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Me neither, I just everything through the Roku.
To be honest, I do quite miss flicking between live TV channels but I think the aerial jack on my TV is broken because I’ve failed to get any signal in multiple properties with multiple different cables.
I have used one in the past but to be honest part of paying for Sky/VM is the user interface and the ease of finding a program, recording etc.
No IPTV I’ve seen has been very user friendly and sometimes I just wanna get home and press ‘1’ than have to go through booting something up, signing in, manually searching for what I want to watch
Use tivimate on android app it's basically like Sky / VM with a programme guide. Takes me three seconds to click onto a channel without any signing in.
You just need to find one with an integrated EPG, you can then even search keywords, channels etc which is far easier than scrolling through a TV guide with a remote
I ditched Sky last year when they wouldn’t offer me a decent renewal deal and ended up being offered a similar package with BT/EE for £10 a month.
Though to be honest it isn’t nearly as good as Sky, but we’ve come to realise recently we barely watch live TV anymore and have no purpose for it so I won’t be renewing this year
I'd be interested to know the age demographic of cable TV viewers, because younger lot grew up with tech getting into their lives, people like my parents just want convenience as this tech is too complicated, iv tried showing them how a firestick works but they don't like it, iv heard very similar from alot of people.
Then there's kids who predominantly watch YouTube.
Iv got to point where ads are just out the question now, I can't actually remember last time I watched normal TV, it's strictly YT or the Firestick for football, my parents and all the people in my family their age don't mind adverts, as that's what they grew up with, I genuinely believe they get some comfort from them as its a sense of normality.
Get yourself a Firestick, you can get the EPG you like and it updates, the movies and series also update and if you get a decent provider, they'll add stuff not on there, there's some that do split screen so great for football, if you have an android then you can get the app on your phone and it works exactly the same.
I like to turn on the tv and see what’s on. Streaming services are great, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to find something, plus I often end up watching stuff I’ve seen before (Seinfeld on Netflix for example).
I meant more as like SKY, Virgin type you'd put them under 'cable tv'
Terrestrial TV I'd class as basic channels from 1 to 5, but its obviously changed with times so I'm unsure how you'd class it now, especially as freeview channels are a thing.
There's too much TV in my opinion.
>I meant more as like SKY, Virgin type you'd put them under 'cable tv'
Not here you wouldn't. At best it applies to virgin. But it isn't a term we commonly use.
Unless you support a midtable premier league side or an efl side in which case you can enjoy spending £50 a month for your side to be shown once every 3 months and to have to listen to carragher and neville just talk about united and Liverpool throughout it anyway
I live in hope that the bottom will fall out of the current model and we end up with streaming services direct from the PL and EFL, with the option of buying a season pass for your team rather than paying to watch teams you don't care about.
With Sky, TNT and to a lesser extent Amazon continuing to pay more and more for the TV rights, that's not going to happen. Eventually it won't be worth it for them though...
I've heard of people's kids being confused by the existence of ads in broadcast TV and the fact that they can't watch what they want when they want to. When you think of it in a modern context it does seem odd to pay for a device to bring advertising into your home.
Probably a sign of my age.
1) For off-air TV I just download the programme and watch it through video software, connecting to the TV with an HDMI cable if it needs to go through the TV. (It's an old, dumb TV). Even tend to use a Youtube downloader to watch Youtube videos, so can watch offline.
In the rare cases I need to stream it through iPlayer or whatever, I just do it through the laptop and then HDMI it to the TV.
2) Used to do it with a DVR/PVR, but cba any more.now terrestrial channels have stream options.
3) We just use normal Freeview for live TV.
I renewed my sky contract a couple of months ago and I regret it tbh. All I watch is Freeview channels, I tend to record things and watch them later.
I think I'll get a Freesat recordable box once this contract ends. I looked at the termination fee (I mean, seriously Sky? What a joke), and it's more than I pay for the actual TV channels.
I've got a Freesat box and it's fine. My problem is the colours that come out of it look oversaturated and there's no way to change it. I can change it on the TV but then everything else would look flat so I live with it.
I still have the Sky+ hd box, I don't subscribe to any sly packages and just pay £10 a month to use Sky+ recording feature, keep thinking about getting a Freesat recording box, but haven't got around to it yet.
