This topic

Big Sport

cranfan — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:21:29 GMT

I am interested in the Big Sport package. I currently have Sky Sports (with the HD add-on) and separately TNT Sport through BT (no HD add-on):

1) As I understand it, with Big Sport none of the sports channels (TNT or Sky) are in HD. As far as I can see, only the Full Works package includes this.
a) Can you still watch TNT Sport in HD through the Discovery+ app?
b) Can you upgrade to HD with the add-ons for TNT Sport HD and NOW Boost or is that reserved for Full Works only?

2) A recordable box is included. Does this record the NOW Sports channels, I have not come across any other platforms where NOW can be recorded?

3) It's recommended to connect the box to a TV aerial. Does the box have an aerial out port so that you can still connect the aerial to the TV?

4) It's a flexible package allowing you to switch monthly between packages. Can you manage all of this online?

5) I assume that none of the packages (including Full Works) will include the Sky HD add-on channels such as E4 and More4 (except Sky Arts)?

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:53:29 GMT

1a - Yes.

1b - Yes a single HD add on for £6pm will get you all of the Sports channels( both Sky &TNT) in HD plus UHD and UHD HDR for TNT Sports ( subject to your line speed being 44mbps or more).

2 - Yes, it’s one of the USPs of EETV at the moment.

3 - IP mode is an option whereby all channels are received over the internet. This is not as many channels as via your aerial, however.

4- Yes via MyBT.

5 Correct. That is the case even if you have your box set up in IP mode at the moment.

You will probably save money by going for the Big Sport package compared with what you’re paying at present. However, I anticipate that some or all of the EETV packages will be on some sort of special offer around the end of this month, beginning of next month. So it might be worth holding fire for a while.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:04:28 GMT

Thanks for the very quick response.

1b) That's good. Will I be able to see that £6 option and add it to my basket when I order the package?

3) So I won't be able to connect the aerial to my TV (as well), if I connect it to the box?

Thanks for the tip, I will wait until the end of the month, beginning of next.

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:19:01 GMT

1b - Yes it should be there.

3 Yes you will if you want to. The Pro tv box does have an aerial out port. You have to opt for aerial or IP mode you can’t have both. However your subscription channels are always delivered by internet regardless.

Re: Big Sport

ozsat — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:39:15 GMT

IPTV will give you better pictures of those channels on IPTV - but some channels in aeriel mode are lost if you switch to IPTV (Talking Pictures, That's TV to name but two).

You have to choose yourself if you want quantity or quality.

If your tv has Freeview then if you don't want to record the missing Box Pro channels then you can opt for the best of both worlds.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:51:10 GMT

My TV has Freeview (but limited reception) and it can record to a USB drive. So it just depends whether or not I can receive the missing channels on my Freeview. Unless they are reasonably mainstream, it's unlikely I watch them. Is there a list anywhere of the missing channels?

Re: Big Sport

ozsat — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:54:38 GMT

There is a list of the channels you do get at https://www.bt.com/help/tv/guide/ip-freeview-guide

Chances are those you can't receive on your tv will also not show up on the EEtv box in aerial mode.

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 08:00:50 GMT

There are offers available on a couple of the EETV packages from today. Unfortunately Big Sport isn’t one of them as it’s only for the Sport and Full Works packages.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 11:15:04 GMT

What's to stop you from subscribing to Full Works and then switching to Big Sport after 3 months when the offer ends? That save's £60.

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 12:51:55 GMT

Yes, you could certainly do that as a new EETV customer. Once you’ve swapped over to Big Sport you will then pay the current standard price for whichever package you may be on for the remainder of the contract and won’t be eligible for any further offers. Strictly speaking you would be saving over £200 ( £78-£25 ) x 3 + £41.99.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 13:27:58 GMT

Is £45 the standard price for Big Sport, I'm not seeing any offer indicated? Presumably there is a risk that could go up during the 3 month period, and will go up anyway in March 2024 with the annual price rise. Although, as I understand it, the annual price rise will occur even in a 2 year contract.

What is the £41.99 in your illustration, is it free delivery now?

Do you have any experience of switching packages within My BT? I don't want to end up spending hours on the phone to switch it.

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 13:46:04 GMT

The £41.99 is for activation of your service and p&p of your equipment. It’s being waived if you take up the current offer for Full Works. £45 is the current standard price for Big Sport. There is a risk that it could go up during the 3 month period, yes. However, it only recently increased from £43pm to £45pm on March 1st.

