I’m thinking about getting rid of Sky TV. I’ve thought about it many times before but now I am really, seriously thinking about it. Being reminded what it costs to subscribe to Virgin’s Billy Big Bollocks package (I think it was called something like this), made me wonder whether it was all worth it.
The entire shebang costs well north of a oner a month and for that extortionate cost we don’t even get the HD channels for Sky. So, despite their admittedly excellent sports coverage, you’re watching as if you are back in the 1970s on a fat screen TV. And what do I actually watch?
- Now Sky has lost the rights to La Liga and the Eredvisie, I can rarely watch Barcelona, as an armchair glory hunter, or Feyenoord, the first team I ever saw play and have loved ever since. I can’t see the point of watching games as a ‘neutral’ – how can anyone do that? – so I watch every game involving Liverpool and almost nothing else. I’ll watch Gary Lineker’s Match of the Day and the FA Cup games if I need a fix.
- As soon as cricket was handed over en bloc to Sky back in 2005, my enthusiasm for the sport has wained, just like it has all over the land. Back then, I knew the names of all the Gloucestershire players. Now I only know a handful of the England players names. The prospect of the Ashes and World Cup in the coming weeks is of little interest to me and the domestic competitions are of literally no interest.
- I can get my fix of rugby union in the 6 nations so that can go.
- I watch more rugby league than any other sport, but I only really care about Wigan. I can manage.
- Other sports? I’ll just have to listen to the Ryder Cup, the Open etc on BBC Radio Live. I don’t care about the darts. And F1 can F off.
This feels like a big decision but it’s been one that’s been coming for a long time. I hate what football is becoming. In my line of work, a full time member of staff would take 25 years to get what Alexis Sanchez trousers in a week. And it’s me that’s helping to pay him. It’s made me feel very uneasy over the years, especially when Rupert Murdoch owned much of Sky. The fact that he’s off now barely makes me feel any different.
A major factor is that although I don’t watch that much TV, I still watch too much TV. I am far nearer the end of life than the start of it, so issues of mortality play a part. Watching telly is an enjoyable brainless pastime but at the expense of what? There are golf courses to play, books to read, music to listen to, places to visit, beer to be drunk. If I live that long, there will be plenty of time to sit in my armchair watching TV for as long as I am awake, as my carers come in to spoon feed me and wipe my – well, you know the rest.
In the grand scheme of things, paying vast sums to sit and watch the football is a more expensive version of a life that involves watching Homes Under the Hammer and Jeremy Kyle, deceased (his TV show, not him).
I’ve not decided for sure but I think I can live without Sky and BT Sport. Only one way to find out.
