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We sell a streaming service, so treat this page with appropriate scepticism — and then check the figures yourself. Traditional TV packages do some things genuinely better, and the comparison below says so where it is true.
| Consideration | Traditional TV package | Streaming subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | Commonly 18 to 24 months | From one month, no tie-in |
| Equipment | Box supplied, sometimes with a fee | Uses hardware you already own, or a stick from £25 |
| Installation | Engineer visit, may be chargeable | About ten minutes, done yourself |
| Price changes | Often rises after an introductory period | Fixed for the term you paid for |
| Watching elsewhere | Usually tied to the property | Any device with an internet connection |
| Support | One supplier for TV and often broadband | Separate suppliers — broadband is not ours |
| Reliability | Independent of your home network | Depends on your broadband and Wi-Fi |
| Cancelling | Early exit fees are common | Simply do not renew |
A comparison page that finds no merit in the alternative is advertising, not information. Three real advantages:
If TV and broadband come from the same company, a fault is their problem to diagnose. With streaming, a buffering issue could be your Wi-Fi, your ISP or the service — and working out which is on you.
An engineer installs it and it works. Ten minutes of setup is not much, but it is more than zero, and not everyone wants to do it.
Satellite and cable keep working when your router does not. If your broadband is unreliable, that matters more than any price difference.
Rather than quote a competitor's prices — which change and vary by region — here is how to compare properly, using your own bill.
For comparison, our annual plan is £65 for twelve months (£5.42/month), paid once, with nothing to cancel at the end. Longer terms bring that lower still — the best per-month rate we offer is on the 1 month plan. Every price is on the plans page; there is no introductory rate that rises later.
Usually, yes — but compare the whole cost, not the headline. Traditional packages often involve an 18 or 24-month contract, equipment fees, and a price rise after an introductory period. Add those across the full term before comparing.
Two things worth being honest about. You lose a single point of contact when something breaks — with streaming, your broadband and your service are separate suppliers. And you lose the installation engineer; setup is yours to do, though it takes about ten minutes.
No, and we would suggest not doing so immediately. Run both for a month, see whether streaming covers what you actually watch, and cancel with confidence rather than hope.
Almost certainly. Any UK provider works, since it is ordinary internet traffic. What matters is the speed reaching your TV rather than who supplies the line — roughly 10 Mbps for HD and 20 for Full HD.
A fair point. Traditional broadcast is not affected by your home network, whereas streaming is. The trade-off is that streaming is not affected by weather or a dish knocked out of alignment. Both fail occasionally, for different reasons.
Considering satellite specifically? The satellite comparison covers dish-specific points, and the Sky Glass page looks at the all-in-one TV option.
Do not cancel anything on our say-so. Start a free trial, keep what you have, and see whether streaming covers what you actually watch.