel for several months of the year would increase revenue. Particularly in the case of F1 where there is the free to air highlights on Channel 4.

To be honest i have a feeling this F1 season may continue to be slightly boring as the past few years have been with Verstappen breezing to victory in most of the races. If i didn't like other sports and only subscribed to Sky Sports for F1 i'd probably skip paying for this year and maybe check it out again in 2025 with the new regs and Hamiliton in the Ferrari.

[Fothergill1]

@sparkymark  I am on the monthly rolling contract so last F1 Season I renewed Sport just before the first race and cancelled immediately after the last.  By doing this I basically paid for 9 months of the year at £27 instead of 12 months so brought the overall annual cost down.

I won't be doing the same this year as my overall Sky costs are getting too high and i'm even thinking of cancelling Cinema and keeping UHD & Add skipping instead.  I do feel that sometimes Sky shoot themselves in the foot.

Edit - Wouldn't it be great if one could tailor your own Sport Package.  I would take F1, Cricket and Golf if the price was right.

[sparkymark]

Yeah thats exactly what I did as I worked out that paying the greater price for the rolling contract and cancelling when the F1 season ended was cheaper than taking out the 18 month contract.

I did have an issue though where no matter what day I went in to cancel it, it was always cancelling it on the same day. Which happened to be the Sunday of the last race of the season. So I had to watch the highlights of the last race on C4, but the season was over by then anyway!

[Fothergill1]

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@sparkymark wrote:

Yeah thats exactly what I did as I worked out that paying the greater price for the rolling contract and cancelling when the F1 season ended was cheaper than taking out the 18 month contract.

I did have an issue though where no matter what day I went in to cancel it, it was always cancelling it on the same day. Which happened to be the Sunday of the last race of the season. So I had to watch the highlights of the last race on C4, but the season was over by then anyway!

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@sparkymark  Exactly the same happened to me.  I did query it on the Superusers forum and I believe it is to do with the fact you are charged for it from the moment you subscribe so it is logical to cancel it immediately you unsubscribe (or something like that).

Only 10 days until the new season gets underway.  I'm hoping it won't be a 1 man show again 🤞

[Marianne4]

Hi

ive just cancelled sky cinema due to overall costs of sky... I do love F1 though, will see how this season goes and I might just end up watching channel 4 highlights 

[Seragon]

You can't get Sky Sports F1 on its own anymore. To get it you have to subscribe to the full Sky Sports package. If you want it in HD you'll also have to pay extra for the HD upgrade.

They added it to the Sky Sports package as the number of people subscribing to the Sports has dropped & this makes us all pay the full subscription. They made the decision due to the amount of money Sky have committed to paying for the various sports & the reduced income from the sports subscriptions. 

Basically we F1 fans are being made to pay for all the football, rugby, tennis etc that Sky have overpaid for.

[Fothergill1]

@Seragon  I think you have summed it up well. The astronomical amount Sky pay for the exclusive broadcast rights for football and F1, in particular, would appear to be the reason for the high subscription cost.  I have absolutely no interest in watching football and although I watched other sports on Sky Sport, F1 was my main reason for my subscription.  However, due to the cost I cancelled it at the end of the 2023 F1 season and now watch the F1 on the Ch4 highlights.

[Nigelb1972]

In fairness to Sky, they're pricing on Sky Sports is pretty good in comparison to TNT. We've got full Sky Sports on Stream for £20 a month on an 18 month contract. TNT Sport is at least £5 per month more and I've just cancelled that as I was only watching the odd Premier League game .

[Fothergill1]

@Nigelb1972 You make a very good point.  Being on a monthly rolling contract I was paying £27 per month for sport which as a pensioner I found was too much for basically watching F1 and the occasional other sporting event (mostly Golf).  As you say even the £27 is actually good value compared to some of the competition particularly if (unlike me) you are keen on watching football.