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With over 245 television channels and more than 50 high definition options, Virgin Media offers one of the most extensive and versatile ranges of TV options for its broadband customers – up there with Sky and BT.
It offers a huge range of channels in different sized bundles with optional add-ons such as films or sports so you can tailor your selection based on what you watch most.
Virgin TV is available as part of its broadband and TV or broadband, phone and TV bundles. Prices for these bundles range from £33 per month for the Big bundle with just over 100 channels to £112 per month for a broadband and TV package with more than 190 HD channels. That’s quite a large range.
Here’s a summary of the different Virgin Media deals that come with TV:
| Broadband bundle name | Price | Type of package | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big | £33/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 100+ essential, free-to-air TV channels |
| Bigger Combo | £40/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 190+, including select Sky TV channels |
| Bigger Combo + Movies | £61/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 200+, including Sky Cinema HD |
| Bigger Combo + Sports | £65/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 195+, including 8 Sky Sports channels |
| Biggest Combo | £79/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 210+, including Sky Cinema HD and Sky Sports, plus a Standard Netflix subscription |
| Mega Volt | £85/month | Broadband, phone and TV | 230+, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema HD, plus a Netflix Standard subscription |
| Broadband & TV M125 + 190+ channels | £100/month | Broadband and TV | 190+, including Sky channels in HD |
| Broadband & TV M250 + 190+ channels | £106/month | Broadband and TV | 190+, including Sky channels in HD |
| Broadband & TV M350 + 190+ channels | £112/month | Broadband and TV | 190+, including Sky channels in HD |
The channels you get will depend on which Virgin Media bundle and add-ons you choose.
For example, the cheapest Big bundle comes with more than 100 essential, free-to-air TV channels such as ITV1, Sky News and Channel 4, while the more expensive Mega Volt bundle also includes Sky Cinema HD and Sky Sports HD.
As with most other pay TV providers, Virgin offers various add-on channel packages that you can use to personalise your bundle. They include various Sky channels, sports channels and kids TV bundles.
Virgin TV customers also have access to the Virgin TV Go app, which allows you to stream live television on your mobile devices wherever you have access to the internet.
Virgin TV subscribers get access to the Virgin Media Store on their set top box, which has a range of films and TV shows that you can pay to own or rent.
It’s got a pretty good selection, and there are regular “deals of the week”, which offer cut prices on sets of films grouped by series or theme. Some films you’ll be able to watch on the Virgin Store while they’re still showing in the cinema, but you’ll often have to pay up to £19.99 for the pleasure. Most other films cost somewhere between £7 and £13.99 to watch.
Virgin TV 360 is the latest set-top box hardware and platform that comes with any Virgin TV deal. It does everything you’d expect as far as watching, streaming and recording TV goes. If your TV can handle it, the Virgin TV 360 box will broadcast compatible shows in 4K Ultra HD as standard.
You can set profiles for the different people in your house, which function much like they do on Netflix, keeping track of the shows you’ve watched and your favourite channels and offering personalised recommendations.
It’s got a voice control function that works via a mic on the remote, which is handy. If you’ve got a Google Home or an Amazon Echo that you use around your house though, you’ll probably like this addition, as it’ll fit seamlessly into your voice-activated home digital ecosystem.
By now, most major pay TV providers are closely comparable. You’ll get similar selections of channels from each at various price points, and extra features like online stores for renting or buying films or access to streaming platforms are available across providers.
It’s hard to compare pricing in a like-for-like manner because of the different broadband speeds each provider bundles in with their TV packages.
Sky’s deal has a better TV selection, but Virgin’s has much faster internet. Ultimately, working out which is better value depends on whether TV or internet is more important to you.
No, you can’t get Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media TV.
Yes, you can add TNT Sports to any Virgin Media TV bundle for an additional monthly fee.
Sky Sports is available with several packages or as an add-on to any Virgin Media TV package.
Virgin Media TV is currently only available to Virgin Media broadband customers. Sky is the only major provider that sells TV packages independent of broadband deals.
