Sky Stream vs Now TV: The Ultimate Showdown for Cord Cutters

[@stevemarruk]

So what one would you choose and why?

[@davidlevy7068]

Sky Stream for me. I love the playlist record feature. Now TV is cheaper though.

[@marcosgilson3578]

Sky eventually will become an aggregator for all the apps

[@davidlevy7068]

@@marcosgilson3578 That so true. Also Sky TV just added Discovery+ as an inclusive package which would normally cost £6.99 a month.

[@stevemarruk]

Yeah it’s a good deal

[@I_Was_Chrispy_Kreme]

Another excellent video Steve explaining the choices. I called Sky yesterday to cancel Stream and had to give 31 days notice... Now have 4 Apple TV's in my house with NOW. Sadly despite trying I couldn't get back to the £4.99 I was offered so currently paying £6 but anyhow it beats the over £40 I was paying to Sky so I'll take that. If you Sky Cinema on Stream you also get Paramount+ (£13 monthly cost) but on NOW Cinema the official price is £9.99 plus you would have to pay for Paramount at £5.99 seperatetly. For me the Whole Home was what blew it for me. I paid for 3 boxes and now have to pay £12 to watch on more than one, this is madness. Especially as the £5 NOW boost includes this as well as ad skipping. I'm not sure what department at Sky do the pricing but they clearly don't talk to their friends at NOW. If the proper Freeview app every takes off on Apple TV/Fire TV/Google TV this will destroy Sky Stream.

[@stevemarruk]

Great feedback and yes I have to agree fully

[@iancraig7522]

Came away from Virgin Media 6 months ago, was being charged £79 for the bigger bundle, coming to the end of my contract and the best they could do was £73. Contacted Sky and got broadband, phone and Netflix for £39. That's £612 saved over 18 months. Tried NOW TV for the first time, very impressed. I signed up for the Sports package on a Black Friday deal at £25 for 3 months, this has just come to an end and received an email saying I could keep it for another 6 months for £26.99, still £7 cheaper than the advertised £33.99. Thought about it then decided to cancel, got through to the last page before cancelling and was offered 6 months for £19.99 - Signed up. So my message is don't jump straight in with the first email you receive go through the cancellation route. When my Sky finishes will be looking at just getting broadband and a Freesat box and dipping in and out on NOW TV to get my sport fix. Have you done any videos on Freesat and Manhattan Boxes? Excellent and informative videos - thank you

[@legendkiller2k]

Really love these videos mate your videos have helped me make some descisions i was uncertain about oled tvs but seeing the quality on your LG tv i decided to get one and got the Sony BRAVIA XR OLED XR55A80J my flat is small so 55inch is prob biggest i'll get away with, got apple tv 4k box too as i mentioned to you before and again based on your videos i got the iphone 14 too, you've converted a android fanboy to apple lol. I'm uncertain about the apple pods though as i do personally find google assistant much better than siri. Also regarding your question for me now tv is my choice since getting the tv launcher app you recommended it has made life so much easier. Keep the videos coming please your channel is a must watch for me and i've recommended you to friends and family too, i really appreciate everything you do in your videos thankyou.

[@stevemarruk]

Aww thanks man reading this has made my day all I want to do is help people out there make to see other ways of doing things. So thank youm

[@webbo254]

I currently have Sky Q and paying £67 per month for entertainment, kids, football channels, UHD and multiroom. Contract is coming to an end at the beginning of March so I’m going to see what they offer me when I go to cancel (Hopefully can get 50% off). We only really watch football and kids stuff on it and everything else we watch is on Netflix, Amazon and Disney+. Really tempted to ditch it for a Freesat box and watch the football through Now TV. Great video was really interesting.

[@stevemarruk]

Thank you 🙏 yeah there are plenty options now and you don’t need long Yh contracts.

[@ianhope6429]

@webbo254 - I would suggest that u ditch sky sports & look at the full football package from other countries- I have firecube & buy my 380 premier league games from Fubo Canada for less than £100 for the year - all completely legit

[@stevemarruk]

Nice one we shall have a look

[@Mayhemz.95]

@@ianhope6429 do you need a van for that?

