"Hate the way Murdoch manipulates the media, for example recently he has become obsessed with trying to acquire the rights for Formula One and he is trying to spin stories to get it on the cheap." .........
Murdoch's control of the media is unhealthy. In the UK besides the Times, Sunday Times, Sun and NoTW he owns 39% of Sky and is aiming to take over the rest. This was blocked until recently but the Tory government have given him approval (once one or two minor hurdles are cleared) to acquire the remainder. Part of the deal is that he floats off Sky News, which is a loss making operation.
Both the current and the last government have let him get away with owning too much of our national media mainly because they are scared of the political clout his paper's wield. The recentish Tory green light to allow him to hoover up the rest of Sky comes not long after he endorsed Cameron at the last election. Everything Murdoch offers comes with strings attached. We'll only miss democracy once its gone.
Murdoch's attitude to truth in publishing is encapsulated by his decision when told that Lord Dacre who had initially confirmed the authenticity of the 'Hitler Diaries' had changed his mind. 'Fuck Dacre - publish.' And this wasn't the Sunday Sport but the Sunday Times.
Hey, don't forget the 365 group too! It seemed painfully obvious that the Gray/ Keys fiasco was Sky News attempting to prove their neutrality in the midst of the government investigation. There was an altercation between two department heads, I believe, in the car park, as Sky Sports News were refusing to run the story. Considering the SSN studio and the SN studio are about 150 yards apart...
Yet when a very long list of Sky Broadband customer's personal details was hacked and leaked, Sky News were about the only outlet that didn't feature it as a story. Not so neutral after all...
The inertia thing exists, don't get me wrong. But I just wonder if picking on Sky for being that way, as if it's another facet of Murdoch's twisted schemes, is a little excessive the context of this discussion.
Sky are judged largely on how the total figure of Direct To Home customers is looking, with 11m the most recent milestone they hit in an effort to please shareholders. To do this they invest heavily in boxes and installations - hence the free deals that new customers get. Yet this, clearly, leaves the existing customers, often very loyal customers, wondering why they haven't got as good a deal.
Sky do their best to counter this, with a host of extras offered to customers, but the amount of time and money Sky spend on telling their customers pales in comparison to the sign up work.
Anyway, if everybody involved, you, me, our families, if we negated the inertia, by standing up for ourselves and playing the market with no intention of actually quitting the company, sooner or later Sky would have to put a cap on how many people negotiate down, possibly leading to an eventual set price and lack of negotiation on anybody's part.
Which, ultimately, would mean the likes of yourself, savvy in such practices, would no longer be able to question the cost, as every single customer is already doing it. And so I come to the conclusion that your reliance on everybody else's inertia, is equal to Sky's! (Smiley face thing here)
We shouldn't get too worked up with Murdoch etal. It's the authorities who need to control things properly. There hasn't been the will at a Governmental level in the past 20 years or so to do this. Vince Cable was clearly trying to do something until - stupidity on stupidity, he is caught bragging about what he was going to do, in an under-cover sting by reporters of the Daily Torygraph ffs!
Sky is regulated by Ofcom - ha ha ha! That's like putting traffic wardens in charge of policing serious organised crime!
Murdoch and Branson - two amazingly tenacious and competent capitalist entrepreneurs doing what they do best - getting the most out of the system that fails, time and again to regulate what they do effectively.
I campaign regularly in my house to have sky removed... instead of which we've just got sky+ HD! That's democracy for you. When we've had it a year though I will be on the phone to get the price knocked down, that's for sure.
just get bt vision with the sports package. I get phone (with free weekend calls), broadband, bt vision (which includes record feature like sky plus and bbc iplayer) and sky sports 1, 2 and espn all for £40 a month (which includes line rental).
The only channel that I can't get on bt vision that I would want is sky sports news, but that isn't a big deal really.
I have now joined the club that thinks paying for the full Sky package is too expensive so I am thinking about changing.
I cannot get cable where I live so Freesat looks an option, can someone confirm the following please:
1/ Do I need to use a dish for Freesat, if so will my existing Sky dish be OK?
2/ Assuming the answer to number 1 is yes do I just remove my Sky box and replace it with the Freesat box?
3/ Do I need a TV ariel on the roof for Freesat because at the moment I do not have one?
Thanks in advance
1> Yes the one you have will be ok.
2> Literally take the cables out of the Sky box and screw them into the FreeSat Box.
3> No ariel required.
If I may be so bold I would recommend the Humax Fox Sat box. It has a PVR and like Sky+ has two inputs so you can watch one channel and record another one at the same time. I bought one of these three years ago and paid £300 and I have been more than happy with it. It has HD channels, all be it only a few, but it does include BBC HD and ITV1 HD. Mine came with a 360GB (I think) hard disc, but they do one for c. £250 now with a 500GB hard disc.
Mine came with a three year warrenty, but I've had no problems with it and based on an average bill of £30 a month for Sky it paid for itself in a year.
I have now joined the club that thinks paying for the full Sky package is too expensive so I am thinking about changing.
I cannot get cable where I live so Freesat looks an option, can someone confirm the following please:
1/ Do I need to use a dish for Freesat, if so will my existing Sky dish be OK?
2/ Assuming the answer to number 1 is yes do I just remove my Sky box and replace it with the Freesat box?
