Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad
TV Player Plus:
Lifetime
History
H2
CI
Gold
Alibi
Watch
Good Food
Eden
Home
Discovery Channel
TLC
ID
Animal Planet
Discovery Turbo
Eurosport 1
Eurosport 2
National Geographic
Nat Geo Wild
Sony Television
Sony Movie Channel
MTV
Comedy Central
Comedy Central Extra
Nickelodeon
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. Too
Boomerang
Cartoon Network
Baby TV
Cartoonito
Now TV:
SKY 1
SKY Atlantic
SKY Living
SKY Arts
ITV Encore
FOX
Gold (Available on TV Player Plus)
Comedy Central (Available on TV Player Plus)
MTV (Available on TV Player Plus)
Discovery Channel (Available on TV Player Plus)
Nat Geo Wild (Available on TV Player Plus)
The main difference between the services are the SKY branded channels. TV Player Plus offers a more rounded service which includes sport, kids TV, documentaries, UK entertainment and lifestyle.
Shop around, for your NOW TV passes, and you can get both Now TV and TV Player Plus for roughly £8.20 per month. Take out the overlapping channels that both services provide and your getting 37 of the top pay TV channels not available on Freeview or Freesat. If your not hung up on HD it's a real cheap alternative to subscription TV. Both TV Player Plus and NOW TV offer comprehensive catch up services for their channels so no real need for a PVR unless your recording content from freeview.
Both SKY's Original Bundle and Virgin's More TV weigh in at £20.00 per month. Both packages cost over double Now TV and TV Player Plus combined. In my opinion the Original Bundle and More TV don't offer the same quality of "premium channels" that are available from the combination of NOW TV and TV Player Plus. For around £21 per month you can get Now TV, TV Player Plus, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. There's definitely more value to be had from streaming.
It all comes down to what you like and how you are prepared to consume your TV. I'm lucky that my LG Smart TV supports Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and NOW TV. I have an Amazon Fire TV Stick which I can use to access TV Player Plus, iPlayer, ITV Hub, 4OD, My5, UKTV Play and my favourite Boxnation. I also have a recordable YouView box in the bedroom, which could easily be promoted to the livingroom if need be. I'm in a position where a subscription to SKY or Virgin Media are no longer essential for mine or my families viewing needs. If SKY keep on offering me 50% off my TV deal every 12 months when I call to cancel I'll keep on taking it. If however they stop making the offer I have no issue at all switching to Freeview and streaming.
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Thanks for such a comprehensive response Chad.
The streaming services really are going to be a challenge to both Sky & VM and it can only get worse for them.
Good for us consumers though.