UK TV Channel line-up comparison

Can I get such-and-such a channel?

Here's a table of TV channels and digital TV services.

 

Channel Comparison Table

Here's a summary of which major UK TV channels are available on each service. Scroll down for information on each service

	Sky Digital	Freeview	Virgin Media	Freesat	BT Vision	TalkTalk TV	Top Up TV
Alibi	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
BBC 3 / BBC4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bravo	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Cartoon Network	Yes	No	Yes	No	See Note 3	Yes	See Note 4
Comedy Central	Yes	No	Yes	No	See Note 3	Yes	See Note 4
Dave	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Discovery Channel	Yes	No	Yes	No	See Note 3	Yes	No
Disney	3 channels	No	3 channels	No	No	Playhouse	No
ESPN (UK)	3 channels	No	2 channels	No	Yes	No	Yes
Eurosport (UK)	2 channels	No	2 channels	No	No	Yes	7:30-10:30am
Film4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fiver	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
G.O.L.D	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	See Note 4
Hallmark	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	See Note 4
ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Living TV	Yes	No	Yes	No	See Note 3	No	See Note 4
Men and Motors	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Movies 24	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Quest	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Sci-Fi channel	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	See Note 4
Sky Movies	11 + 2 HD	No	11 channels	No	No	4 channels	No
Sky News	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sky 1	YES + HD	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Sky Sports	5 + 2 HD	No	4 channels	No	No	4 channels	No
Virgin 1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Yesterday	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

Line-up out-of-date, or missing a channel you're interested in? Let us know

 

Digital TV Providers:

Sky Digital	Widest choice of channels. Received with satellite dish and set-top box. Also offering High Definition For more details on Sky, see our Sky page or go to www.sky.com/skycom.
Freeview	Received via a TV aerial on a special set-top box or on a TV with a built-in Freeview receiver. See our Freeview pages for details.
Cable	Available to parts of the UK via underground cabling and a Cable TV set-top box. More on our Cable TV page, or at www.virginmedia.com
Freesat	Subscription-free satellite TV service that launched in May 2008. More on our Freesat page.
BT Vision	Free to customers of BT Total Broadband . Live TV channels, plus on-demand TV and movies over Broadband. More on our BT Vision page
TalkTalk TV	Available in parts of the UK. TV channels via a special box that's connected to your phone line. Known as Tiscali TV until January 2010. More on our Talktalk TV page or at talktalk.co.uk/tv
Top Up TV Anytime	Special box that offers the Freeview channels, access to a small number of extra channels, and downloads special TV content overnight onto the built-in hard-disk. See our Top Up TV Anytime page for details

 

Channel Notes

Note 1: Setanta Sports: Setanta Sports requires a separate subscription. A viewing card is needed. For Freeview, a digital TV, or Freeview set-top box must have a suitable card slot. More on our Setanta Sports on Freeview page.

Note 2: Setanta Sports on BT Vision: Setanta Sports requires a separate subscription. On-demand content also available. More on our Setanta Sports FAQ

Note 3: BT Vision: Channels such as Comedy Central and Cartoon Network are not available on BT Vision, but content from these channels is available to be watched "on demand" via the BT Vision box. More on BT Vision

Note 4: Top Up TV Anytime: The full channels are not available to be viewed in real-time, but a small selection of shows from these channels is downloaded overnight, and can be played back from the Top Up TV Anytime box for the next seven days.

 

The FrequencyCast podcast features Freeview news and chat. Listen online or download to your MP3 player What is FrequencyCast? | Get us via iTunes | Catch our Latest Show

 

Useful links:

• Digital TV options? See our Digital TV page
• Digital Switchover? Go to www.switchhelp.co.uk
• Help and Advice: BT Vision , Freesat, Freeview, Sky TV, Tiscali TV, Top Up TV, Virgin Media

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