Recording Programmes with Sky Stream

[TimmyBGood]

@RJCSkyQ 

Very unlikely: as @SlenderRobert indicates, satellite will cease to be a broadcast conduit before that happens.

[TimmyBGood]

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@RJCSkyQ wrote:

Sure, it's inevitable that broadcasting as we know it will change (and perhaps not for the better immediately) but I think the complete withdrawal of satellite transmission is some years away.

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The recently renewed Sky contract with SES runs up to the end of 2028

https://www.ses.com/press-release/sky-uk-renews-capacity-ses-latest-multi-year-deal 

Estimated end-of-operational-life for the current Astra 28.2E satellites is c2030 (which may not be a coincidence ; )

[AJP870]

I've just come off the phone to Sky sales. My question was "can you sell me a box that allows me to record live TV, play it back and skip the adverts, and doesn't require a dish".

He told me that Sky Stream does that.  Everything is recorded in "The Cloud", and I can skip the adverts just as I can with my current box (Virgin).

That's not true is it?

As I read this, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have a catch up service, so I need to sit through all their adverts, or in the case of Channel 4, pay to skip them. With a Freeview PVR, I can skip them easily, and I still have access to the catch up services in other cases, as all my TVs are smart.

Can I pause live TV or do I lose that too?

Are there any advantages to this way of (not) recording things? Seems to be all drawbacks as far as I can tell.

Thanks for any thoughts...

[AJP870]

It's OK. I got my answer and it's even worse than I thought.

 - Sometimes you use the catch up. You sit through reams of adverts. I can do that without Sky.

 - Sometimes it records it, but only for channels I'm probably not interested in.

 - Sometimes, nothing happens at all because there's no deal in place to record things in the cloud.

I thought Sky believed in better...

[MarkGoldsmith]

Most shows won't cloud record and instead you are sent to the catchup app for that particular broadcaster e.g ITV X for ITV shows. Some shows you will be guided to other apps like Disney + or paramount depending who owns the streaming rights for the show. This may happen a lot for Us based shows that are broadcast on one of the c4 channels but where C4 have limited streaming rights available via their app as the full rights are held on another app.

[AJP870]

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the reply. It is a shame because it seemed a great little box otherwise. I guess it's more of a convinient way to access catch up, where it exists, and I'm sure many are happy with that. But for me, it's too great a limitation.

Thanks again for taking the time.

[AUS191]

@AJP870 Your post was an interesting read - I can't believe sky are still giving out duff information with all this it cloud records rubbish. 

People on here will make all sorts of excuses for the service but ultimately the 'recording' aspect is a massive failure. The rubbish they told you is the same as they told me when I bought sky glass just before it launched. 

I've now got out of sky glass and had the cca cancelled, unfortunately I would love sky q but due to trees we can't get it. I've now got sky stream and bought a Samsung TV - the Samsung allows me to properly record terrestrial TV onto a usb stick. 

[perrosno]

When I first moved to Sky Stream I was annoyed that there was no "one ecosystem" for all programmes on catch up.  However as it turns out the BBC iPlayer and ITVX environments are much more user friendly than Sky's so it is actually a benefit. 

Main problem is the lack of certain programmes.  For example, I can't watch my local ITV news bulletins unless I happen to catch them live. 

[bingo2110]

And sky are trying to phase out sky Q in favour of IPTV so you won't be able to record anything locally 👎🏻 I read they are predicting by 2030 all the satellites that sky use will be past they're predicted life span with no plans to broadcast that way!

[Carnoch04]

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@bingo2110 wrote:

And sky are trying to phase out sky Q in favour of IPTV so you won't be able to record anything locally 👎🏻 I read they are predicting by 2030 all the satellites that sky use will be past they're predicted life span with no plans to broadcast that way!

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That will happen eventually as that is the way things are heading. I love Stream and haven't had any problems not being able to find the program I am looking for. I guess I am just lucky. 

[Padam_Padam]

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@bingo2110 wrote:

And sky are trying to phase out sky Q in favour of IPTV so you won't be able to record anything locally 👎🏻 I read they are predicting by 2030 all the satellites that sky use will be past they're predicted life span with no plans to broadcast that way!

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Broadcasting in general is switching to IP delivery, not just from Sky, and the days of hard drive recorders are numbered. 
Virgin and EE already offer their TV services entirely via their own broadband networks. Freeview, currently received via aerial, is also being phased out in favour of the IP delivered Freely service. This, like Sky Stream, will offer live channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc via broadband, but free. 

[Chrisee]

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@bingo2110 wrote:

And sky are trying to phase out sky Q in favour of IPTV so you won't be able to record anything locally 👎🏻 I read they are predicting by 2030 all the satellites that sky use will be past they're predicted life span with no plans to broadcast that way!

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Sky have said nothing publicly yet but the writing is on the wall. Sky have a deal with the owners of the Astra system they use up until 2028 when the satellites are beginning to require replacing. Astra have not said they will replace the birds. Independent analysts estimate Sky can save literally hundreds of millions. In costs by switching to streaming. 

It is not local recording driving this change but economics. The loss of local recording is less of a wrench than most people imagine as these days most content is available on demand. What isnt can now be cloud recorded in the vast majority of cases as rights agreements have been amended. The one thing which you may miss is the ability to own an archive of recordings but given Sky can erase recordings remotely on Sky Q that is often an illusion as people who had Disney titles on disc found when Disney + lsunched.. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@bingo2110 wrote:

I read they are predicting by 2030 all the satellites that sky use will be past they're predicted life span with no plans to broadcast that way!

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The three satellites in the Astra 28.2E cluster were launched with around 15 years of positioning propellant on board: that was a standard limit imposed by the launch vehicles of the time.  The situation now is that SES, the satellite owners, are unlikely to want to invest c£100,000,00 apiece to replace the current orbiting fleet with more television platforms because there probably isn't another 15 years of market for that service, and this makes the investment very difficult to justify.

[JacqB1]

Hi, I was following this thread as I wrongly believed the stream box could record live tv.  I never watch anything live as I just can't stand tv adverts, does this mean I no longer have the ability to skip the adds?  My subscription has not even started yet and I'm thinking of sending it back.

[RJCSkyQ]

You can only skip the ads if you pay £5 per month for the privilege. 

My advice, send it back while you can. I regret not doing something about it sooner. Everything about it is frustrating. I can't think of a single thing that's an improvement on Sky Q.