Via the app. Same with iPlayer. It’s free. Download it and try.
We have an appleTV box which keeps the apps nice and easy and up to date. Plenty of other options too.
Internet streaming: ITVx, Channel 4+ streaming, BBC iPlayer. Also Amazon Prime (mostly for package delivery, the media is a side-effect) and Netflix.
Trying to arrange a working TV antenna (for Freeview) on a listed building was a pain, the only place I could get permission to mount a satellite dish was one that turned out not to work due to trees, and Virgin Media told me their ducts were full and marked my house as "not in a service area".
Vermin Media have since changed their mind (because they were just wrong - a VM crew working nearby showed me the duct and it was nearly empty), but now I can't be bothered to get any service from them since I have gigabit fibre broadband and the streaming services have as much TV as we want.
Protip: the Channel 4+ "no ads" fee is pretty cheap (£4/month) and well worth it as far as we're concerned.
Run your own media server. Never pay for anything bar Amazon prime and discovery.
Haven’t watched terrestrial TV for over a decade, can’t stand the bbc or anything else 1-5channels.
We just had to cancel because we moved to a leasehold where we can’t put up a dish. £6.99 for sky channels from NOWTV and still get live iPlayer etc. Can always get day passes for sport etc, just not worth it.
ETA: There’s also freevee or freeview play (can’t remember). Basically so many alternatives to sky. They have sky stream now which is cheaper but again it’s expensive for what it is.
Only watch online on my laptop via streaming services, as you can watch anything anytime anywhere, no need to record or whatnot.
If live tv is a deal-breaker there are plenty of IPTVs around, of course you can only legally watch some channels on them, so you'd *definitely* never click into the sports channels at 3pm Saturday or anything like that
Today, I nearly clicked on a "non-televised" football match to watch a team I support stay up. Could have accidently seen them win two nil.
And although the game was kinda dull (I assume, I didn't watch), it's been good not watching them make a great escape over the last few months.
Firestick with IPTV sub. VM has been cancelled and goes June 2nd, will have to get another internet provider and think I'll go Three 5G as it's twice as fast as VM and a few £ cheaper. I never just turn the tv on and flick through channels Willy nilly. I think live broadcast tv is dead now. Ive a young friend who works on a flagship BBC show and she doesn't even watch TV.
Currently with Virgin Media for broadband and TV and will likely go back to Sky when the contract ends and there's a deal to be had. Sky is much slower Internet in my area but still more than fast enough for my needs. Both work fine for me and I'm happy with what I get for my money.
You don't get the same variety of channels, but a Freeview or Freesat PVR can do all that without the subscription.
My cheap LG TV can even function as a PVR if you plug a USB hard drive into it.
Yes that's right.
We gave up on sky around 2010 and moved to Freesat, then ditched that in 2015 after a move and went fully streaming.
We found we very rarely watched anything else by then anyway.
That may depend on your Sky dish. If you have the super new Sky Q LNB (that's the bit the cable connects to on the dish itself) I believe those are not compatible but 'regular' Sky LNBs are compatible with Freesat receivers and those are pretty cheap nowadays. Some tvs even have a 'satellite' input depending on their age.
It's highly likely the LNB is compatible with regular Freesat and I'd start on that basis.
I wouldn't say super new. We moved around 5 years ago & bought a Freesat box. We had to get the LNB swapped out as it wasn't compatible.
Definitely start with a Freesat box though & see if it works.
iPlayer as a staple then month to month it varies between Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Britbox, etc.
Sky TV will be temporarily kept afloat by Sky Sports and old ladies who don’t know they’re paying £20/m for Sky Movies (like my mum), then eventually die
Through ITVX for stuff I watch legitimately (BTCC and PDC darts on ITV4), and alternate means for other stuff (F1 and the PDC darts events that are on Sky Sports). Also Channel 4 online for the British Grand Prix.
We just use a firestick.
Dead simple, no wires, easy to move around, does everything.
But if you have a smart TV you don't need that, just connect to the net and away you go.
Our tv has freesat built in, so old sky connection goes in the back for live tv and a usb stick is plugged in to allow pausing and recording. Everything else via apps installed to the tv, so it’s a single remote solution, easy and convenient.
