Does anyone have BT TV?

pjgh

pjgh

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Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
I'm confused ...

Okay, so I have a Netflix basic subscription (£6.99) and BT say I can have a package from them for £9 which I can migrate my Netflix subscription AND get NOW TV, AMC and Freeview. That would sound like I basically get NOW TV for £2, which would make Mrs very happy.

My questions are:

1. Can I continue to watch Netflix anywhere, like on any other TV with a FireStick, on my computer, on my phone? Or, am I tied to watching it via the BT TV box?
2. In the same vein, can I just download the NOW TV app and install it on my FireStick(s), computer & phone and watch it anywhere, or am I tied to watching it on the BT TV box?

Say I'm not even interested in Freeview (no aerial and no intention to get one ... althought BT say they can fit one for £30) or the AMC channels, can I just ignore the BT TV box and carry on watching Netflix exactly as I did before and the new NOW TV subscription via the relevant apps installed on my FireStick(s), computer and phone?

Does anyone have the BT TV box and already had smart services on their TV, computer and phone before? What does the BT TV box bring to the party?

Obliged in advance for your thoughts.
 
pjgh said:
1. Can I continue to watch Netflix anywhere, like on any other TV with a FireStick, on my computer, on my phone? Or, am I tied to watching it via the BT TV box?
Click to expand...

I can get Netflix via my Sky subscription, and I can also access Netflix on my PC and other devices, but I think I can only watch it on one device at a time.
 
Yes, I appreciate that with the basic subscription I'll only be able to watch it on one device and that's the way it is at the moment. Same for NOW TV Entertainment, I think, given they have a "boost" subscription which allows 3 devices and 4K, or something like ..

Basically, at £9 it's a bit of a giveaway for both Netflix and NOW TV services. Even when it goes up to £17 a month (after 24 months) it's still only the same price (£6.99 & £9.99). I just don't want to be tied to having to watch it on the BT TV box ... but the penny is starting to drop and the BT TV box is basically just a smart device (load on whatever apps you want) that also amalgamates AMC and Freeview ... and puts it all together into a single coherent view (sorta like Fire TV, probably more like Google TV) and presumably you can have a single watchlist across all services (like Google TV) rather than having to go into each app and check the watchlist.
 
Before I moved from BT to Sky I took a similar deal, and was able to watch Netflix and NowTV on any device with the apps - phone/laptop/tablet/fire stick.
I ended up leaving BT because of ongoing issues with the box disconnecting and the overall monthly price. Now with Sky at ½ the price and no connection issues, even though it uses the same internet connection!
 
I saw a tv advert for one of the TVs facilities companies, could have been BT, maybe sky, and written into the small print was a pre agree increase which was cpi plus 3% plus, potentially 15% at first renewal.

You may want to take this into account in the decision process.
 
pjgh said:
Yes, I appreciate that with the basic subscription I'll only be able to watch it on one device and that's the way it is at the moment. Same for NOW TV Entertainment, I think, given they have a "boost" subscription which allows 3 devices and 4K, or something like ..

Basically, at £9 it's a bit of a giveaway for both Netflix and NOW TV services. Even when it goes up to £17 a month (after 24 months) it's still only the same price (£6.99 & £9.99). I just don't want to be tied to having to watch it on the BT TV box ... but the penny is starting to drop and the BT TV box is basically just a smart device (load on whatever apps you want) that also amalgamates AMC and Freeview ... and puts it all together into a single coherent view (sorta like Fire TV, probably more like Google TV) and presumably you can have a single watchlist across all services (like Google TV) rather than having to go into each app and check the watchlist.
Click to expand...

From what I saw, the package is if you have BT Fibre broadband, do you already have it?

Irrespective of how good a deal with BT might be, I'd never pay that company a penny again.
 
donnie_arko said:
From what I saw, the package is if you have BT Fibre broadband, do you already have it?

Irrespective of how good a deal with BT might be, I'd never pay that company a penny again.
Click to expand...

I do have BT FTTP. I have no choice in that as there's no other provider for my address.

