Digital TV News Feature

World Cup widow? Five TV specials to watch instead

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Friday 4 June, 2010

If you’re more a fan of Footballers’ Wives than the ‘beautiful’ game itself, we’ve got five top tips to help you give the World Cup a wide berth.

Football is about to take over our lives. And more importantly our TVs. If football really isn’t your thing, there’s plenty of ways you can avoid the World Cup while still having fun in your living room.

1. Have an on-demand girls’ night in

Anyone who’s not an ardent football fan and has a subscription to Virgin Media’s cable TV service is in luck, as it has enlisted the help of real-life footballers’ wife (well, striker Peter Crouch’s girlfriend technically) Abbey Clancy to offer some girly on-demand TV entertainment.

The FHM favourite has picked a whole host of TV shows and films for “World Cup widows” to watch on-demand while the tournament is on. Highlights include season two of teen drama Gossip Girl, ”sexiest man alive” George Clooney in season 15 of ER and Billie Piper’s adventures as a high class escort in the second series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Abbey says: “Treat yourself to the ultimate girls’ night in with some popcorn and pampering, complete with a dose of George Clooney.”

Abbey Clancy’s Girls’ Night In will be available throughout June on the Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) TV Choice menu, which is free to all Size XL TV subscribers, or £7 a month for M+ and L customers.

2. Watch some “reality” TV

There’s plenty of reality TV on over the summer months, kicking off with Big Brother on Wednesday 9 June. Yes, Davina McCall’s kept us glued to our tellys every summer for the last 10 years, but bows out gracefully this year as the producers guarantee the final series will go out with a bang.

Watch the daily catch-up episodes on Channel 4 every weekday night, and fill the rest of your time by spying the housemates “live” on E4 on Sky (www.sky.co.uk), Virgin Media and Freeview. WARNING: BB is addictive viewing.

3. Extra time is movie time

Sick to death of penalties, free kicks and fouls? You can cure the boredom and catch-up on all the latest film releases with a top offer from movie rental service LoveFilm. All new and existing LoveFilm members will be able to watch thousands of films and TV series online for free for one month, starting Friday 11 June.

We’ll definitely be watching hunks Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. in the new Sherlock Holmes film, Cannes Film Festival winner Broken Flowers staring Bill Murray, and full episodes of classic rom-com series Cold Feet.

Sadly you’ll have to wait a while for SATC2 to arrive on the LoveFilm website, but you can still watch Carrie and the girls in the first film. Join LoveFilm online at www.lovefilm.com for your one month free trial.

4. Watch TV in a footy-free room

If the main TV set in your home has already been nabbed by the boys to watch the World Cup, treat yourself to a new TV and/or set-top box, and watch your favourite shows in another room. You won’t miss an episode of EastEnders, and he won’t miss England missing a penalty.

Both Sky and Virgin Media offer customers money-saving multiroom options, so you can watch all your favourite shows in another room, and avoid any squabbles over the remote.

You should also consider a Freeview-enabled set-top box with a built-in catch-up TV service, such as the FetchTV, or the new Freeview+HD SmartBox. Both boxes have access to the BBC iPlayer and the Sky Player, and both cost less than £200. And with no monthly subscriptions, you’ll have all the TV you need for a fraction of the price.

5. Catch-up on your TV favourites online

If all else fails, embrace the power of internet TV and watch all the programmes you’re missing online. There’s a whole host of on-demand TV websites available, including the BBC iPlayer, the ITV Player, 4oD from Channel 4 and the newly launched SeeSaw, which offers entire series for free, at the touch of a button.

SeeSaw is perfect if you’re a fan of prison drama Bad Girls, reality TV show Wife Swap or culinary comedy Come Dine With Me, as you’ll be glued to your computer screens watching back-to-back episodes all for free. Or, subscribe to the service and pay to watch episodes from the first series of The Hills from just 99p.

And if you’re a Sky TV (www.sky.co.uk) subscriber, register on the Sky Player - an online TV service from the satellite broadcasting giant that lets you watch both live Sky TV and on-demand Sky TV, from the channels that you already subscribe to.

A word of warning though, make sure you’ve got a suitable download limit on your broadband deal to watch a load of TV. You can find a better broadband deal on Broadbandchoices.co.uk.