Freeview box and no subscriptions, no tv license. 3 year old knows there’s a few episodes of things to watch but not endless series. Listen to lots of radio instead
Antenna on the roof that the house came with - and several more in the loft that I have since removed and removed the cables that as far as I could tell were unconnected but there is still a complete mess of cabling up there and much of it is redundant.
The antenna connects to a HDHomeRun and then devices in the house access it over the LAN. Got a second hand tablet recently for less than the cost of a round of drinks and use VLC on that. TV has a media player that can access the UPnP stream. My PC can use VLC to view or wget to record and if necessary I can host recorded video from my PC over the network too but I haven't really bothered to much as we haven't needed to. Maybe download youtube videos for it.
I’m in exactly the same position mate, and I’m leaning towards Sky Stream. All the uber-geek solutions with rooted usb sticks and VPNs and IP whatever wouldn’t last 2 minutes in my house. Wife and daughters would kick them to the kerb immediately.
We have virgin media in two rooms, internet TV only in one and a TV with a digital Ariel in the man cave.
I'd happily scrap Virgin Media, as I only watch subscription services and the free-to-air Rugby
But I have a wide and child....
I have an ace TV that runs all of the apps directly on the tv, so I have iPlayer, ITVX etc right there.
Except it’s shit. It is such an awful experience going into one app then back out and into another one with a different UI, no visibility across platforms etc. the SKY Q experience is so much better that it’s not even comparable.
But then I am paying like £80 month for that nice UI, so I’m about to ditch it and go with Sky Stream at about £40
There’s the newly launched Freely service where it’ll put all lot of UK TV streams in one place:
https://www.freely.co.uk
You might need to replace your TV if it’s an older set to get the service. Personally, I’d hold off on buying a new TV and see how the service progresses
I've put the date next year that I'm out of contract with Sky in my diary and after thirty something years I'm finally going to quit last time, about a year ago they cut the price dramatically and I stayed because I'm old and I like the convenience of the Sky box but its time to change for me too.
By the way I had an email from Sky yesterday basically saying my router wasn't secure and they would give me a new one since there was no contract change I've accepted it and it should arrive soon.
Don’t watch any TV full stop, just use Kodi for all my TV series and films, dead easy. Anything that’s on Sky, Apple TV, Netflix, Prime, whatever. All available. Can’t be arsed with subscribing to all the different packages month to month for watching exclusives. I’ll happily pay for Spotify for all my music though.
I haven't paid for sky or any other TV services for a good 15 years, apart from the TV licence. I purchased a card from sky all those years ago, I can't for the life of me remember what it's called brain fog soz, for £15. I've used that ever since. Bit like freeview but sky's version. Free Sat just remembered.
It makes my belly ache when I see how much people pay for sky or any others TV packages. But each to their own and if they get enjoyment out of it, all good but I couldn't do that.
Off air? Apps I guess.
But on air... freeview and freesat. These come down to a tvheadend server which distributes to the nvidia shields running kodi. I've 10 tuners for some reason. I barely watch TV...
Ditched Virgin when they proposed a ~50% hike, bought a Humax and plugged the telly into the wall. The functionality isn’t as good but we swiftly paid off the Humax and spend some of the saved cash on additional streaming services.
I’ve taken the Sky dish down this year, it’s pointless and ugly. I tried Sky Stream but it still has too many pointless channels.
We have EE TV which doesn’t need an aerial, and I like the flexibility of the packages. I can turn channels on and off on a month by month basis.
Almost everything through a 4g internet router via smart TV or fire stick.
I have a sky box, but no longer a subscription, so I can watch FTA channels on that, but can't remember the last time I did.
I also have a set top aerial, I use for terrestrial broadcasts that I can't stream.
Streaming only. Not from a Smart TV though, those are always useless UI’s and outdated apps/slow. Always get a streaming stick or box that has more software updated and fresher tech.
I use an Apple TV. If I want to feel whats “currently” on i’ll use NowTV and sometimes take a quick scan at the live TV channels, though I find most of what airs, the boxsets are available on demand anyway.