[@leemason666]

You may have noticed my comment the other day on one of your older videos for Sky Stream which convinced me to ditch Sky Q for it. Had it since Thursday and so far so good. Yeah we lost a few channels but they were rubbish channels that we never watched anyway. We rarely recorded stuff when we had Sky Q so wasn’t a big deal to lose that too but the playlist feature is pretty decent. Renewed my contract for £70 a month for 18 months for 2x Pucks, Superfast broadband, Sky Ultimate Package with Ultra HD addon, whole home and Sky Cinema but also get Paramount Plus and Disney Plus free so really happy with it.

[@stevemarruk]

That’s great news and glad your enjoying it keep us posted on how it goes

[@bikeman123]

Sky Stream has a better interface and its nice that it pulls together all the catchups, disney+ etc BUT it's not integrated with Netflix so search and playlist dont work across Netflix. It does let you 'record' from non catchup channels but often records only half a film if its split by the news eg channel 5 etc and tends to push you towards sky cinema. It can be frustrating in that it doesn't allow you to hide platforms that you don't subscribe to, most searches are full of amazon prime results. The epg doesn't let you recall back previous days like youview does but does let you restart live tv. You cant set program reminders, if you try to add an episode it will add all available series to your playlist, good luck finding the episode you want later. The interface is much smoother than other boxes I've tried eg youview and roku. Now Tv is just sky channels and cinema (live and library) so a much simpler proposition but has the advantage of always being offered a cheap deal offered when cancelling.

[@stevemarruk]

Great feedback and so true

[@xinam]

You need a Whole Home subscription to use Go on Apple TV if you’re a Stream/Glass subscriber. (Additional £12pm)

[@stevemarruk]

Yeah I saw that thanks man shame really

[@tradingcardboss]

I read they are bringing out various profiles for stream

[@stevemarruk]

Oh that could be interesting

[@edmeister78]

Sky showcase shows what's on other channels that's why Supergirl was showing on sky max too, next might be a sky history program so it be on the channel aswell as showcase. Sometimes showcase shows a movie off one the channels or sport. Now if you ain't subscribed to movies or sports you still get to watch it live on showcase for free as part ya entertainment package. 👍

[@stevemarruk]

Ohhhh I see I knew someone in our community would know too man thank you

[@tonyherrera316]

I've been using now entertainment for about two years. I've never paid full price just go to cancel at the end of each deal and usually u get a reduction. Ps I've been notified today sports is going up £1 per month and boost is as well. However if u r on a current promotion the increase won't take affect until your current deal runs out.

[@stevemarruk]

Cool

[@FlorenceDocherty-me4io]

I get sky Q is it any good I change from BT

[@marcosgilson3578]

Don’t forget when you take in to consideration the comparison, that it isn’t £3.99 a month for HD, you need the HD boost for that, so that £8.99 (on offer) also don’t forget that with the sky signature pack on Q or Stream this includes the basic Netflix package which is worth £5.99 a month and also now includes the Discovery plus App which is worth £5.99 a month. The basic price of sky stream is £24.00 a month but includes Netflix basic and Discovery plus. The normal price of Now Tv for entertainment is £9.99 a month plus boost for HD is £14.99, add Netflix and Discovery plus and you are looking at £27.98 a month, which is more than sky stream. You can’t really base your comparison on the retention offer of £3.99 as there are no guarantees that Now will continue to offer you the service at this price. As an example there are deals to be had on Sky Q, I currently pay only £14 which includes Netflix. The other consideration is that a sky cinema sub on Q or stream includes Netflix - Sky Cinema on Now tv doesn’t. I currently pay £8 a month for Sky cinema on Q. Which includes paramount plus. Keep up the great content but I think you need to make comparisons on standard prices - not one offer offer or retention deals. All the best

[@stevemarruk]

Fair comment

[@marcosgilson3578]

Love your content - please keep up with videos about streaming. You make them very good to watch and interesting. I look forward to your new comment

[@marcosgilson3578]

Content not comment

[@stevemarruk]

Thank you so much means a lot

[@marcosgilson3578]

Meant Paramount plus is free with Sky cinema not Netflix. Netflix is included with Sky signature

[@paulpatrick885]

I wouldn't recommend using an AppleTV with Now. Now when viewing on AppleTV lacks 5.1 surround sound even with the Boost pack. AppleTV has similar issues with other apps which have better versions on other platforms. For example, you can't get UHD content or subtitles on iplayer. For viewing NowTV a Roku is absolutely fine and a fraction of the price of an AppleTV and gives you 5.1 surround sound with the boost pack.

