Got a bit of junk mail through my door last week. It was extolling the virtues of Sky. I have Sky. What a waste of paper.
I'd normally just have junked it, but things change and sometimes you miss new services, so I decided to leaf through it anyway.
I got to the "mixes" section. Sky works like this: as well as the free channels and the premium channels, such as Sky Sports, that you pay for separately, there are a whole range of paid-for channels like Sky One that you get in bundles with other channels. You decide which of the six entertainment "mixes" contain the channels you'd like it and order none, two, four or six of them.
So I looked through the mixes, noted that there were only two that had channels in that I liked, noted further that I was paying for six mixes and immediately cancelled my subscription to the unwanted four.
The result? A poorly targeted marketing mailshot actually cost the offending company subscription revenue. Result! What a heart-warming tale.
Actually, I did have to decide whether I'd prefer the "style and culture" mix or the "knowledge" mix, since you can't subscribe to just three mixes (two or four only). I went for 'knowledge' rather than 'style'. Not sure if that was a mistake.
Which would you have picked? You can find the list on the Sky web site.
Updates and related entries
August 18, 2006: A good reason to have Sky: 'The Wire'
July 25, 2006 | Reply
My god, Sky is rubbish. I'd go for the Variety mix, but you can get almost all of it on Freeview already.
July 25, 2006 | Reply
I'm echoing Marie... except for my grumble grumble ... inability to get Freeview...
July 25, 2006 | Reply
Frankly, for ?Ǭ15 per month, I'd probably stick with none of those choices. Freeview = nice.
Rullensberg: are you sure you can't get it? I live in an area where the reception is poor (Freeview's site states the service isn't available here), so we replaced our 20-year-old aerial. Although we have periods of less-than-perfect reception on some channels, most now show up fine. it might be worth talking to your local independent TV sales shop (rather than the monkeys at Currys).
July 25, 2006 | Reply
Freeview doesn't quite have all the channels I want, plus there are all those odd ones (like the Bonanza Channel) that pop up when you least expect them on Sky.
The Variety mix is the one that most people want, I expect, but you can only buy in multiples of two, so you have to have another mix with it.
Our communal aerial isn't officially supposed to support Freeview (at least, according to our "home owners'" kit). Except it does, I found out on Sunday. So there is the possibility of reconsideration at some later date. Saving ?Ǭ15 a month would be good...
July 26, 2006 | Reply
?Ǭ15 a month is enough for one of those mail-order DVD services which will fill in the gaps nicely when you're missing the channels you no longer have.
July 26, 2006 | Reply
Hmmm... a new aeriel is on my to-do list for the summer. Hopefully that will mean I get Freeview by the autumn. To late to record The West Wing quiz this Friday of course but...
July 26, 2006 | Reply
Those DVD services require several things
1) The ability to know what you're going to want to watch in two days' time. We're a capricious lot in our house, so that's not going to work.
2) Lots of trips to the postbox, which is a pain in the bottom, to be honest.
3) A desire to watch movie-length things. We have short attention spans too.
Yes, you can get TV shows on DVD and then rent them, but
1) that's the equivalent of paying your council tax all at once, rather than by installment - you're never going to have the accumulated time to watch them all in one go
2) not all shows end up on DVD
3) you're never going to come across a show by accident
4) the chances of anyone renting a load of history documentaries on DVD is pretty small
5) there's no point my reviewing a TV show once it's ended up on DVD!
So, unfortunately, Freeview or Sky are kind of necessary if I want to lead The Kind of Life I Want To Lead.