Simplifydigital Review the Best Value TV Sports Packages
The Premiership is drawing to a close and the summer sports season is about to begin, so armchair sports fans should be asking themselves if they are on the best value sports package.
(PRWeb UK/PRWEB ) May 20, 2009 -- Sport doesn't come cheap on TV for the die-hard sports fan. The top Sky Sports HD package including Setanta Sports now costs £58.24 per month, or a whopping £699 per year. Many sports fans would say that's excellent value for money, when you think it will cost you about £45 to watch a Premiership game live and that's before you get there and have a drink afterwards.
Nonetheless there are savings to be had if you choose your sports package carefully. So we have selected the pick of the deals to help you compare sports TV packages.
Sport available free to air
Before paying for sport, it is worth reminding ourselves what is available free to air on Freeview. The answer is not a lot more than you will get on BBC and ITV. Indeed the only additional sports channel on Freeview is Sky Sports News.
So the more serious sports fan will have to dip into their wallets. The best deals on offer are described below.
For the sports fan on a budget - a taste of the Premiership and the SPL on the cheap
If your budget doesn't stretch to Sky Sports (on Sky or Virgin Media) which will cost you a minimum of £37 per month, then your best bet is Setanta Sports packaged with Freeview. The Setanta Freeview box costs £39.99 and the subscription is then £10.99 per month, a saving of over £34 per month versus Sky Sports.
For that price you will get all the terrestrial TV sports, Sky Sports News and one Setanta Sports Channel (Setanta Sports 1). Setanta Sports 1 is their "flagship channel", and offers exclusive, live coverage of the England home friendlies, the England 2010 Away World Cup qualifiers, most of the home nations World Cup Qualifiers, 46 live Barclays Premier League games (2009-2010 season), the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, the PGA Golf Tour, big-time boxing, UFC and more.
For the serious sports fan - the cheapest way to get Sky Sports
If you are in a cable area, Virgin Media actually offers the cheapest way to subscribe to Sky Sports. Virgin Media offer their medium TV pack (TV size M) which gives you 40 channels (similar to Freeview) plus the Sky Sports suite of channels for £37 per month (including line rental and free weekend calls) and an additional £30 set up cost.
As a reminder Sky Sports includes 97 live Barclays Premier League games, UEFA Champions League, Live International Cricket, Guinness Premiership Rugby, live NFL, Ryder Cup and PGA European Tour Golf.
Sky's cheapest deal is currently their excellent value Sky+HD deal which gives you Sky+HD (with 33 HDTV channels), Sky Sports and free evening and weekend calls for £45.25 per month. This includes 12 months free line rental and the Sky+HD subscription which is £9.75 per month. The upfront cost is £49.
So for an extra £8.25 per month you can get Sky Sports in HD quality if you go with Sky rather than Virgin Media. Sky Sports in high definition is hugely impressive, and as a result HD is Sky's best-selling TV package at present. Sky also offers free evening and weekend calls and allows the option of throwing in a 2 Mb/sec broadband service for free.
Tiscali TV offer Sky Sports, but it is actually a little more expensive than buying it through Sky or Virgin Media at £47.49 per month, but it does include a broadband and home phone service within the price. In addition it has a large £99 upfront install cost.
For the Full Monty sports fan - the cheapest way to get Sky Sports and Setanta Sports
Setanta has done some complicated deals to wholesale its service through other TV platforms, hence it is not at all obvious where the cheapest place to get a Sky Sports and Setanta Sports bundle actually is. Well we can definitively say that the cheapest place to subscribe to Sky Sports and Setanta Sports together is Virgin Media.
Virgin Media offer their TV (M) package with a Complete Sports bundle including all the Sky Sports and Setanta Sports channels for £45 per month for the first 12 months, rising to £52 thereafter (including line rental and free weekend calls), plus a £30 set up cost.
On the other hand should you choose to buy the complete package through Sky, it will set you back £58.24/month including line rental free for the first 12 months and £68.24 thereafter (including a Sky HD subscription and free evening and weekend calls). This Sky package has an additional £63.99 set up cost.
So the Virgin Media route saves you £12 per month in the first year, but again you miss out on the Sports in high definition.
Tiscali TV also offers a complete Sky Sports and Setanta Sports bundle for £59.48 per month, and includes a broadband and home phone service within the price. In addition it has a large £99 upfront install cost.
Prices change almost every week as all the players offer new and exciting deals across TV, broadband and home phone. So if you think you could be saving money and are not sure which route to take, we recommend speaking to impartial experts such as Simplifydigital.
About Simplifydigital
Simplifydigital.co.uk offers a unique service in the UK, providing a free and impartial consultation for anyone looking to save money and compare broadband, compare digital TV, or compare home phone services.
Simplifydigital cuts through the confusion; offers the widest range of digital service providers available (including Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, AOL, Orange, 02, Top UpTV etc); and manages the customer through the install of the services.
It is the only retailer of digital TV, broadband and home phone services in the UK to have been accredited by Ofcom as impartial and transparent and on average saves customers over £300 pa by finding them better deals. Customers call their London-based experts free on 0800 1 388 388 or use their online service at www.simplifydigital.co.uk.
Contact details
Charlie Ponsonby, CEO Simplify Digital Limited
M: 07703 502 634
DL: 020 3159 4071
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See the original story at: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2009/05/prweb2444284.htm
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