Wigmore Hall concerts on Sky Arts 2

[VodkaDilc]

I don't think so... If so, please do tell me how!

This page gives the various methods of receiving Sky Arts:

http://skyarts.sky.com/about-sky-arts/how-to-watch-sky-arts-channels

[amateur51]

Is the inbuilt prejudice which some people still seem to have against Sky the same as the one which 1950s people had against ITV?

Mine is not a prejudice - I've followed the career of Rupert Murdoch for many years and wouldn't pay a penny towards any of his enterprises as a matter of informed choice.

[aeolium]

Is the inbuilt prejudice which some people still seem to have against Sky the same as the one which 1950s people had against ITV?

Not in my case, though I was too young in the 1950s to know about the supposed prejudice against ITV. My main gripes against Sky are that its parent company is 21st Century Fox which is also in the business of putting out drivel and misinformation masquerading as news in its US Fox News channel and in other mass media outlets around the globe. Also that company is part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation which has in this country been apparently involved in criminal activities for the purpose of obtaining news stories and which attempted to obtain a majority shareholding in BSkyB only recently (and may still try again to do so). Not only that, I think BSKyB's dominance in control of premier sports broadcasting has been generally a bad thing, reducing the potential audience for major sporting events like the Ashes (peak audience in 2005 when it was on free terrestrial TV over 11 million, peak audience in 2009 when Sky had taken over barely 1 million), and flooding the top football clubs with money has been bad for football leading to the huge inequalities in the game between a few very rich clubs and the rest - and high prices - we see today.

Their sports packages are pretty expensive, and go up by more than inflation each year. Still, since they apparently have friends in high places they are able to pick off events that used to be regarded as "Crown Jewels", i.e. reserved for terrestrial TV on grounds of public interest.

[Mary Chambers]

Mine is not a prejudice - I've followed the career of Rupert Murdoch for many years and wouldn't pay a penny towards any of his enterprises as a matter of informed choice.

I think think this is what I meant. Not really prejudice.

My parents would not have ITV when it appeared in the 1950s - there was choice whether to have it or not. I'm quite surprised, looking back, that we had television at all.

[johnb]

I can (just) remember the arrival of ITV, when the H-shaped BBC aerial had to be supplemented with a huge ITV aerial. "They're so ugly" everyone said! Depending on which way your house points, a Sky dish can often be hidden very successfully.

Is the inbuilt prejudice which some people still seem to have against Sky the same as the one which 1950s people had against ITV?

Surely the difference is that the ITV aerials (which were not as large as the 'H' aerials, though they had many more elements) were out of the way on the roof whereas, seemingly, the overwhelming majority of Sky dishes are stuck onto the sides of houses and, to me, seem disfiguring and ugly.

[VodkaDilc]

Surely the difference is that the ITV aerials (which were not as large as the 'H' aerials, though they had many more elements) were out of the way on the roof whereas, seemingly, the overwhelming majority of Sky dishes are stuck onto the sides of houses and, to me, seem disfiguring and ugly.

I think the aerial people will go for the easiest option. If the householder insists, a less visible location can be found. In my case I used a local contractor; I wonder if the people who work directly for Sky are more concerned with getting the job done quickly and with no complications.

[Nick Armstrong]

This page gives the various methods of receiving Sky Arts:

http://skyarts.sky.com/about-sky-art...-arts-channels

Quite. Not Freeview then.... but it's not a situation I particularly rieu...

[amateur51]

The coverage of the recent recitals from the Wigmore Hall had no editing, no excessive introductions or Katie D links and no-one telling us at the end how wonderful it had been. Just a filmed version of a recital - as if one had been there. Nothing original about that - but so refreshing to have the music without the tinkering.

Well exactly!

[gurnemanz]

My wife is German and I used to teach German at an FE College where we had a satellite dish on the roof for foreign channels. I found this so great that I asked the guy who had fitted it to do an installation at our house. Total cost for dish and receiver was about £200. For about fifteen years, we have been able to receive German TV and radio on Astra free of charge after initial installation. It gives us a lot of excellent classical music broadcasts such as Bayreuth live. The dish is bigger and more ugly than the Sky dish but it was (and still is) so valuable to us to be able to receive these channels that we just put up with it.

I resisted Sky for many years because of expense and distaste for Murdoch but succumbed in the end because I am a sports fan and when I retired a few years ago with more free time I could not see why I should continue to deny myself the opportunity of watching sporting events such as club rugby, top tennis events, football and cricket matches. I have access to Sky Arts but don't watch it that much and would probably not be tempted to subscribe to Sky just to get Sky Arts.

[Mr Pee]

You can watch Sky Arts without needing a Sky dish. I'm a Virgin Media customer (not entirely through choice ) and watch Sky Arts on a cable platform. SkyArts can also be seen through any other cable provider and Freeview.

VodkaDilc is obviously on commision to sell Sky dishes!

Sky Arts is definitely not available via Freeview.

Not everything they broadcasts interests me, Andre Rieu for one example, although I am pleased to report that there seems to be a great deal less of him on the channel than has been the case recently. I think it's pretty inevitable that a specialists arts channel broadcasting 24/7, 365 days a year will have a mixed bag of prgrammes, some of which will appeal, some of which won't. However, these Wigmore recitals, some great Opera and other concert broadcasts and a number of interesting documentaries make it well worthwhile, IMV. I also enjoy much of Sky's other programming, mainly on Sky Atlantic- Game of Thrones and Banshee to name but two outstanding series on that channel. And of course I get the full F1 season from Sky as well!!

Edit:- just spotted this:- http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/produ...d-on-sky-arts/

[french frank]

I see the series has been produced and directed by Tommy Pearson and his Red Ted Productions.

[teamsaint]

I would like to have SkyArts, but,despite some excellent stuff, it is pretty heavy rotation. From what i have seen, opera lovers do quite well. Quite a bit from the Met IIRC, but no doubt mr pee will confirm or otherwise.