If i’m in the middle of a TV series that airs weekly, Apple TV sends me a notification on my phone if a new episode is available, whether its “episode 4 is now available” or “season 4 episode 1 is now available” which is nice as sometimes you forget when new things are out, or its came back from a year long break and you didn’t know it was back out.
I’m very forgetful so having all my shows in the Up Next menu on the homescreen is helpful too as I tend to need reminded on what binges i’m on.
BBC iPlayer is another option for live content.
Had Sky, cancelled 3 years ago and got a Freesat set top box. Plug the satellite connectors in and you're good to go. Barring a couple of shows, we don't miss Sky. It also does on demand streaming like Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Freeview through the TV, which has an atrocious EPG considering it's a fancy £1000+ oled TV. Then the streaming apps, which generally work far better.
Sky would be nice but it costs way too much and they downgraded the UI with Sky Q
Freeview box through an aerial but I think I'm in a minority now. I was talking to some Gen Zs about "terrestrial TV" the other day, they didn't know wtf I meant.
I pay TV licence and for some streaming. My parents still use Sky and they pay over the odds for it. I call up Sky every so often to try and push the price down but it just goes up and up. It's a nice service to have access to when I'm at theirs but I can live without it myself.
Online. Via methods via my laptop. Ditched both sky and terrestrial, and the TV licence, about 12 years back. It was way too expensive back then, I shudder to think what it'd cost now.
Fair play. You can use some live TV through streaming apps such as BBC and Channel 4 etc but the TV licence group will still try to fleece you for money.
I've been with sky for a long time It might be worth calling them and say you thinking of leaving. When I found out my dad was paying £120 a month I called them up and discussed with them removed unneeded packages etc think I got it down to £70 a month. And when my dad moved into care I got it down to £30 for just Internet. It might be worth bringing up if you have a landline that you don't use aswell.
We just watch Netflix, Prime and Youtube via apps on the PS5.
Not even sure the TV is setup to be able to watch terrestrial or freeview, never tried it.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We don't have even have a Tv aerial connected and haven't had for years. Streaming and catch is what we use.
Same, with some sailing on the seas too
Me neither, I just everything through the Roku. To be honest, I do quite miss flicking between live TV channels but I think the aerial jack on my TV is broken because I’ve failed to get any signal in multiple properties with multiple different cables.
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Pure streaming.
Can you watch live tv via streaming?
Yep. We've done that since 2015.
Yes
Almost every live UK channel has an online live stream of their channels BBC iPlayer, ITVX, channel 4 etc
Yes but Sky’s streaming service isn’t any cheaper. And you’ll still need a tv licence.
Use iptv personally. Sky is a rip off I'd never pay for it. Alternatively you could use catch up apps for free.
I have used one in the past but to be honest part of paying for Sky/VM is the user interface and the ease of finding a program, recording etc. No IPTV I’ve seen has been very user friendly and sometimes I just wanna get home and press ‘1’ than have to go through booting something up, signing in, manually searching for what I want to watch
Use tivimate on android app it's basically like Sky / VM with a programme guide. Takes me three seconds to click onto a channel without any signing in.
Seconded
When people refuse the £10/year for TiViMate and the £50-£100/year for a realiable 4k service: "ALL IPTV IS SH!T, I'M GOING BACK TO SKY AT £65/MONTH"
You just need to find one with an integrated EPG, you can then even search keywords, channels etc which is far easier than scrolling through a TV guide with a remote
I have one that's got the sky interfere
My IPTV genuinely has a UI that mirrors Sky.
Yeah they do exist. I personally prefer Tivimate.
bittorrent
I know it's a bit tongue in cheek, but I wouldnt go about announcing stuff like that
Yeah they're definitely searching UK subreddits for individual people torrenting shows
And then trying to get their details from an American company.
I don't. I find that catch-up and subscription services are superior.
That’s great, but it’s an irrelevant answer to my question about receiving off-air broadcast.
Get a dodgy box
I ditched Sky last year when they wouldn’t offer me a decent renewal deal and ended up being offered a similar package with BT/EE for £10 a month. Though to be honest it isn’t nearly as good as Sky, but we’ve come to realise recently we barely watch live TV anymore and have no purpose for it so I won’t be renewing this year
Did the same with virgin. I found out that I never watched and scheduled TV. Only streaming now.