[@geraldtait2578]

Quite right

[@gordonpatterson8615]

Hi Steve, currently with Q, letting my contract run down, a few months left and thanks to your excellent channel had been thinking about Stream but I I think I’ll cancel and fire up the Apple TV with now on the app for a change. Only watching Q occasionally but paying a premium that could be used elsewhere. I might cancel early, not sure if there’s much of a penalty for doing so. Keep posting y doing us all a great service 👍

[@stevemarruk]

Aww thanks Gordon that means so much to me and glad it’s helping

[@watchcommander2012]

Steve really love your videos I’ve been trying to get information on the total channel numbers difference between sky Q sky stream and now as per tv entertainment and if there is a difference in number of channels on the movies also. Can’t get a definitive answer even from sky. Wonder if you know ?

[@stevemarruk]

I’ll see what I can find out and thank you 🙏

[@marcosgilson3578]

This is the easily searchable On the internet. Sky stream has far less channels for example it has no time shift channels

[@JasonV74]

Ditched our Virgin TV and telephone a few days ago now only have 1 gig internet for £36 a month, now using a cheap second hand Freesat box in the front room and TV Launcher on an existing Apple TV in the bedroom

[@stevemarruk]

Nice how much you saving

[@JasonV74]

@@stevemarruk £30 a month straight away, but the price was due to go up to £130 in a few months time

[@stevemarruk]

Well you did well that’s so bad £130 crazy

[@marcosgilson3578]

You would have been better off getting virgin stream for free

[@geraldtait2578]

I have sky Q and cinema plus mini box for £ 24.50 plus net flix for 4 months free so I won't be stopping to sky stream or apple tv box as I can record as well

[@stevemarruk]

That’s a good deal

[@paulrichardson2436]

Could you please show the channels that you can't add to playlist.Thankyou

[@stevemarruk]

Sure thing

[@marcosgilson3578]

Slight correction - you get sky go with sky stream if you have multi screen subscription

[@stevemarruk]

Got you thank you

[@Riseup12T]

Does now tv contain sports 4k?!!❤

[@marcosgilson3578]

Have you tried Virgin Stream - the base channels are free

[@stevemarruk]

No I haven’t I might see if they will let me try it

[@marcosgilson3578]

@@stevemarruk well worth it. Would make some good content for your excellent channel

[@xinam]

Unrelated, but The Last Of Us look bloody amazing!

[@stevemarruk]

Lol

[@jenniferjohnson1347]

Can you still record shows

[@stevemarruk]

No it’s a playlist so you can watch what you want and add entires series to the playlist.

[@SuperHitman55]

Sky Stream allows "cloud recording"

[@lenellittsthegame2k0]

Now tv has a windows app but it's direct from now themselves you need it to watch on windows pc.

[@stevemarruk]

Oh right

[@Phil....]

Definitely cancel the Boost and get an offer. I got it on a free trial and have played the cancelation game ever since. Always got it at £2/month.

[@stevemarruk]

I’ll give it a go Monday

[@seanriley8523]

Now TV doesn't have ad skipping

[@matthewtaylor8674]

I Prefer now tv better much cheaper than Sky but have Apple TV much better good pictures clean but sky stream look pretty nice clean pictures price will goes up high so I prefer now tv better

[@stevemarruk]

Nice 👍

[@JimmyBellLoyal]

NOW TV do not offer a 4K plan which really sucks for us visual snobs 😞

[@stevemarruk]

It does

[@JimmyBellLoyal]

@@stevemarruk Does it?! Can't find this anywhere online. I can see the upgrade from 720p to 1080p but that's it. And that makes sense as NOW TV would be too similar to sky stream if it offered 4K content

[@GregoryAshlock-n1f]

Bins Mill

[@georgeroberts6457]

now tv doesnt give all sky offers you get good offers but the channels are very limited

[@stevemarruk]

What do you watch

[@CalMan742]

