Watch the latest and exclusive series and programmes from USA as well UK and make sure you stay abreast of the latest happenings on television front these days. Bringing forth a great bag of channels to watch and view from, the Sky Entertainment HD pack gives you
|
Sky+HD |
Freesat+ |
Virgin Media (V + HD) |
BT Vision |
| Box Price |
Free when taken with the HD Pack (£10 a month). |
From around £199 (no subscription required)2 |
£0 with a subscription (equipment for rental with a TV subscription)3 |
£45 with a value pack (otherwise £90) 4 |
| TV Subscription |
TV packages from £19 a month |
N.A. |
TV packages from £0 when taking £11 phone line (otherwise £27.50 a month for XL Packages without a phone line) |
TV packages from £0 with a BB subscription (otherwise from £2.93 a month) |
| HD Subscription |
£10 extra a month |
N.A. |
£0 for XL TV customers, otherwise £5/month |
£0 (broadband subscription required) |
| HD PPV cost per title |
Movie: £3.91 / Event:£14.63 |
N.A. |
Programme: Free /
Movie: £3.00 - £4.99 |
Programme: £0.96/
Movie: £2.88 (library), £4.84 (new release) |
| Installation Cost |
£30 for new customers, or £60 for existing customers |
£0with existing dish - £79.95 with full install |
£755 for V+HD box |
£0 for Self install |
| Subscription HD Channels |
346 |
0 |
77 Only XL TV customers can receive all 7 |
0 |
| Non-Subscription HD Channels |
38 |
29 |
010 |
0 |
| Hours Of Broadcast |
Over 14,000 HD hours a month11 |
282 hours a month12 |
1,835 hours a month13 |
N/A (only have VoD HD content) |
| PVR Capability |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| PVR Monthly Subscription |
£0 (for Sky TV customers) |
N.A. |
£5 (M)/ £5 (L) / Free (XL) |
£0 (for BT broadband customers) |
| Recording Capacity |
185 hours (SD content)
OR
60 hours (HD content) |
200 hours (SD content) OR
60 hours (HD content) |
80 hours (SD content) OR
20 hours (HD content) |
80 hours (SD content) |
| Remote Record Facility |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| Broadband Packages |
From free to £10 per month with Sky TV and Sky Talk in Sky network areas |
N.A. |
From £14 to £28 with Virgin line rental at £11 extra a month |
From £15.65 to £24.46 |
| Telephony Packages |
From free to £5 per month with Sky TV (plus Sky Talk line rental £11 extra a month)14 |
N.A. |
From free (as part of a bundle) to £7.95 per month with Virgin line rental (£11 extra a month) |
From free to £4.95 (plus £11.25 BT line rental) |
| TV, broadband and Phone combination |
Yes |
N.A. |
Yes |
Yes |
| How Do I Get it? |
Online, retail or via the phone |
From selected retailers |
Online, retail or via the phone |
Online, retail or via the phone |
|
Undoubtedly, Sky HD TV is a well established provider which provides its customers with a great deal of benefits and services beginning with a free Sky+HD Box when taken with a HD Pack while Freesat+ does not charge for subscription but its box costs app £199 while BT charges £45 with a value pack (otherwise £90). The only other provider which provides with a free box is Virgin Media, but then again the box is on rental basis with a TV subscription.
SkyTV airs almost over 14,000 HD hours a month as against Virgin which airs HD programmes of approx. 1,835 hours a month. Well, for this you do need to go for the HD Pack for which Sky charges £10 extra a month while Virgin charges £5 for regular TV customers and no charges for its XL TV customers.
Moving ahead in HD, Sky TV airs the largest range of HD channels which are 34 in number while Virgin is capable of airing only 7 channels.
In reference to recording capacity, Sky HD Box is capable of recording 185 hours of SDcontent or 60 hours of HD content. The V+Box from Virgin can record 80 hours of SD content or 20 hours of HD content while the Vision+ Box of BT is capable of recording only 80 hours of SD content. The only other box which offer higher recording capacity than Sky+HD is Freesat+ which offers 200 hours of SD content or 60 hours of HD content.
If you take the installation costs of set top boxes and TV connections, Sky does charge you with £30 for new customers while existing customers have to pay £60. On the other hand Virgin charges £75 for V+HD box installation while with BT’s Vision+ Box, you have to try to install its boxes yourself.
On the overall, Sky TV provides you with much better TV programmes and services since their rates are economical and affordable. Enjoying a large customer base, Sky TV knows how to deliver and what to deliver in terms of TV programmes, TV packages, TV boxes and even customer services.
