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Should I choose Sky TV or Virgin Media?

Our digital TV expert says...

Dear Jez, Both Sky (www.sky.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) offer great digital TV packages, and are the two main providers in the digital TV market.

Which offers the best TV package?

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) offers four different digital TV packages, ranging from its M TV, which comes with over 45 channels plus free seven day catch-ups at no extra cost when you take a Virgin Media phone line for £11 a month, going up to its XL TV package, which costs £21.50 a month with a phone line, £27.50 without, and comes with a massive 165 channels and the full range of Virgin Media on-demand TV programmes, movies and even music videos.

Between these two options Virgin Media offers the M+ service, and the L TV package. M+ costs £5.50 a month with a phone line, £11.50 a month without, offering more than 65 channels, including Virgin 1, Sky 1 and Living, while L offers more than 100 channels and costs £10 a month with a phone line, £16 a month as a standalone product.

Sky’s (www.sky.co.uk) digital TV works differently, allowing you to select the different Entertainment Packs that you want, covering different genres of programmes, from Knowledge to News or the Children’s Pack, and starting at £18 for one Pack, adding £1 for each additional Pack and going up to £23 for all six.

TV Add-ons

If you want to max out your digital TV package, then both Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) and Sky (www.sky.co.uk) allow you to add on premium packages like Sky Movies, Sky Sports and HD channels.

Virgin Media charges a different amount for these channels depending on which basic TV package you're already signed up to. This means that it would cost you more to add Sky Movies to an M TV package than it would if you were signed up to the XL package.

Sky has a simpler method for adding on premium channels, charging an extra £16 a month for Sky Movies, £18 a month for Sky Sports or an extra £25.50 for both services.

HD TV

High-definition (HD) TV offers up to five times more picture quality, sharper detail and better sound - taking your TV to the next level.

Both Sky and Virgin Media offer HD services, but you will need a HD-ready TV as well as a HD set top box - either the Sky+ HD or Virgin Media’s V+ Box.

Sky charges £10 a month to subscribe to its HD Pack, on top of the cost of its Sky+ HD box, but it does have the widest selection of HD channels - 37 in total - allowing you to watch a huge range of movies and sports, arts and comedy, drama and documentaries, all in stunning high-definition.

On the other hand, Virgin Media offers its V+ service for free to TV XL customers - though you'll still have to pay for the set top box - while M and L customers pay £5 a month. However, at present Virgin Media only offers seven HD channels, though it does plan to launch more this year.

TV on-demand (TVoD)

For many people, on-demand TV has changed the way they watch TV forever. Being able to catch-up on your favourite shows at the touch of a button frees you from the TV schedule and means that you'll never miss a thing.

Both Sky (www.sky.co.uk) and Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) offer TV on-demand services, but Virgin Media does have the upper hand, with instant play, direct access to the BBC iPlayer on your TV and more than 4,600 hours of on-demand programmes, compared to around 40 hours a week from Sky, with no instant play.

However, Sky customers do get online access to the Sky Player catch-up service and can you even watch digital TV on your Xbox 360.

	www.virginmedia.com	www.sky.com
On-demand content*	4,600 hours of programmes plus BBC iPlayer direct to your TV	Up to 40 hours a week
Instant play	Yes	No
Free catch-up	Yes	Yes
Online TV	No	Sky Player

*Depending on package size

V Box vs Sky Box

Standard hardware comes in the form of the V box from Virgin Media or the Sky Box from Sky.

However, you can upgrade to the V+ or even V+HD boxes, and the Sky+ or Sky+HD boxes to access a range of additional services, such as the ability to record, pause and rewind live TV, record an entire series at the touch of a button, or access HD channels. However, you do need a HD-ready TV as well as a HD box in order to watch high-definition programmes.

What's the future of TV?

For some people, 3D TV is the future, and both Sky and Virgin Media have already begun plans to offer such services.

Sky will be launching its own 3D TV channel in 2010, and Virgin Media has been showcasing 3D TV in some of its stores, though it has said that it is more likely to offer 3D TV on an on-demand basis rather than launch a dedicated channel.

Suitability

You need to think about your needs when you choose which provider to sign up with. If you want the best selection of catch-up TV, then Virgin Media is a great choice, while Sky offers the biggest selection of HD channels, and will be launching a 3D TV channel in 2010 - great if you're an early adopter.

Both providers also allow you to bundle your digital TV service with broadband and home phone calls, which can save you loads on your home telecoms. However, you should try not to sign up to additional services just because they're cheap - if you don’t use them they’ll simply be a waste of money.

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