Anyone else getting seriously ticked off with the incessant promotion of Sky's HD channels on every bloody programme on Sky these days? It's bad enough having it before the start, but that bit they do after every ad break where they bring a graphic up at the bottom of the screen telling you to tune in to channel XXX for the HD version really pisses me off. I'm surprised OFCOM hasn't made something of it - it goes waaaaay beyond being for viewer information and is a blatant plug for the premium service at every opportunity. Funny how when we had the Sky v Virgin dispute a few years back Sky was dropping Virgin-specific ads into the VM feed, but this promotion for channels only available to Sky customers isn't made Sky-specific...
Presumably if you are tuned to channel 170 on Sky you don't get them?
5 comments:
It is a little bit in your face all the advertising you see, but I have a theory for that.
Since all the wholesale costing discussion started, Sky has pushing their HD service more & more, perhaps they are worried that once the Ofcom ruling comes into effect, they will have nothing except 3DTV to go with. If VM + BT get the HD content, it then boils down to a simple choice - Sky, VM or BT Vision.
It is strange that Sky have yet again brought down the cost of the HD box to FREE, however there are conditions attached - must subscribe to HD & pay £49 install & set up costs. VM on the other hand the box is FREE with £49 install, but you don't have to subscribe to HD, you get it automatically.
Are Sky trying to get as many customers as they can, tied to them for a 12mth contract, so they can be ripped off before they see the error of their ways, and then the switch to someone else who does not want to raid their funds.
This would give Sky a financial boost, because God knows on a level playing field they would get their arse kicked by the competition.
I don't mind the HD reminder at the beginning of a show so much. I find that far less irritating than the permanent "also available in HD on channel x" bit that used to sit under the Sky DOG throughout a show.
I don't think they do this at all on their sports channels, do they?
Either way, any kind of screen clutter is a real pest, whether it's reminders for upcoming shows, breaking news or HD nudges.
What they now say on the sports channels
"This programme is also available in standard definition on channel 401 or 402" depending on what the equivalent channel is.
They assume now that everyone has HD
I've moved to Sky2 to watch Lost, 24, etc. as then you don't get quite so much HD advertising (especially the simulcasting).
Re: the cost of the box. Of course, on Virgin you pay a monthly fee for the V+ box even if you aren't paying for HD directly. I'd rather buy my box outright (with a 1T drive), but we don't get that option.
I'm not sure without a bigger hard drive on the V+, I want more HD channels. I'm already finding it a challenge to quickly see everything I'm taping.
Glad to see there are still things we can discuss!
I don't know if this is all the programming as I don't watch Sky channels much, but for quite some time now, the SD Sky 1 on programmes like Futurama and Simpsons have severely reduced quality, for example the futurama episode yesterday (i think) had a strange side-ways warping at the top as though it was being played from an old damaged VHS.
Any body else noticed this? and is it something to make people buy into the HD packages.
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