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I feel like this is such a basic question but can someone outline what the basic options for TV are? Is there something other than Sky, subscription services (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, etc.) and the questionably legal streaming boxes? Does anyone have first hand experience with a streaming box? We need live sports (Premier League, golf and I'd like NHL :) ) and would prefer access to current US network programming. I'm having a tough time getting a feel for options via my old friend Google!
We signed with Spark for our broadband/internet/phone package and they gave us free Lightbox subscription. However, the stuff you get on Lightbox isn't that current. However, for like $11 per month, you can get Netflix with Spark (I think Spark has a promotion that if you sign with them for 2 years, they give you one year Netflix etc). We bought a Freeview box which allows us to watch NZ TV channels. However, TV is just as boring as usual, like Survivor NZ, Real Housewives, Bachelor NZ or UK TV shows like Emmerdale Farm!
TV wise you have roughly 4 options:
1 Free to air digital TV (Freeview), which offers around 20 channels.
2 Sky satellite subscription, which offers 30+ channels depending on what you subscribe to. Usually starting around $50/month. Most houses have a Sky dish and you don't usually pay for hardware, except perhaps for set top boxes.
3 Generic satellite, but more and more satellite contact available from NZ is encoded/scrambled unless you pay for it. You pay upfront for all hardware.
4 On demand from various parts of the world, the legality of which is subject to debate.
There was a great service called Igloo, which was sort of a hybrid of Freeview and Sky, using encoded digital TV. For $20/month you got 15 or so channels, including BBC World--and all the Freeview channels too. When Sky killed the Igloo project last year, those of us who were subscribers were given Sky at a reduced rate.