Sport on UK TV - Who Offers What?
FrequencyCast is an online radio show that discusses UK TV. Each show features feedback from our listeners, and one common theme is "Sport on TV".
For that reason, we thought we'd add a special page outlining what Sport channels are available on UK TV, and how to get them:
Sky's Sporting EPG
Watch Premier League online from Sky Sports and ESPN: skyplayer.sky.com |
Sports channels compared
| Sky Digital | It's hard to dispute that for sports TV in the UK, Sky Digital is the master. Here's a rundown of the sports channels available on Sky Digital:
Pay per view events: These include boxing matches and Premiership football. High-definition: Sky Sports has three High-definition (HD) sports channels, offering live Barclays Premiership Football, Football League, Cricket and Rugby. Eurosport and ESPN are also available in HD. More on Sky HD. PC / Mobile phone: The Sky Anytime Mobile Phone service offers breaking sports headlines, interviews and results with live Sky Sports News. To get Sky's Sporting packages, you need to sign up, then have one of Sky's engineers to install a satellite dish to your house and to connect a 'digibox' - a set-top box that into your TV. For details of Sky's sporting package, go to sky.com/shop/tv/sports.
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| Cable | Cable TV operator Virgin Media (formerly Telewest and NTL) offers a number of sports channels. Not as many as Sky, but still worth considering. Channels are:
There's more about Virgin Media on our Cable TV page. To see if cable TV is available in your area, go to www.virginmedia.com. |
| BT Vision | BT Vision is a combined Freeview and on-demand service, offering TV, films and sporting content on your telly over a BT Broadband connection. At the time of writing, the only live sports services are:
Cost: BT Vision customers can get the Sports service either on subscription (Package including ESPN for £14.68 a month, with no annual commitment), or on a per-match pay-and-watch basis. The BT Vision box is free to customers of BT's Broadband and Vision
You must be a BT Broadband customer to get BT Vision. More on our BT Vision page, or at get.btvision.bt.com. Also, consider joining our Vision mailing list for news on BT Vision. |
| Tiscali TV | Tiscali TV was formerly known as Homechoice, and offers TV over a phone line in the London area, as well as a number of other major towns in the UK. Here are the channels available:
To get Tiscali TV, you need to be in their coverage area. Tiscali will supply a set-top box for connection to your telly and a phone line. Cost: The Tiscali TV service costs £19.99 a month for Broadband plus their basic TV service. Sport channels cost extra. More on our Tiscali TV Page |
| Freeview |
Cost: To get Freeview, you need to check that you're in a Freeview coverage area, then buy a Freeview set-top box. These are available for upwards of £25 from Dixons, Comet and Argos
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| Top Up TV |
To get Top Up TV, you need to be in a Freeview coverage area. You need a Freeview set-top box or a digital TV set with a compatible Top Up TV Subscription card slot, such as the Top Up TV Anytime box.. Cost: The Top Up TV Anytime box and service costs from £40, with a £10.99 a month fee. More detail at www.topuptv.com, or on our Top Up TV Anytime page. |
Top Up TV Anytime is essentially a Freeview set-top box with a hard-disk recorder. The service offers a small amount of extra TV content that's delivered to your set-top box overnight for watching over the next seven days. With
Sports channels
Sky Sports: Channels 1, 2 and 3 are available on the following services:
- Sky Digital's Sporting package (satellite) - Channel 401, 402 and 403 (Also in High Def)
- Virgin Media (cable) - Channel 512, 513 and 514
- TalkTalk TV (via a phone line)
Setanta Sport was available in the UK until the UK operation ceased trading in June 2009. Setanta Sports was available on subscription (from £10.99 a month). Sports offered included the following:
- Football: Premier League, Scottish Premier League, FA Cup, World Cup Qualifiers
- Golf: US PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and Asian Tour
- Boxing: From both sides of the Atlantic
- Rugby, Cricket, Darts, Horseracing, GAA, UFC, and more
After Setanta went into administration, ESPN stepped in to acquire rights to the Barclays Premier and Clydesdale Bank Premier matches due to be shown on Setanta. A new channel was set up in August to cover Premier League football, as well as other British sports, and some US sport. ESPN is available on the following services:
- Sky Digital (satellite) - Channels 417 and 443 (in HD).
- Virgin Media (cable) - Channels 553 (also in HD)
- BT Vision (TV aerial) - Channel 34 (free with BT Vision pack)
- Top Up TV (TV aerial) - Channel 34
British Eurosport is available in the UK on the following services:
- Sky Digital (satellite) - Channel 410 (subscription - part of the 'News and Events' Mix package). Also in High Def on Channel 412
- Virgin Media (cable) - Channel 521
- Top Up TV Anytime (via TV aerial) - Small amount of downloaded content only
- TalkTalk TV (phone line)
- Online via the Eurosport Player
British Eurosport is not available on Freeview or BT Vision at this time. The listing on Freeview boxes refers to Top Up TV Anytime's service.
Your Sports TV Questions
Q. Eurosport in Ireland. "I have a question regarding Eurosport on Sky Digital.... I live in Ireland and get British Eurosport, but is there a setting in the set up where i can get purely English speaking Eurosport? This may seem a small difference between the 2 offerings, but the main European English speaking Eurosport channel offers much more European cycling, where as British Eurosport doesn't.... (David Williams. Apr 2007)
A. Not sure we know the answer to this one. I assume that the channels you get with your Sky subscription are the ones that you get. There's no magic setting to change to a different version of Eurosport. Mail us if you can help David out with this one?
Got a question on the sports channels available in the UK that we can answer in our next podcast?
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