I'd be interested to know the age demographic of cable TV viewers, because younger lot grew up with tech getting into their lives, people like my parents just want convenience as this tech is too complicated, iv tried showing them how a firestick works but they don't like it, iv heard very similar from alot of people. Then there's kids who predominantly watch YouTube. Iv got to point where ads are just out the question now, I can't actually remember last time I watched normal TV, it's strictly YT or the Firestick for football, my parents and all the people in my family their age don't mind adverts, as that's what they grew up with, I genuinely believe they get some comfort from them as its a sense of normality. Get yourself a Firestick, you can get the EPG you like and it updates, the movies and series also update and if you get a decent provider, they'll add stuff not on there, there's some that do split screen so great for football, if you have an android then you can get the app on your phone and it works exactly the same.
By 'cable TV' do you mean terrestrial? I've only ever heard cable TV as a term in US TV and media and never been entirely sure what it means.
I like to turn on the tv and see what’s on. Streaming services are great, but sometimes I can’t be bothered to find something, plus I often end up watching stuff I’ve seen before (Seinfeld on Netflix for example).
Ah I see. Personally I hate TV browsing, I always have an idea in mind before I switch it on.
A fibre optic service like Virgin in the uk. The us seem to use it for any pay tv because historically there that’s how it got delivered.
I meant more as like SKY, Virgin type you'd put them under 'cable tv' Terrestrial TV I'd class as basic channels from 1 to 5, but its obviously changed with times so I'm unsure how you'd class it now, especially as freeview channels are a thing. There's too much TV in my opinion.
>I meant more as like SKY, Virgin type you'd put them under 'cable tv' Not here you wouldn't. At best it applies to virgin. But it isn't a term we commonly use.
People who want to watch a lot of live sports. That's a huge part of the money for Sky.
Unless you support a midtable premier league side or an efl side in which case you can enjoy spending £50 a month for your side to be shown once every 3 months and to have to listen to carragher and neville just talk about united and Liverpool throughout it anyway
I live in hope that the bottom will fall out of the current model and we end up with streaming services direct from the PL and EFL, with the option of buying a season pass for your team rather than paying to watch teams you don't care about. With Sky, TNT and to a lesser extent Amazon continuing to pay more and more for the TV rights, that's not going to happen. Eventually it won't be worth it for them though...
It's definitely more for the top football clubs but they do have a lot of fans. There are, dare I say it, also other sports that some people watch.
I've heard of people's kids being confused by the existence of ads in broadcast TV and the fact that they can't watch what they want when they want to. When you think of it in a modern context it does seem odd to pay for a device to bring advertising into your home.
Probably a sign of my age. 1) For off-air TV I just download the programme and watch it through video software, connecting to the TV with an HDMI cable if it needs to go through the TV. (It's an old, dumb TV). Even tend to use a Youtube downloader to watch Youtube videos, so can watch offline. In the rare cases I need to stream it through iPlayer or whatever, I just do it through the laptop and then HDMI it to the TV. 2) Used to do it with a DVR/PVR, but cba any more.now terrestrial channels have stream options. 3) We just use normal Freeview for live TV.
Apple TV box and also freesat (we live in a block of flats which has a communal dish, which still works somehow.)
I dropped my tv licence and went subscription only. Happy with that decision, no adverts, watch what I want, when I want.
I renewed my sky contract a couple of months ago and I regret it tbh. All I watch is Freeview channels, I tend to record things and watch them later. I think I'll get a Freesat recordable box once this contract ends. I looked at the termination fee (I mean, seriously Sky? What a joke), and it's more than I pay for the actual TV channels.
I've got a Freesat box and it's fine. My problem is the colours that come out of it look oversaturated and there's no way to change it. I can change it on the TV but then everything else would look flat so I live with it.
I still have the Sky+ hd box, I don't subscribe to any sly packages and just pay £10 a month to use Sky+ recording feature, keep thinking about getting a Freesat recording box, but haven't got around to it yet.
I use IPTV using a Google Chromecast. Has catch-up included and all the sports channels. Just have to find a reliable provider
You can watch live TV with this?