Now tv is very limited with Live Tv channels… but… it has (we had sky) every single bit of Sky entertainment (apart from discovery and national geographic) which is around 8,000 shows. And every bit of the movie package from sky is on NOW, which is around 2,000 movies. The ui (especially on apple tv) is smooth and for us when we had sky, is better. But thats our opinion. But in terms of content, you get all of sky apart from freeview live tv. And with the tv launcher you get all those so theres no need for an 18 month contract for skys best price, or 31 day for a higher price when with NOW and apple tv it is soooo low on price EVEN on full price £26 for shows, movies, kids for free and live tv. 😊

[@Geeking-out]

Had my stream a week now ...I definitely think its the future of sky .knocks the socks of bt and virgin ...and I managed to get it for 19 quid a month :)

[@stevemarruk]

Nice

[@misterrightuk]

£19 on top of whatever you pay for broadband and other streaming services?

[@Geeking-out]

@misterrightuk correct but it does include netflix

[@misterrightuk]

@@Geeking-out Thanks. I’m currently paying £39 for my tv package and Netflix on top of that. I will contact Sky to try and lower it and also cancel Netflix and get it via Sky

[@Youtube_deleted_my_favourites]

What else did you get and did you the extra fiver for getting rid of adverts?

[@ReDemPTiion2]

So I have Sky Q and I rang them up as coming to an end of contract guy who is paid to sell them said it’s not worth it. It’s mainly for people who can’t have a dish on the side of their home. It was actually going to be more expensive compared to Sky Q with less features. I’m paying £63 for Sky Q and broadband best they could offer was £61 on a new 18 month contract so I cancelled and gone to BT a lot cheaper.

[@stevemarruk]

That’s crap and they are lying 🤥 but good for you

[@flustered1939]

I like the look of freely but not prepared to fork out for a new tv so I am going to let freely develope into a fully fledged system .but I enquired With sky About cancelling sky stream yesterday in a nice polite manner as always , screaming and balling at them is for Neanderthals not me .. anyways that besides the point I was paying 43.00 pound a month and I knew that there was some good offers on and this was the last time I was calling them , I had called them a few weeks back and all he could offer me was 3 pound off and a 18 month contract ….. anyways offered me 18 pound a month with Netflix with adds ….23 pound a month the fast forward thingy option for two years and if the prices rise I can leave drama free so that’s 43.00 a month down to 23.00 with Netflix adds or if you really really like adverts it’s 18 pound a month …..

[@marcosgilson3578]

You must have had a multi screen sub with Sky Q and when you moved to Sky Stream you must have stuck only to one puck. Therefore you lost your sky go on Apple TV rights

[@stevemarruk]

Ahhh that would explain it

[@marcosgilson3578]

Do you have virgin media broadband ? If so you can/get try virgin stream for free. Virgin Stream is impressive. I have tried both sky stream and virgin stream and prefer Virgin

[@chelsea08FC]

Streaming now TV or whatever through a fire stick, apple TV etc is all well and good and maybe cheaper but for me I can see a clear difference in picture quality and sound quality when streaming on these as opposed to using sky q. I was watching live tennis on Amazon prime through my firestick and had the same channel on via the sky q box on the same TV and low and behold the sky q loaded significantly faster and picture quality is way better, sound quality too. I have compared numerous films also through the same TV on the stick and the sky q and the volume be at 80 on the TV via the sticks etc and still sounds lower than the volume at 20 on the same TV via sky Q so it's extremely hard for me to get used to this drop in quality. It would appear the sky q box is clearly higher quality equipment but a lot of these KZbin videos just talk about the price not the quality. Small things like a blurred screen for 4 seconds before it clears up when you change a channel seriously annoys me. Again this issue does not exist on sky Q. It's sad because I'd rather pay less and get the now TV but I can't be dealing with all the above and I'm not sure why this is occurring in 2023. Take Netflix quality of streaming compared to Amazon prime. Nobody talks about this but the quality on prime is a joke to Netflix. Rewinding for example is slick on Netflix. On prime you might be buffering for 5 years. I got direct fibre in my flat with over 150mbps so again the level of quality with regards to streaming currently is abysmal in 2023

[@stevemarruk]

Great feedback

[@dotnetdevni]

If u mean u had them pic in pic one aill always suffer

[@marcosgilson3578]

hayU costs extra

[@stevemarruk]

Does it