Digital TV Providers

ESPN

Updated: Friday 2 July, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

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If you’re a sports fanatic and want to watch a variety of different sports, including football, rugby, hockey and boxing, then ESPN is the sports channel for you…

Last summer, ESPN won the rights to show 46 matches from the 2009/10 Barclays Premier League, after Setanta Sports went into administration. In the 2010/11 season, ESPN will be showing 23 live Premier League matches.

ESPN is available through a number of digital TV suppliers; however you will need to pay a monthly subscription. So should you sign-up to ESPN?

• What is ESPN?
• How do I get ESPN?
• How much does ESPN cost?
• Is ESPN right for me?

What is ESPN?

ESPN (Entertainment Sports Programming Network) is an American sports broadcaster, owned by the Disney Company. The UK ESPN channel launched on the 3 August 2009, and broadcast both English and Scottish Premier League football matches, as well as fixtures, games and highlights from a whole range of other sports, such as boxing, touring car and hockey.

The ESPN channel offers:

• 23 exclusive live Barclays Premier League matches for the 2010/11 season
• 30 exclusive live Scottish Premier League games for the 2010/09 season
• All Everton, Fulham and Celtic games in the UEFA Europa League (previously UEFA Cup)
• Russian, German, Dutch and Portuguese football leagues
• USA’s Major League soccer

Also shows action from the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), MLS (Major League soccer), German Touring Car Masters, AFL (Australian Football League), NHL (National Hockey League), French rugby, NCAA College Football and NCAA College Basketball.

How do I get ESPN?

There are a number of ways you can watch ESPN. It is available if you’re a cable TV subscriber with Virgin Media, a satellite TV subscriber with Sky, a customer with BT’s internet TV service BT Vision, and you can even add it to your Freeview service via Top Up TV.

It is important to note however, that ESPN isn’t currently available directly from Freeview.

How much does ESPN cost?

ESPN prices vary, depending on who supplies your digital TV and which of their packages you subscribe to. Costs range from free to £12 a month. Below is a breakdown of the costs:

• Sky - Existing Sky Sports customers can sign-up to ESPN for an extra £9 a month. If you’re a Sky customer but do not have Sky Sports already, ESPN will cost £12 a month.
• Virgin Media - Virgin Media TV customers on both the Size M+ and L TVpackages can get ESPN for an additional £8 a month if they already pay extra for the Sky Sports channels, or £10 if they don’t have Sky Sports. Customers on the XL size package will receive both ESPN channels (standard definition and high-definition) for free.
• BT Vision - For new BT Vision customers, ESPN is available free if you take a new 12-month contract on a Value Pack (from £14.99 a month) and pay by monthly direct debit. There is also a one-off charge of £9.99 for an ESPN viewing card.
• Top Up TV - A subscription to ESPN costs £9.99 a month.

Is ESPN right for me?

ESPN offers exclusive coverage of 23 Premier League matches, 30 Scottish Premier League fixtures, the UEFA Europa League and a whole host of other sports.

If you love English football, then a subscription to ESPN is a must-have, though one drawback is that not all Premiership matches are shown on the channel. To watch all matches from the Barclays Premier League you will need a subscription to both ESPN and Sky Sports.

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