A comparison of the different digital TV service providers

Confused by the choice of digital TV services? Compare them in the table below. Click on the links in the table to see more about each service. (Not all services are available in all areas.)

	One-off payment		Monthly Subscription		Mixed
Provider
How much does it cost?	Digital boxes from £20-£70	£150 (includes installation)	£16 - £45 depending on package	£11 - £20.50 or Free TV package Both require a phone line from £11	One off set up charge costs £30 BT Total Broadband subscription (from £7.95 p/m) required **	Top Up TV + Digital TV recorder costs £99.99
Equipment required	A new aerial may be required Average cost for an aerial is between £80 - £150	Standard Sky box, minidish and installation included in £150	Standard Sky digital box and minidish are free Standard installation by Sky engineers costs £30 Weekend installation costs £60	Standard V+box is free Optional installation costs £25	V-box^TM is free	A new aerial may be required Average cost for an aerial is between £80 - £150
Channels	Up to 40 digital TV channels	Over 200 digital TV channels	Up to 140 digital TV channels plus over 200 free-to-air channels	Up to 140 digital TV channels	Up to 40 Freeview channels	Up to 40 Freeview channels + programmes from pay-TV channels
Optional extras			Sky HD (high definition) Sky broadband Sky Talk	Virgin Broadband Virgin phone	Instant access to a library of films, sports, music videos, concerts, kids and TV programmes on a pay-per-view or subscription basis.	Optional upgrade to Top Up TV Anytime or Setanta sports from £9.99 per month (plus £10 connection fee for Setanta sport)
Recording equipment available	Freeview playback digital TV recorder £90 - £300		Sky+ costs £149 (for new or existing customers) * Sky HD costs £249 (for new or existing customers) *	V+box costs £150 £5 per month for service	The V-Box^TM is an 80 hour digital TV recorder	Top Up TV+ box is 120 hour digital TV recorder
Additional set	A Freeview box is required for each TV set	Freesat from Sky is required for each TV set	Sky multiroom costs £10 per month for each TV set	Virgin multiroom costs £9.50 per month for each TV set		Top Up TV box is required for each TV set
How do you receive the service?	Aerial	Satelite dish	Satelite dish	Cable	Aerial Phone line	Aerial