| colonelstubbs said: Then....just use freeview and scrap sky |
I wouldn't have a problem with that, but my parents need the football on Sky Sports. My point was that, if Sky didn't exist, that same football would be availible free on the BBC.
"Get Virgin Media"
I don't have a cable connection. Even if I did, the sport thing is still an issue.
"Sky One is awesome as it has Lost, 24, Fringe, Simpsons and many more and all in HD, as soon as they are shown in America."
And if Sky didn't exist then the five channels would pay for them. They still manage to, occasionally: Heroes on BBC. Sky adds little value to the analogue setup. Obviously now that Sky is the norm you have to pay for it, but...
"Sky also provide the best sports coverage for everything"
See my first comment. Sky only have it because they used 'unfair' tactics to get the monopoly position.
"Sky + is one of the greatest things ever as well, I love it. It means I nearly always have something to watch, especially with the new Anytime service"
iPlayer and the equivalents for ITV and C4 are the same but free and donmn't require special hardware. Anything else Sky+ does can be replaced with a DVR if you want it.
"I also have freeview built into my new TV, but it lacks some channels (Sky One and Paramount Comedy notably) and the ability to record stuff"
Sky One has very little original content so most of that stuff would be on the 5 channels per above. Paramount would probably have gone Freeview if not for Sky. Recordng stuff has always been possible for someone with a VCR or these days a DVR.
"Also, you realise there are no mid-film movies with Sky Movies (they also show the Clone wars TV series) and they offer all their movies in HD."
I have no clue what you mean by the first part, but again I'm sure BBC, etc. would offer similar services for free if Sky did not exist. As for HD... most people don't have HD equipment but they still pay the same money.
"is Sky like the British equivalent of DirectTV?"
Yes. Except you have competition in satellite TV: with us it's Sky or nothing. (Except cable, but few people actually have a cable connection).