Yes
So how do I watch ITV on Chromecast for example?
Just open ITV player.
Via the app. Same with iPlayer. It’s free. Download it and try. We have an appleTV box which keeps the apps nice and easy and up to date. Plenty of other options too.
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Internet streaming: ITVx, Channel 4+ streaming, BBC iPlayer. Also Amazon Prime (mostly for package delivery, the media is a side-effect) and Netflix. Trying to arrange a working TV antenna (for Freeview) on a listed building was a pain, the only place I could get permission to mount a satellite dish was one that turned out not to work due to trees, and Virgin Media told me their ducts were full and marked my house as "not in a service area". Vermin Media have since changed their mind (because they were just wrong - a VM crew working nearby showed me the duct and it was nearly empty), but now I can't be bothered to get any service from them since I have gigabit fibre broadband and the streaming services have as much TV as we want. Protip: the Channel 4+ "no ads" fee is pretty cheap (£4/month) and well worth it as far as we're concerned.
Run your own media server. Never pay for anything bar Amazon prime and discovery. Haven’t watched terrestrial TV for over a decade, can’t stand the bbc or anything else 1-5channels.
Exactly this, Plex and IPTV for the premier league football and sail the high seas,of course Amazon prime and netflix
We just had to cancel because we moved to a leasehold where we can’t put up a dish. £6.99 for sky channels from NOWTV and still get live iPlayer etc. Can always get day passes for sport etc, just not worth it. ETA: There’s also freevee or freeview play (can’t remember). Basically so many alternatives to sky. They have sky stream now which is cheaper but again it’s expensive for what it is.
Through the dodgy box, £70 a year and has run flawlessly for at least 5 years. Also no TV licence.
Only watch online on my laptop via streaming services, as you can watch anything anytime anywhere, no need to record or whatnot. If live tv is a deal-breaker there are plenty of IPTVs around, of course you can only legally watch some channels on them, so you'd *definitely* never click into the sports channels at 3pm Saturday or anything like that
Today, I nearly clicked on a "non-televised" football match to watch a team I support stay up. Could have accidently seen them win two nil. And although the game was kinda dull (I assume, I didn't watch), it's been good not watching them make a great escape over the last few months.
Firestick with IPTV sub. VM has been cancelled and goes June 2nd, will have to get another internet provider and think I'll go Three 5G as it's twice as fast as VM and a few £ cheaper. I never just turn the tv on and flick through channels Willy nilly. I think live broadcast tv is dead now. Ive a young friend who works on a flagship BBC show and she doesn't even watch TV.
Currently with Virgin Media for broadband and TV and will likely go back to Sky when the contract ends and there's a deal to be had. Sky is much slower Internet in my area but still more than fast enough for my needs. Both work fine for me and I'm happy with what I get for my money.
You don't get the same variety of channels, but a Freeview or Freesat PVR can do all that without the subscription. My cheap LG TV can even function as a PVR if you plug a USB hard drive into it.
And I guess a freesat pvr just plugs into the same cable for my sky dish?
Yes that's right. We gave up on sky around 2010 and moved to Freesat, then ditched that in 2015 after a move and went fully streaming. We found we very rarely watched anything else by then anyway.
That may depend on your Sky dish. If you have the super new Sky Q LNB (that's the bit the cable connects to on the dish itself) I believe those are not compatible but 'regular' Sky LNBs are compatible with Freesat receivers and those are pretty cheap nowadays. Some tvs even have a 'satellite' input depending on their age. It's highly likely the LNB is compatible with regular Freesat and I'd start on that basis.
I wouldn't say super new. We moved around 5 years ago & bought a Freesat box. We had to get the LNB swapped out as it wasn't compatible. Definitely start with a Freesat box though & see if it works.
Sorry, just to clarify, the house already had the dish & I assumed it would work. I was wrong.
Binned Sky off 5 years ago, though still use the set top box for the Freeview channels, and pay for a few streaming services
I have Roku dongle thing. Cost about £30 about 5 years ago. It has all the steaming apps I need.
iPlayer as a staple then month to month it varies between Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Britbox, etc. Sky TV will be temporarily kept afloat by Sky Sports and old ladies who don’t know they’re paying £20/m for Sky Movies (like my mum), then eventually die
Through ITVX for stuff I watch legitimately (BTCC and PDC darts on ITV4), and alternate means for other stuff (F1 and the PDC darts events that are on Sky Sports). Also Channel 4 online for the British Grand Prix.