3/ Do I need a TV ariel on the roof for Freesat because at the moment I do not have one?
Thanks in advance
need a good ariel or if going for bt vision good internet which they supply
As Kings Hill says NO aerial at all needed for FREESAT. The old sky dish is fine too - it points to the same satellite. Only need an aerial for FREEVIEW which is the digital but terrestrial service and has a few different channels but less channels overall. Freesat does, though, give access to BBC's iplayer and the ITV equivalent (The latter on beta with Humax boxes only at the moment). But that service does come through separate access on an ethernet port via your internet and you do, therefore need a pretty decent download speed to get the service. And a good standard usage capacity otherwise iplayer will quickly eat up your monthly limit and cost extra to run. There is a different but similarly named product from Sky - freesat from Sky - but be aware that I understand they charge you a monthly fee if you want to record anything to your sky+ box. A new satellite is scheduled for launch in the next few days and that will greatly increase transponder capacity. So expect more HD channels on Freesat in due course. It's rumoured that may include Film4 HD and Channel 5 HD (Don't expect the expensive sports ones obviously). Check www.joinfreesat.co.uk for more info and a comparison of box prices.
Comments
.........
Murdoch's control of the media is unhealthy. In the UK besides the Times, Sunday Times, Sun and NoTW he owns 39% of Sky and is aiming to take over the rest. This was blocked until recently but the Tory government have given him approval (once one or two minor hurdles are cleared) to acquire the remainder. Part of the deal is that he floats off Sky News, which is a loss making operation.
Both the current and the last government have let him get away with owning too much of our national media mainly because they are scared of the political clout his paper's wield. The recentish Tory green light to allow him to hoover up the rest of Sky comes not long after he endorsed Cameron at the last election. Everything Murdoch offers comes with strings attached. We'll only miss democracy once its gone.
Yet when a very long list of Sky Broadband customer's personal details was hacked and leaked, Sky News were about the only outlet that didn't feature it as a story. Not so neutral after all...
The inertia thing exists, don't get me wrong. But I just wonder if picking on Sky for being that way, as if it's another facet of Murdoch's twisted schemes, is a little excessive the context of this discussion.
Sky are judged largely on how the total figure of Direct To Home customers is looking, with 11m the most recent milestone they hit in an effort to please shareholders. To do this they invest heavily in boxes and installations - hence the free deals that new customers get. Yet this, clearly, leaves the existing customers, often very loyal customers, wondering why they haven't got as good a deal.
Sky do their best to counter this, with a host of extras offered to customers, but the amount of time and money Sky spend on telling their customers pales in comparison to the sign up work.
Anyway, if everybody involved, you, me, our families, if we negated the inertia, by standing up for ourselves and playing the market with no intention of actually quitting the company, sooner or later Sky would have to put a cap on how many people negotiate down, possibly leading to an eventual set price and lack of negotiation on anybody's part.
Which, ultimately, would mean the likes of yourself, savvy in such practices, would no longer be able to question the cost, as every single customer is already doing it. And so I come to the conclusion that your reliance on everybody else's inertia, is equal to Sky's! (Smiley face thing here)
I have now joined the club that thinks paying for the full Sky package is too expensive so I am thinking about changing.
I cannot get cable where I live so Freesat looks an option, can someone confirm the following please:
1/ Do I need to use a dish for Freesat, if so will my existing Sky dish be OK?
2/ Assuming the answer to number 1 is yes do I just remove my Sky box and replace it with the Freesat box?
3/ Do I need a TV ariel on the roof for Freesat because at the moment I do not have one?
Thanks in advance
The only channel that I can't get on bt vision that I would want is sky sports news, but that isn't a big deal really.
1> Yes the one you have will be ok.
2> Literally take the cables out of the Sky box and screw them into the FreeSat Box.
3> No ariel required.
If I may be so bold I would recommend the Humax Fox Sat box. It has a PVR and like Sky+ has two inputs so you can watch one channel and record another one at the same time. I bought one of these three years ago and paid £300 and I have been more than happy with it. It has HD channels, all be it only a few, but it does include BBC HD and ITV1 HD. Mine came with a 360GB (I think) hard disc, but they do one for c. £250 now with a 500GB hard disc.
Mine came with a three year warrenty, but I've had no problems with it and based on an average bill of £30 a month for Sky it paid for itself in a year.
The old sky dish is fine too - it points to the same satellite.
Only need an aerial for FREEVIEW which is the digital but terrestrial service and has a few different channels but less channels overall.
Freesat does, though, give access to BBC's iplayer and the ITV equivalent (The latter on beta with Humax boxes only at the moment). But that service does come through separate access on an ethernet port via your internet and you do, therefore need a pretty decent download speed to get the service. And a good standard usage capacity otherwise iplayer will quickly eat up your monthly limit and cost extra to run.
There is a different but similarly named product from Sky - freesat from Sky - but be aware that I understand they charge you a monthly fee if you want to record anything to your sky+ box.
A new satellite is scheduled for launch in the next few days and that will greatly increase transponder capacity. So expect more HD channels on Freesat in due course. It's rumoured that may include Film4 HD and Channel 5 HD (Don't expect the expensive sports ones obviously). Check www.joinfreesat.co.uk for more info and a comparison of box prices.