why is sky stream more expensive than sky q box

[frustratedx100]

I am out of contract with the sports package so sky quote £14.50 extra to put my q box on contract, and £1.50 cheaper plus £39.99 set up cost to move to sky stream. I would like sky stream and expected it to be significantly cheaper? Is NOW TV an option?

[Dazzasky]

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@frustratedx100 wrote:

I am out of contract with the sports package so sky quote £14.50 extra to put my q box on contract, and £1.50 cheaper plus £39.99 set up cost to move to sky stream. I would like sky stream and expected it to be significantly cheaper? Is NOW TV an option?

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I'm not sure why you think Sky Stream should be significantly cheaper however if you want a cheaper option then of course Now TV is an option. 

[Mister_Dalek]

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@frustratedx100 wrote:

I am out of contract with the sports package so sky quote £14.50 extra to put my q box on contract, and £1.50 cheaper plus £39.99 set up cost to move to sky stream. I would like sky stream and expected it to be significantly cheaper? Is NOW TV an option?

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NOW TV is absolutely an option - it is entirely separate from a Sky Q or Sky Stream subscription and can be run instead of, or in addition to, either system as it is entirely app-based and can be used on any supported streaming device. 

[frustratedx100]

In respect of sky stream as a cheaper system, it eliminates the dish, wiring and satelite cost. Also, I was advised by a sky representative that if I was not an existing customer, then the price would be much less.

I like the Q system and would like to maintain the features we have, so getting low price is less important than a good reliable and effective package. Sky stream seems to provide all these with greater flexibility.

Does NOW TV provide similar? 

[Mister_Dalek]

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@frustratedx100 wrote:

In respect of sky stream as a cheaper system, it eliminates the dish, wiring and satelite cost. Also, I was advised by a sky representative that if I was not an existing customer, then the price would be much less.

I like the Q system and would like to maintain the features we have, so getting low price is less important than a good reliable and effective package. Sky stream seems to provide all these with greater flexibility.

Does NOW TV provide similar? 

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I think you need to do a bit of research into Sky Stream as it's very different to Sky Q. 

If you are used to recording things to watch whenever you like, and like being able to easily and quickly skip through adverts on Sky Q then you may find Sky Stream problematic. 

It relies entirely on you having a fast and stable broadband connection, and does not record in the same sense as Q. It does not have a hard drive. Everything is streamed from Sky's servers. Fast forwarding and rewinding is slower and much less precise. You have to use playlists instead of recordings which are basically bookmarks enabling you to stream something you want to watch at a later date, but you have no control over how long these streams will be available for. Some broadcasters only have live streaming rights to their content, not on demand, so there is no guarantee that everything will be available when you want it to be. 

Sky Stream is only really worth considering if you cannot have a dish, have very fast and stable broadband and want Sky content in UHD on multiple TVs around your home. 

If Sky Q still functions well for you and you like what it does then my advice would probably be to stick with it. Give Sky a call and ask to cancel your current package. When you are in your 31 day notice period you will often be offered much better deals to stay as a customer. 

[frustratedx100]

Thank you for your comments and I will think on and consider the options.

It's a pity that when dealing with Sky  you have to resort to extremes to get a reasonable solution.

It would also be useful if Sky provided the information to help the decision making.

All I get is up selling of mobile, broadband, glass, etc.

[Mister_Dalek]

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@frustratedx100 wrote:

Thank you for your comments and I will think on and consider the options.

It's a pity that when dealing with Sky  you have to resort to extremes to get a reasonable solution.

It would also be useful if Sky provided the information to help the decision making.

All I get is up selling of mobile, broadband, glass, etc.

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With services such as Sky it's always best to do your own independent research. Salespeople will always try and convince you to buy whatever item/service they have been told to push the sale of, which may or may not actually be what you, the customer, actually need. 

This is true of many companies and services, not just Sky. 

Don't think of cancellation as an extreme - it's always been proven to be the easiest and often most effective way of getting a new deal for Sky Q. When you give your 31 days notice your services continue as normal but you are flagged on Sky's systems as someone who is prepared to leave. They will then offer you incentives to stay. There are lengthy threads on other forums such as AV Forums and MoneySavingExpert detailing the types of deals that customers have achieved by doing this. 

Unfortunately it's always been with way with Sky, their pricing is dynamic and it's rare for any two customers to pay the same amount for the same service, so it depends who you speak to as to what kind of deal you can end up with. But with a bit of negotiation you can often end up paying less than you were originally for the same service on a new 24 month contract. 