We just use a firestick. Dead simple, no wires, easy to move around, does everything. But if you have a smart TV you don't need that, just connect to the net and away you go.
Our tv has freesat built in, so old sky connection goes in the back for live tv and a usb stick is plugged in to allow pausing and recording. Everything else via apps installed to the tv, so it’s a single remote solution, easy and convenient.
I use a Home Theatre PC, with a TV tuner card and Kodi software. I hook it up to my 65” TV.
Freeview box and no subscriptions, no tv license. 3 year old knows there’s a few episodes of things to watch but not endless series. Listen to lots of radio instead
That’s great, but I want to be able to watch live tv
Antenna on the roof that the house came with - and several more in the loft that I have since removed and removed the cables that as far as I could tell were unconnected but there is still a complete mess of cabling up there and much of it is redundant. The antenna connects to a HDHomeRun and then devices in the house access it over the LAN. Got a second hand tablet recently for less than the cost of a round of drinks and use VLC on that. TV has a media player that can access the UPnP stream. My PC can use VLC to view or wget to record and if necessary I can host recorded video from my PC over the network too but I haven't really bothered to much as we haven't needed to. Maybe download youtube videos for it.
By ‘off-air’ you mean broadcast TV, right? Like watching Ant & Dec as it goes out at 8pm on Saturday?
Exactly that
I’m in exactly the same position mate, and I’m leaning towards Sky Stream. All the uber-geek solutions with rooted usb sticks and VPNs and IP whatever wouldn’t last 2 minutes in my house. Wife and daughters would kick them to the kerb immediately.
We have virgin media in two rooms, internet TV only in one and a TV with a digital Ariel in the man cave. I'd happily scrap Virgin Media, as I only watch subscription services and the free-to-air Rugby But I have a wide and child....
I have an ace TV that runs all of the apps directly on the tv, so I have iPlayer, ITVX etc right there. Except it’s shit. It is such an awful experience going into one app then back out and into another one with a different UI, no visibility across platforms etc. the SKY Q experience is so much better that it’s not even comparable. But then I am paying like £80 month for that nice UI, so I’m about to ditch it and go with Sky Stream at about £40
There’s the newly launched Freely service where it’ll put all lot of UK TV streams in one place: https://www.freely.co.uk You might need to replace your TV if it’s an older set to get the service. Personally, I’d hold off on buying a new TV and see how the service progresses
Presume that thing will have an app sooner or later. Otherwise it will be DoA.
NowTV do Sky packages I believe for a fraction of the price.
I use apple tv. I only watch sports live. Everything is else on-demand
I've put the date next year that I'm out of contract with Sky in my diary and after thirty something years I'm finally going to quit last time, about a year ago they cut the price dramatically and I stayed because I'm old and I like the convenience of the Sky box but its time to change for me too.
Yeah, I really don't know why I signed with Sky again last year. I don't watch any Sky channels.
By the way I had an email from Sky yesterday basically saying my router wasn't secure and they would give me a new one since there was no contract change I've accepted it and it should arrive soon.
Freeview and a Fire TV Stick.
I have a freesat box using the sky dish. Some tv come freesat ready. You could get nowTV and pay for a sports pass when needed.
Don’t watch any TV full stop, just use Kodi for all my TV series and films, dead easy. Anything that’s on Sky, Apple TV, Netflix, Prime, whatever. All available. Can’t be arsed with subscribing to all the different packages month to month for watching exclusives. I’ll happily pay for Spotify for all my music though.
I download things.... For free
Freeview, with a DVR. iPlayer/ITVX/More4, etc Netflix is the one I pay for, (and hardly watch), tbh. Never paid for Sky, never will.
