Freeview and TopUp TV channels

When you look through the available channels on Freeview, you'll see some Top Up TV channels. How can these be viewed on a Freeview box or TV set? Find out more.

Top Up TV Channels

If you have a Freeview box or TV set, you may see channels for:

UKTV Gold
UKTV Style
Setanta Sport
TopUpTV Anytime 1 , 2 and 3

You'll find that you can't access these, as they are subscription channels. So, how do you get to these?

These channels are subscription-only channels and are available to customers of Top Up TV, a company that provide extra content over the Freeview system

Can I buy a subscription card to get Style, Gold and Eurosport?

No. Let's explain why...

Until 2007, a company called Top Up TV sold a subscription service where if you had a suitable Freeview box, you could pay £7.99 a month and get 11 extra subscription channels - you've be sent a special viewing card.

It all changed in 2007, when Top Up TV brought in a new service, Top Up TV Anytime. Instead of showing 11 channels, they now supply a special set-top box that has a built-in recorder. Overnight, Top Up TV send a collection of TV shows over-the-air that your box records for you watch over the next seven days.

To get Top Up TV Anytime, you'll need to buy a special Top Up TV Anytime box. This will give you 100 hours of shows per week. The box costs £100 and is available from Empire Direct, Argos and Amazon.

As well as the downloaded TV shows, you'll be able to access a very limited number of hours of live TV, currently:

Channel 17 - UKTV Gold (5pm - 11:30pm)

Channel 26 - UKTV Style (1pm - 4pm)

Channel 33 - Eurosport UK (7.30am - 10:30am)

TopUp TV Anytime Box
The Top Up TV Anytime box

Can I get UKTV Gold, UKTV Style or Eurosport on Freeview?

The only way to get these channels on Freeview is to buy a Top Up TV Anytime box. Even then, you only get a few hours of those channels a day.

If you want these channels, consider a different TV service, such as:

Sky Logo Sky Digital: Widest choice of channels. Received with satellite dish and set-top box.

See our Sky page or go to www.sky.com/skycom.

Virgin Media: Available to parts of the UK via underground cabling and a Cable TV set-top box.

See our Cable TV page, or go tot www.virginmedia.com

Available in parts of the UK via a special box that's connected to your phone line.

More on our Tiscali TV page, or at www.tiscali.co.uk/tv

Can I get Setanta Sports on Freeview?

Yes you can. There are five ways:

Digital TV set: If your TV set has a suitable card slot, you may be able to get Setanta on Freeview. You may need a special adapter

Set-top box: Some Freeview boxes have a card slot ready for Setanta, otherwise, you can buy a box that's Setanta-ready direct from at www.setanta.com.

With BT Vision: This is a service offered to BT Broadband customers. Setanta is offered free with some of their subscription packages.More at btvision.bt.com or on our BT Vision page

With Top Up TV Anytime: For £100, you can buy a special box that records TV shows sent over-the-air. Setanta is available with Top Up TV Anytime. More on our Top Up TV Anytime page

On a PC with Freeview: A USB kit is available from Dixons Online. More details

For full details of Setanta on Freeview, see our Setanta on Freeview page

I have a Freeview box... why can't I get these extra channels?

The only way to get UKTV Gold, UKTV Style and Eurosport UK over Freeview is to get a Top Up TV Anytime box (see above). Existing Freeview TV sets and boxes, even those with card slots, can't get these channels.

Don't blame us - Blame Top Up TV, who stopped their subscription card service back in 2007.

I want more channels!

The channel options available on Freeview are quite limited. You might want to consider some of the other options:

Sky - Widest choice of channels in the UK. You'll need a satellite dish. See www.sky.com/skycom.

Virgin Media - If you're in a cable TV area, get loads of extra channels. See www.virginmedia.com

Freesat - Another satellite TV service, this one's subscription-free. More on our Freesat page

BT Vision - Freeview, plus hours of TV you can download over Broadband and watch on your telly - btvision.bt.com

Top Up TV - Extra content downloaded to a special recorder overnight. More on our TUTV page

Tiscali TV - Extra channels down a phone line (parts of UK only). More at www.tiscali.co.uk/tv