Changes to BT TV Channels

[Brucemeister5]

@FC12 It’s subject to approval by the relevant regulatory bodies and is expected to complete by the end of 2022.

[NigelB72]

@FC12 it's going through regulatory approval at the moment and the timescale for completion is the end of 2022. 

The Discovery+ platform is going to be amazing because Discovery Warner are also going to integrate HBO Max. So it'll be one big platform with all the Discovery stuff, HBO Max, Eurosport and BT Sport. 

Rumours are gathering that Sky Sports UHD will be added to NowTV if you have the Boost ready for the start of the new Premier League season as well 👌

[stereohaven]

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@NigelB72wrote:

Rumours are gathering that Sky Sports UHD will be added to NowTV if you have the Boost ready for the start of the new Premier League season as well 

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You have posted this a few times, but the only mention of it I can find is a comment from an interview in early 2021 with Fraser Stirling in which he says that it is “something they possibly will look at”.

Since then, all they have done is launch Sky Glass, confirmed that a standalone puck version (no Glass required), will arrive later this year and they put the price of boost up by £2.

Considering you will be able to buy a streaming device direct from Sky that delivers Sky Sports UHD 4K with Dolby Atmos, and offers a Sky Glass experience on any TV, why would they add it to their budget no contract service?

I’m not saying it won’t happen, you could well be right, but I just can’t see it happening personally based on their actions recently.

Can you point me in the direction of some of these rumours please?

[NigelB72]

I've posted it once .. and it's been mentioned on various websites and forums since last year

[Brucemeister5]

Making Sky Sports UHD available to BTTV customers via NOW would suggest to me that there would be a reciprocal agreement to make BT Sport UHD available on Sky. BTTV customers who currently subscribe to Sky Sports and also have Boost would appear to be in line for a major free upgrade if there’s no additional charge for this.

There are currently plenty of customers who receive large discounts( by attempting to cancel) on Sky Sports by subscribing directly with NOW. The rumour that I heard a few months ago was that Sky Sports UHD would only be made available to those direct customers paying full price ( currently £33.99 per month) plus Boost ( currently £5 per month).

These seem to be two good reasons for Sky to make Sky Sports UHD available on their ‘budget’ service.

[NigelB72]

@Brucemeister5 personally I think it's more to do with NowTV and Sky losing a lot of subscribers and the BT TV/NowTV packs becoming an affordable option for customers over Sky Q/Glass or the little puck things they're releasing as they all cost the same as a full Sky package. I priced up a full SkyQ pack when our TV pack needed renewing and to get everything we've got now, Inc Netflix and Broadband, would have cost over £180 per month. 

I pay £137-ish to BT and that includes my mobile, Broadband and VIP pack and I've got 6 VIP at half price... BT was just so much cheaper than the other options.. Virgin Media was even more expensive than Sky!!

Comcast/Sky must be getting pretty worried by Discovery Network buying Warner HBO and going into Partnership with BT Sport, let alone Paramount+... Because they could be losing all of their most valuable content over the next few years.

[stereohaven]

So 4K on NOW is just speculation on forums or wishful thinking or probably both, and if it comes you have to pay £38.99 a month for it?

Meanwhile, the largest content distributor with the most customers in Europe is scared because companies it has already (recently), secured new longer term carriage and partnership deals with, are going to merge?

Righto. Let’s see how this pans out.

[enapace]

@stereohaven 

Sky have received a longterm carriage deals for sports not entertainment losing HBO and WB content from the end of 2024 is a big impact when it is obviously going to Warner Discovery. With them already losing access to the Disney Content and likely slowly lose access to Paramount/CBS content as the years tick away like how they have slowly lost access to disney stuff. That's losing access to 3 of the biggest Film and TV Companies in the world that will harm any content provider 

[stereohaven]

And HBO/Warner won’t want customers on the Sky platform to access their content from 2025? The largest content distributor in Europe? 

Can you watch Disney+ on Sky or BT? Can you watch Paramount+ content on Sky or BT? Can you watch Apple TV+ content on Sky or BT?

Sure BT TV will benefit from additional content as the mergers complete and existing carriage deals come to an end, but to think access to the content via Sky will end is for the birds.

I enjoy the debate, but Sky is a machine that is already reinventing itself as a super aggregator, moving customers from long term contracts and satellite delivery with Q to 31 day packages for their content and access to apps for everything else.

Even when BT get more content it is still miles away from calling any shots. Shame really, the fragmentation is going to continue to cost us all a fortune.

[biohazardx9]

All they will do is launch another app.

Eventually all we will have is a box loaded with apps. With every provider offering their content for circa £10. To watch everything entertainment only we will be paying £70 plus at this rate.

I'm not a fan of it I'll be honest.

Eventually sky will be nothing more than a streaming Puck.