Recording Programmes with Sky Stream

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@JacqB1 wrote:

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.

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It can "record" live TV.

1. Whilst a show is broadcast "live". At any point you can click watch from start and start watching this. This being able to fast forward ads if you have the ad-skipping add-on.

2. Over the past couple of months more shows do now get clouded recorded by Sky. These usually exist and are accessible until the recorded ahow is added to the applicable catch-up service, at which point the playlist link is replaced from the cloud recording to the on-demand app which holds the episode for that show.

3. In general the streaming platform is designed for on-demand streaming and that to watch a show whenever you want you don't need a recording of it as it's available on the broadcasters on-demand app. However broadcasters like ItV, C4 and BBC tend to have limited rights to these shows/films on-demand. Typically these will be 30 days, 90 days or a year, so once the show has been removed from the relevant on-demand app it may not be available to view unless it's moved to another subscription app you subscribe to (Netflix, Amazon Video, Disney + etc). To get the most of of the streaming platform you ideally will have a number of subscriptions to these third party paid for services to ensure you can watch the shows you want.

4. To fast forward shows on Sky Drmand, ITv X, C4 app oh My5 you need to have ad-skipping add-on. Note this won't allow you to skip ads on the ad supported tiers of Netflix, Disney, Amazon etc as they require you to subscribe to their own premium tiers to remove the ads. You can obviously individually subscribe to the premium tiers of C4 and ItV X to remove the ads on those platforms as well instead of subscribing to Sky's ad-skipping.

[RJCSkyQ]

I think point 2 is definitely "work in progress".  I've had plenty of occasions in recent months where I've tried to watch a show an hour or so post-broadcast and it's simply not available, even if it's in my Playlist. And of course we no longer have the luxury of +1 channels. 

I personally think the designers made it work for how they think people watch TV, not how they actually do. Even the advert, "Show me Margot Robbie films" (I think??). Nobody does that. Even "Show me comedies." Isn't that dependent on what Sky think is funny?? 🤷‍♂️

A streaming based system was the opportunity to bring in more flexibility and personalisation but they've just put viewers in a box. The average colour of a bowl of Skittles is brown, but no Skittle is brown. 

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@RJCSkyQ wrote:

I think point 2 is definitely "work in progress".  I've had plenty of occasions in recent months where I've tried to watch a show an hour or so post-broadcast and it's simply not available, even if it's in my Playlist. And of course we no longer have the luxury of +1 channels. 

I personally think the designers made it work for how they think people watch TV, not how they actually do. Even the advert, "Show me Margot Robbie films" (I think??). Nobody does that. Even "Show me comedies." Isn't that dependent on what Sky think is funny?? 🤷‍♂️

A streaming based system was the opportunity to bring in more flexibility and personalisation but they've just put viewers in a box. The average colour of a bowl of Skittles is brown, but no Skittle is brown. 

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The limitation around cloud recording is predominantly legal. These have been sorted for a number of broadcasters/shows substantially over the past couple of months but you will always get a broadcaster or a particular show where Sky legally cannot take a cloud recording to host on their servers. A great example is a channel like Challenge, which despite being owned and operated by Sky cloud recordings cannot be made of a number of shows due to legal reasons.

Cloud recording coverage is vastly improved for sports on Sky Sports and TNT Sports and even for the "smaller" TV channels like Great TV

[RJCSkyQ]

I get that but ultimately the reasons are irrelevant. As a user my experience is diminished regardless. 

[Exiled-in-HH]

@RJCSkyQ  what do you desperately want to record that you can not?

[RJCSkyQ]

It's not necessarily about recording it, it's about trying to watch it soon after it's been broadcast. For example, I've had occasions when I've tried to watch Match of the Day just after it's finished. Playlist takes me to iPlayer and it's not yet available. 

[Padam_Padam]

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@RJCSkyQ wrote:

It's not necessarily about recording it, it's about trying to watch it soon after it's been broadcast. For example, I've had occasions when I've tried to watch Match of the Day just after it's finished. Playlist takes me to iPlayer and it's not yet available. 

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That's where a dedicated recording service wins out. 

I bought a cheap indoor aerial, connected it to my TV for Freeview HD and now record onto a 256Gb flash drive from the TV's internal tuner. Cheap and works a treat for situations such as you describe. 

[RJCSkyQ]

Sounds good. But defeats the object of paying hundreds per year to Sky doesn't it?

[Padam_Padam]

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@RJCSkyQ wrote:

Sounds good. But defeats the object of paying hundreds per year to Sky doesn't it?

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That's why I don't pay Sky anything. I left months ago. 😁

[Parsnipman]

Just moved over from Virgin to sky stream. It's a massive step back in useability and I'm astonished that customers will put up with the interface and functionality. 

Now I shall have to go cap in hand back to Virgin a before they disconnect and pay ££££

[Padam_Padam]

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@Parsnipman wrote:

Just moved over from Virgin to sky stream. It's a massive step back in useability and I'm astonished that customers will put up with the interface and functionality. 

Now I shall have to go cap in hand back to Virgin a before they disconnect and pay ££££

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There are thousands of happy Stream customers out there. The hardware and interface work perfectly well for them, but, as you've found out, it doesn't suit everyone. 

The success or otherwise of Sky Stream in a household depends largely on what kind of TV service you've been used to. Some can adapt to it and get used to the different user experience, and are happy to sacrifice a bit of speed for the improved image quality on some services. 

You've done the best thing by trying it though - it's the only way to really find out if it suits your viewing habits. 

[RJCSkyQ]

In my opinion, adapting to it means compromising. That's not progress. 

[Steve93]

I've got a VM Stream box it's brilliant, you can FFW & RWD through adverts, also watch from start on all channels except itv,  but I use Apple TV for ITVX it's a lot quicker.

I still have Sky Q essential so can only record bbc, itv, ch4 & 5 etc,. all for just £5 a month instead of £15, that deal ends in June, we very rarely use it so may cancel altogether as we're quite happy with VM Stream & Apple TV, which is extremely quick, VM not so on ITVX

It's a pity you can only have 1 VM Stream Box per household