My Sky Sports subscription expires in May 2024 and after 10+ years I am cancelling. Here's why.
Let's start off with the beautiful game itself. In the old days when the ball struck someone accidentally on the arm, the morons in the crowd would shout for handball and those of us who knew the rules of the game would laugh at them - but now the morons have won. What was once a straightforward call for the referee has become a joke as nonsensical penalties affecting the course of the game are given. And have you noticed now players argue over every single decision and crowd the referee wanting him to book opponents at every turn? I know this has always gone on but it now seems so much more aggressive. And I won't even begin to talk about VAR!!!!
Next up is Sky's presentation. For some reason it is deemed necessary to have two commentators for every game. A proper one who describes what goes on, and a summariser - usually hired because they are an ex player. They are not hired for their eloquence or understanding of the rules (e.g. 'He was offside from that corner') and many of them feel that the game should be watched without any pauses or silences and when I settle down to watch a match, if I find out the commentator is for example Lee Hendrie - Lee I loved you as a player but you never know when to stop talking - then I just tape the game and whizz through it later to catch the goals. Think back to Kenneth Wolstenholme's iconic commentary of England winning the World Cup in 1966 when he said 'Some people are on the pitch - they think it's all over' (then Geoff Hurst scored) 'It Is Now'. If that had been on Sky it would have been 'Some people are on the pitch - they think it's all over' (Summariser) 'Yes people on the pitch, it's disgraceful isn't it Ken, we don't like to see that'.
Another thing that has me reaching for the mute button is that awful song by Celeste called 'Stop This Flame' which is blasted out every few minutes during Sunday coverage. WHY? It has nothing to do with football and it is just irritating. And finally - and some of you out there may feel I am being sexist - but I am not at all interested in seeing women play football (nor is my wife) simply because we want to see the game played at its highest level, but during the recent international break, Sky showed a couple of all girl games, and while I have no problem with this being on TV as I know lots of people enjoy it, I am not happy that I am being charged to watch something I have no interest in.
On a more general point with Sky - how come I can make changes to my TV service on-line by adding things to my package, but when I want to take something away, I have to call and wait in a long queue. Maybe I have been with Sky too long. (I'm planning on quitting their Mobile service in 2024 as well.)
There may be more people out there who agree and I am sure many will disagree. Whatever your opinion - thanks for letting me blow off some steam about this.
