Tata Sky Binge Review : Who Should Be Buying This?

Tata Sky Binge is a co-branded Amazon FireTV stick that brings the goodness of Tata Sky DTH to your streaming device along with bundle of video streaming platforms. The FireTV stick ofcourse comes free for the subscribers but there is a catch. Should you be picking this one? Our complete guide on the Tata Sky Binge would help you decide. India suddenly shifted gears and went on a fast lane when it comes to broadband penetration and speed. Hi,-speed data plans have become cheaper and more people are into streaming now. Amazon FireTV stick has been a popular name and it helps in converting your standard TV or even not-so-smart TV into a smarter box. What TATA Sky has done here comes with a co-branded Amazon FireTV stick that brings their DTH service enabled on to the platform. It offers live TV streaming and OTT platforms in one package.

How to get Tata Sky Binge?

First thing first, you need to be a Tata Sky subscriber. If you choose to install the dish or not is another matter, you are free to be part of the chord cutter generation but you need to have an active Tata Sky subscription. Assuming you are a Tata sky subscriber, you can give a missed call on “8460984609” or call up the customer care on “1800-208-6633” to get one for free. Yes, the stick itself comes free. No charges are extra for it. It usually costs Rs 3,999 on Amazon India (though the price drops during the special Amazon sales).

Tata Sky Binge Subscription – Let’s Do the Math

You get a complimentary 3 months Amazon Prime Video subscription for 3 months as a welcome kit, to get you started instantly. Post that, to continue you can pay Rs 999 a year or Rs 129 a month directly to Amazon India. If you are not aware, the  Amazon Prime membership offers access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime reading and free Prime delivery when you order products in Amazon India platform. If you have an existing account, you can simply connect it with the Binge. Also, you get 30 days free trial for Tata Sky Binge. Amazon FireTV stick has many OTT platforms like Hotstar, Eros Now, Sun NXT, Hungama Play and many more. Tata Sky has tied up with the three OTT platforms I mentioned here. When you pay Rs 249 every month for Binge service, you get access to Hotstar, Eros Now, Sun NXT and Hungama Play which translates to a total of Rs 249 x 12 = Rs 2,988. This is in addition to your usual Tata Sky DTH subscription that you make depending on the channels you have opted for. FireTV Stick also lists Netflix, Alt Balaji and other platforms but you need a separate subscription for each.

How much do you really save?

Let’s do the math.  Hotstar Premium subscription is available for Rs 299 a month, or Rs 999 a year. The Hungama Play subscription is usually available for Rs 149 a month, and Rs 1,399 a year. Similarly, Eros Now subscription is available for Rs 99 a month or Rs 950 per year. Rs 3,348 is what you would pay for yearly subscriptions for these three platforms. But with the Binge service, you end up paying a total of Rs 249 x 12 = Rs 2,988. You get a marginal Rs 360 savings a year with Tata Sky Binge. Not really a great sweetener you think? But this would work for two sets of people especially.

Tata Sky Binge – For whom is it, actually?

If you have more than one TV, you would be aware of the fact each TV would be billed separately for the DTH plans as per the new TRAI policy and of course you need to pay for two set-top boxes. It makes it more complicated and also increases your monthly DTH charges. If you have a Tata Sky binge, you can simply use the FireTV stick on the second TV and enjoy the Live TV there instead of separate billing. So whatever you enjoy in your existing DTH plans can be enjoyed in the second TV via streaming with the stick. Also, you can catch up the last 7 day’s missed contents via the Binge app. You can also watch different content on the two different TV simultaneously. So essentially for your DTH subscription plan + Rs 249, you can access the contents in two televisions. Then, if you are living in an area where the monsoon plays havoc and you constantly get transmission lost signal due to weather conditions that happen with the traditional dish services. The Binge offers uninterrupted streaming of your favourite channels, provided you have a good internet plan with at least 4MBps connection for good streaming.

Tata Sky Binge App Overview

It essentially is a FireTV ecosystem with an added Binge App which you don’t get on other Amazon FireTV stick. Through the Binge app in the Firetv stick you can access the live channels, a familiar format if you have used Tata Sky app on your mobile. What I really find useful is the catch-up TV service where you can watch your favourite shows that you missed from the last 7 days. It also allows to pause the episodes and continue later at your convenience. Plus you get all the goodness of the FireTV stick with many platforms/apps hosted on it. The UI is user-friendly and clean without being uncluttered. Though there could be few improvements with the Binge live TV app to make it easier each time if it remembers our language preferences.

Verdict:

I already own two FireTV sticks in my home. The first generation one and the FireTV stick 4K. The new FireTV stick comes with a power button and volume button but the Tata Sky Binge fire tv stick doesn’t have them, so it’s the previous generation stick. I just put it here so you are aware of this small fact. But the FireTV experience nevertheless is the same. And both support Firetv voice commands. Should you buy Tata Sky Binge? If you don’t have a FireTV stick and you are an existing subscriber you get a FireTV stick for free. While doing the math, the Rs 249 extra every month you pay for binge service does not save you much but if you have two TV’s in your home and have a good high-speed internet plan, you save a lot on your second TV channel subscription and avoid separate billing. Also, storm or rain, you can enjoy uninterrupted watching plus the convenience of catching up the past episodes from the last 7 days. So, do your math and decide.    ]]>