We have no experience of switching packages. We took up a really good offer when we took EETV in April 2022 and kept that package. We’ve just renewed with another really good offer on Full Works and have no intention of changing. There’s no need to phone to switch packages, it can be done online via MyBT.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 15:31:09 GMT

Thanks for all the feedback, it's very useful.

Aside from the annual increases, presumably some risk of Big Sport going up in price would apply throughout the remaining 21 months and would not apply if I purchased it directly on a 24 month contract.

I see what you mean about activation, I added Big Sport and it shows a £30 upfront charge, and with Full Works it's nothing.

As I want HD there would also be a saving of £18 (6x3) for 3 months of this, I believe it's inclusive with Full Works. But then I would need to add it when I switched, can that be done in My BT as well? I presume that 'via My BT' means on the website rather than the phone app?

So summing up, I don't generally watch the extra Entertainment channels much, so to me a saving of £60 + £30 + £11.99 + £18 = £120, versus the risk of price increases for Big Sport (plus HD add-on) and the hopefully minor inconvenience of switching package and adding HD (assuming that's possible) 3 months later.

Re: Big Sport

BillyM — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:13:28 GMT

@cranfan I thought I should raise one issue that hasn't been discussed so far. If you are on Full Works and want to swap package to Big Sport the option you will be offered is Big Sport + Netflix. This happened to be when I first joined BT back in 2021 and swapped from VIP (previous name of Full Works) to Big Sport. It wasn't an issue for me as I wanted Netflix anyway. I am now on Full Works and just checked my swap package options. The Big Sport Option is £53 (including Netflix). There is no option to swap to Big Sport without Netflix. Worth looking into this if you aren't interested in Netflix.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:35:19 GMT

Thanks.

I don't want Netflix, so over 21 months that's £168 extra. If that's the case, then it's no longer a viable option for me to switch between packages after 3 months.

With Big Sport, if I switched to just Sport for a few months, and then back, would Netflix also apply in that instance? If that's the case, then switching between any packages would never be viable for me.

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:04:24 GMT

@cranfan If you take Big Sport at £45pm plus HD/UHD add-on at £6pm the only price rises that will affect you will be the Annual 31st March rises, provided that you stay on that package. If say, Big Sport went up to £47 and HD/UHD add-on went up to £7pm during the course of your 24 month contract, that will not apply to you.

However, if you swap between Big Sport and Sport you will not be forced to have Netflix as it was not part of the original package that you signed up to. Beware though, if you swap and the standard prices have changed as in the example that I gave above, then those prices will apply to you, although your HD/UHD add-on will still only be affected by the 31st March Annual increase.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 09:02:11 GMT

So summing up:

To avoid the Netflix issue my best option is to sign up for Big Sport directly (not via the Full Works offer).

If I decide during the contract to switch into Sport or Entertainment for a few months to save a bit, then I will have to accept any standard price increases when I return to Big Sport and hope that they will be less than the amount I saved by switching.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 12:48:00 GMT

This is now ordered and I'm waiting for delivery and activation.

As part of the BT order, for NOW TV I supplied my email address. Later, in response to an email from NOW, I validated my email address and that took me onto their website. I'm wondering if (and when/how) I need to create a password for use with NOW, this wasn't part of either process?

Re: Big Sport

Brucemeister5 — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 13:13:28 GMT

@cranfan I’m assuming that you didn’t already have an account with NOW. I did, but wanted to keep that separate and not be taken over for our EETV NOW account. Did you use the same email address that you use for your BT ID or something completely different? We used the same email as our BT ID for our BT NOW account. This means that it uses the same password for both, but it’s been over 2 years ago now, and I can’t remember how the process worked.

Re: Big Sport

cranfan — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 14:00:12 GMT

I did once have a NOW account, but I suspect it became dormant long ago. I believe that account had the same password as I use with BT, but I'm not sure what email address I had at that time.

With the order, I gave the same email address for NOW as I use with BT. So maybe BT have forwarded my password to NOW or maybe the old account was reactivated.

When I validated my email with NOW, I wasn't prompted to set up a password but it did appear as though I was logged in. I'm reluctant to mess with it (on NOW's website) until I set up the TV Box when presumably I may need it.