Have I made a mistake?

[PJCORNELLY]

I switched to BT from Sky 3 weeks ago. Sky Q TV only for entertainment and films jumped to £71.00. After negotiations down to £56.00 and now they are offering all I had previously at £26.00 on a 18 month contract, but it took them a month to reduce from £71 to £26.

To be honest being shafted for loyalty made me jump initially and BT looked a fair priced alternative but I'm disappointed. In the world of UHD via BT even HD is sadly lacking even after paying additional for the app + services if using the apps via the 4K pro box 😢 

Iplayer - free and UHD for some streams.

ITV Hub+ - this is embarrassing quality! 480p?. Will things improve with ITVX? £4.99

All 4+ - only SD £4.99

My5 - only SD albeit free

I like the interface via youview/BT, simple old fashioned maybe against the Q all singing and dancing glits and glamour which was often OTT. However, at the end of the day it is the actual programs that count and SD should be banished to the previous century it came from when streaming via apps.

Mistake to jump? I'm beginning to think so even though Sky took a month to prepare their best offer.  I need to look at how I can end  my contract I think 🤨

I'm watching UK streaming services via my Apple TV to achieve HD quality, well except for My 5 which is not HD even via Apple but is HD on my Samsung TV 🙄

Sky don't deserve my custom really after failing to support my loyalty but they do offer a better viewing experience.

Time to cut my losses!?

[biohazardx9]

I am told that the apps are responsible for the quality not BT.

I read somewhere on here that it's to do with global compatibility as there are older boxes on both bt, talk talk and those who have youview in 'retail mode' (standalone and not with talk talk or bt firmware loaded. 

Ultra HD is rather sparse with only sky offing the most. Even virgin media has barely any. 

But (someone correct me), Netflix and amazon offer UHD. There is also bt sport in UHD. 

As for HD, the content I just mentioned above as well as now TV is supported, including freeview HD, bt tv store/app and bt exclusive AMC. 

I have not fully tested britbox but I assume that is HD also for newer content. (EDIT: just been on the app and indeed where it was filmed, newer content is HD) 

[PJCORNELLY]

I appreciate BT are not necessarily to blame as they are the platform and not the transmission or streaming provider but it is so frustrating to pay for a service like All4+ for example to find that you can't watch that on your main source of TV in HD,  therefore Sky wins over as HD is pretty standard albeit at an additional cost. UHD is growing with iplayer now providing certain programs and of course Netflix,Amazon are too.

That said Sky carry a slim downed version of ITV Hub and All4, no Britbox 🙄.

The more I look into this, then it does appear that by far the cheapest option with no contracts and flexibility to sign up for HD is Apple or even Roku.

My personal view is if Platform providers don't provide a catchall service over the Internet then users will migrate to the likes of Roku, Firestick etc.

My nephew 18 years old finds it quite strange I watch TV via an aerial on the roof when there is flexibility via apps. I think he is right and the days of selecting a channel number are limited especially with his age group being the drama watchers of the future.

[Les-Gibson]

My personal view is that the 2 year contract and the forthcoming price rises make BT TV poor value for money which is why I just terminated it. Far better to go PAYG direct with Now TV on a 30 day rolling contract

[PJCORNELLY]

The more you look at it, think about it and investigate I'm asking myself what am I paying for?

A box I never own

A TV guide that's pretty dated and purple!

A watchlist that's not complete

SD apps that I can watch in HD on other services

Limited apps, no Apple TV, No Discovery

A box that records programmes I can stream ad free anyway.

Hmmmmm.

[Les-Gibson]

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@PJCORNELLYwrote:

The more you look at it, think about it and investigate I'm asking myself what am I paying for?

A box I never own

A TV guide that's pretty dated and purple!

A watchlist that's not complete

SD apps that I can watch in HD on other services

Limited apps, no Apple TV, No Discovery

A box that records programmes I can stream ad free anyway.

Hmmmmm.

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And a two year contract with annual price increases to boot. 

I'm no psychic but I think I've got a pretty good idea which way you're leaning 

[biohazardx9]

TV guide is standard, I wouldn't say its dated. Looks alone, virgin media's is worse (on 360 box). As for enhanced meta info, yes I will agree.

As for purple, well that's BT's corporate colours. I can deal with that.

A box you never own, but if it dies though bt will replace it as part of the contract. 

What's not complete about the watch list? 

Apps not in HD, well as I said in the other post the reason why. Itv hub no longer works on legacy youview so you may well see HD when itvx arrives. 

As for discovery, that's coming. Apple TV however isn't on many devices and is fairly new. It only just got added to skyq. 

Given that Sony are abandoning youview and talk talk is phasing it out in favor of netgem, pretty sure bt will be the sole provider of youview. Probably they will take it over completely then you will see improvements. 

Any youview change has to apply to all codebases. Or so I am told

[PJCORNELLY]

Thanks for the replies. I don't mean to overly knock BT I appreciate they are working within industry limitations but it does frustrate me that paying for a service should be more cohesive.

The guide is not good, so old fashioned. It needs stripping back with a modern crisp look. The dark black and purples with flashes of white are just not pleasant on the eye.

The watchlist gives you Freeview but for Amazon you can search but not add and Netflix isn't part of this service. Again probably down to the providers and not BT.

Apps in HD, well it appears they are what they are sadly and yes ITVX (X, who thought of that sounds like adult content) does sound interesting, but who knows with ITV. ITV DIGITAL! 

I've read about the BT Discovery collaboration, so again interesting. As for Apple TV, yes it's new as an app but it is rapidly rolling out on most major platforms, so come on BT. It's worth it for Ted Lasso 😁 and that ties in with BT's heavy sports theme.

Interesting about Youview. I think BT need to look at supporting their own platform in house.

Let's see what the future brings, we may all be joyfully surprised 🙄😁

[garybs29]

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@PJCORNELLYwrote:

A box I never own

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Is that not the same as Sky Q though?

[PJCORNELLY]

Yes the same.