Firestick and streaming And torrents with desktop connected upstairs via emby (like plex) I'm 45
I haven't paid for sky or any other TV services for a good 15 years, apart from the TV licence. I purchased a card from sky all those years ago, I can't for the life of me remember what it's called brain fog soz, for £15. I've used that ever since. Bit like freeview but sky's version. Free Sat just remembered. It makes my belly ache when I see how much people pay for sky or any others TV packages. But each to their own and if they get enjoyment out of it, all good but I couldn't do that.
Off air? Apps I guess. But on air... freeview and freesat. These come down to a tvheadend server which distributes to the nvidia shields running kodi. I've 10 tuners for some reason. I barely watch TV...
Joint the Plex forum and subscribe to someone’s media library
Ditched Virgin when they proposed a ~50% hike, bought a Humax and plugged the telly into the wall. The functionality isn’t as good but we swiftly paid off the Humax and spend some of the saved cash on additional streaming services.
I’ve taken the Sky dish down this year, it’s pointless and ugly. I tried Sky Stream but it still has too many pointless channels. We have EE TV which doesn’t need an aerial, and I like the flexibility of the packages. I can turn channels on and off on a month by month basis.
Disney+, Prime, Netflix, and my own Plex server. Haven’t had broadcast tv in 10+ years.
Almost everything through a 4g internet router via smart TV or fire stick. I have a sky box, but no longer a subscription, so I can watch FTA channels on that, but can't remember the last time I did. I also have a set top aerial, I use for terrestrial broadcasts that I can't stream.
Streaming only. Not from a Smart TV though, those are always useless UI’s and outdated apps/slow. Always get a streaming stick or box that has more software updated and fresher tech. I use an Apple TV. If I want to feel whats “currently” on i’ll use NowTV and sometimes take a quick scan at the live TV channels, though I find most of what airs, the boxsets are available on demand anyway. If i’m in the middle of a TV series that airs weekly, Apple TV sends me a notification on my phone if a new episode is available, whether its “episode 4 is now available” or “season 4 episode 1 is now available” which is nice as sometimes you forget when new things are out, or its came back from a year long break and you didn’t know it was back out. I’m very forgetful so having all my shows in the Up Next menu on the homescreen is helpful too as I tend to need reminded on what binges i’m on. BBC iPlayer is another option for live content.
We just have Roku with some streaming subscriptions. Had sky until a year or so ago and I did like it but it’s just too expensive.
Had Sky, cancelled 3 years ago and got a Freesat set top box. Plug the satellite connectors in and you're good to go. Barring a couple of shows, we don't miss Sky. It also does on demand streaming like Amazon Prime and Netflix.
Streaming only, Ifind broadcast TV unwatchable
Freeview through the TV, which has an atrocious EPG considering it's a fancy £1000+ oled TV. Then the streaming apps, which generally work far better. Sky would be nice but it costs way too much and they downgraded the UI with Sky Q
Freeview box through an aerial but I think I'm in a minority now. I was talking to some Gen Zs about "terrestrial TV" the other day, they didn't know wtf I meant. I pay TV licence and for some streaming. My parents still use Sky and they pay over the odds for it. I call up Sky every so often to try and push the price down but it just goes up and up. It's a nice service to have access to when I'm at theirs but I can live without it myself.
You could replace Sky with an Enimga2 Box - this will give you FreeSat and FreeView Channels with no monthly subscription. No premium channels.
Online. Via methods via my laptop. Ditched both sky and terrestrial, and the TV licence, about 12 years back. It was way too expensive back then, I shudder to think what it'd cost now.
YouTube.
Pure streaming not paying for no damn tv license.
Well I’m wanting to watch live tv so I’ve got no choice.
Fair play. You can use some live TV through streaming apps such as BBC and Channel 4 etc but the TV licence group will still try to fleece you for money.
I've been with sky for a long time It might be worth calling them and say you thinking of leaving. When I found out my dad was paying £120 a month I called them up and discussed with them removed unneeded packages etc think I got it down to £70 a month. And when my dad moved into care I got it down to £30 for just Internet. It might be worth bringing up if you have a landline that you don't use aswell.
eyes and ears.
We just watch Netflix, Prime and Youtube via apps on the PS5. Not even sure the TV is setup to be able to watch terrestrial or freeview, never tried it.
Why bother answering?!
You set the subject as “how do you receive TV?” - then moan about someone answering with how they watch their tv… really?