[antony9955]

I received my sky stream today and I've had nothing but problems with it, it won't even get past the set up stage, its absolutely useless and nowere near as good as the q box

[Evevina]

Need to install this new system for now urgently 

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@Evevina wrote:

Need to install this new system for now urgently 

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@Evevina do you have a question or issue that the community can help with? No one will be able to help based on what you have posted.

[TechGuy007]

@Mister_Dalek You say “Some broadcasters only have live streaming rights to their content, not on demand, so there is no guarantee that everything will be available when you want it to be."

Can you give some examples? Thanks. 

[Gincap]

There are plenty of videos on YouTube explaining Stream and Glass plus why not visit a Sky Store or booth and see it in the flesh. Google it there are so many reviews too.  

With anything you have to do your homework to see what is best for you. 

[BenJoBanjo]

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@TechGuy007 wrote:

@Mister_Dalek You say “Some broadcasters only have live streaming rights to their content, not on demand, so there is no guarantee that everything will be available when you want it to be."

Can you give some examples? Thanks. 

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In my experience it would happen with things like movies shown on FTA channels. The channel would often only have live broadcast rights for the movie so if you added it to your playlist to watch later, you would be directed to a paid for subscription service to watch it at a later date. 

An example of this would be Venom: Let There Be Carnage, shown on Film 4 on Saturday night at 11.05pm. It's not available to stream via the Channel 4 app, instead you'd have to buy or rent it from a paid for service like Apple TV, Prime Video or Sky Store. 

The same can happen with some drama series where the rights change or it switches to a different streaming platform. If you've playlisted something and it moves from a free service to a paid service, you'll have to subscribe to that paid service to watch it. If you'd recorded a broadcast of it on Sky Q then it would remain on your hard drive to watch whenever you like. 

[lettice]

@TechGuy007 

You have picked up on a post that is over a year old.

Sky Stream back around the time I got it in Feb 2024 and since has made bug strides to its cloud recording.

Some rights on certain content will always exist (the way the industry is now and moving too) and content will move across apps and live channels.

Generally the main culprit is live news content for one that does not cloud record. You will just have to rely on the On demand content from some of those channels, generally more their news documentaries style programmes rather than live feeds.

One known exception has always existed, even before Sky Stream, is you cannot cloud record or find On demand reliably of the ITV regional News broadcasts.

But, cloud recording for C5 and ITV content that is not available on their app platforms gets cloud recorded.

I record lots on C5 and it's quite a 'nice and interesting' mix, when playing back from my playlist, either cloud recorded or via the app. To this day I have not missed anything.

ITV also as an example, I add the BTTC all day coverage to my playlist and it plays back as a cloud recording. In fact the last few that I have not yet removed are still there and playable.

For channels that have no On demand or app content:

I regularly record films from Great sets of channels, Together TV, Legend and similar channels, they all cloud record.

Cloud recordings also I do are on some of the International channels and the various QVC channels.

Have recently started cloud recordings of the various Now channels and Clubland TV, for the Christmas progs 😀

A handful of channels, like PBS America that are added to playlisted show plenty of their shows also within other the apps, but you will find it via their demand, even though they do not as such appear in the TV shows channels list rail as an On demand channel for browsing, like other channels for example, Food Network, that do sit in that rail.

Have so far never failed with those channels to watch content at a later date using Sky Stream play out, rather than using an app where the content often always exists.

Cloud recordings will not last forever, but have found they stay out for a good month or so on the channels that remove them the quickest, like Legend or Great set of channels. Mind, they repeat so often, that helps.

Still, one great thing that Sky Stream does for me so well is the voice or manual search for a programme/event with showing the content available across all kinds of app, On demand and linear channel platforms, upfront or 'on this week' via a linear channel as well as via other showings.

The rails in Sky Stream are very extensive and over the last few months have been very much improved , providing many ways and means to find content for viewing or via many forms of recommendation paths.

[TechGuy007]

• @lettice Thanks again for a really helpful reply. I had not spotted that the original thread was over a year old. Someone else posted something so the thread appeared at the top of the list! Many of the recordings on my HD box are well over a year old, some two years old. If I haven't got round to watching them it makes me wonder if I ever will. So moving to Stream won't be a problem as a lot of the series I had recorded are available on BBC iplayer for years after the original broadcast so can always just add to playlist and stream whenever I want.