I like films and I like series ... and always had a good DVD collection, rarely watching broadcast TV which was a good thing when we moved to this house because TV reception is almost nil and Sky is ... not possible! Really? Yes, according to three independent aerial and dish installers who puzzled that their biggest, best and strongest aerials could not pick up really anything and the elevation required for Sky is obscured by the hill behind us. My neighbours to one side can (just) get Sky although that's fast dwindling with the growth of some trees up in the brow; us, and our neighbours to the other side cannot get a reception. I did call one aerial installer back to show him a full Freeview channel set running in my kitchen and we had a good laugh when I showed him the non-powered, non-boosted UHF loop cable-tied upside down to the rafters in the void above the kitchen. Go figure!

Anyway, Freeview will be gone soon enough and it'll all be via broadband ...

What's the Sky equivalent of the BT TV service? Sky Q?

I don't seem able to price that anywhere close to just subscribing to Netflix and NOW independently (and that's all I'm after, really), let along £9 a month for two years. I'm not very interested in Prime - we get enough free months, free weeks and offers from Amazon that we exhaust their catalogue whenever those freebies come around.
 
pjgh said:
I do have BT FTTP. I have no choice in that as there's no other provider for my address.

I like films and I like series ... and always had a good DVD collection, rarely watching broadcast TV which was a good thing when we moved to this house because TV reception is almost nil and Sky is ... not possible! Really? Yes, according to three independent aerial and dish installers who puzzled that their biggest, best and strongest aerials could not pick up really anything and the elevation required for Sky is obscured by the hill behind us. My neighbours to one side can (just) get Sky although that's fast dwindling with the growth of some trees up in the brow; us, and our neighbours to the other side cannot get a reception. I did call one aerial installer back to show him a full Freeview channel set running in my kitchen and we had a good laugh when I showed him the non-powered, non-boosted UHF loop cable-tied upside down to the rafters in the void above the kitchen. Go figure!

Anyway, Freeview will be gone soon enough and it'll all be via broadband ...

What's the Sky equivalent of the BT TV service? Sky Q?

I don't seem able to price that anywhere close to just subscribing to Netflix and NOW independently (and that's all I'm after, really), let along £9 a month for two years. I'm not very interested in Prime - we get enough free months, free weeks and offers from Amazon that we exhaust their catalogue whenever those freebies come around.
Click to expand...

I've got Sky Q, and if I'm honest I don't really ever watch much content from Sky Atlantic aside the occasional documentary. I find Netflix and Disney Plus, and they seem to capture my attention at this moment in time.

£9 for Netflix and Now TV is excellent though.
 
Thanks for the advice, guys ... I've signed up. Seamless.

So, as part of the checkout it asked for the email address that I'd like to use for NOW TV (a new service to me) and it set that up automagically. Netflix (a service I already have) was just a case of following a link sent to me almost immediately that flicked billing over to BT. My BT TV box will arrive in a few days and I can leave that in the box as I'm not right interested in anything else it offers like Freeview (already get through the TV), timeshifting Freeview (why?) or AMC. Actually, I can get AMC on my phone and cast it ... so no drama (pun intended).

I can now get NOW TV and continue to get Netflix on all my existing smart devices, computers and phones.

Easy!

One thing to note, it resets your lock-in for broadband to 24 months but again no issue for me as I've just regraded during this month and locked into 24 months anyway, so ideal time to do this.
 
I'm old enough to remember when there were only 4 channels. I remember Channel 4 coming in around 1982, and that it was a fairly big deal back then. I also remember Channel 5 being introduced in around 1996/1997. Now, there are literally hundreds more channels, but that also means that there's a lot more crap to choose from as well. More channels = more rubbish, in my opinion anyway. At least we had better quality programmes back when we only had those 4 channels...
 
Filtering out the majority to scan for what you do want is indeed an issue ... that said, the machine learning and recommendations do often put us onto things we'd completely miss otherwise. If you're going off subscription for an occasional rental or even purchase, the challenge is to find the cheapest service. I often find triggering a trial is sufficient for watching the scant few items that you might want to ... and six months later, they give you another trial period.
 
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