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Cable TV Packages

Compare the latest and cheapest cable TV deals and packages from the UK's leading cable TV providers. Save money by comparing providers and deals. Use our cable TV comparison table to find the right digital TV package to suit your needs. Cable TV delivers digital TV into your home via fibre optic cable. A huge choice of digital TV channels, on-demand content and the ability to pause and rewind live TV are just some of the features available to you via cable TV.

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Package Name & Details

Package Features

Contract

Monthly Cost

1st Year Costs

Virgin TV M + Phone M

Virgin TV is free when you take out any Virgin Phone package. 45 digital TV channels plus DAB Digital Radio stations. (more)

12 months

Free

additional fees may apply

£30.00

includes £30.00 one-off cost

Virgin Phone Size XL

Free TV Size M. Talk Unlimited - Unlimited anytime UK landline calls. Keep your existing phone number. (more)

12 months

£7.95

per month

£125.40

includes £30.00 one-off cost

Virgin TV L + Phone M

100 digital TV channels. Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines. Perfect page for viewers wanting more than the basic package. (more)

12 months

£10.00

per month

£150.00

includes £30.00 one-off cost

Virgin TV + Phone + V+ HD

45 digital TV channels including Sky 3, Sky News, Sky Sports News. Unlimited weekend UK landline calls. Pause, rewind and record live HD TV. (more)

12 months

£5.00

per month

£159.00

includes £99.00 one-off cost

Virgin TV XL + Phone M

160 digital TV. Includes Virgin Phone Size M (Talk Weekends) with free weekend calls. (more)

12 months

£21.50

per month

£288.00

includes £30.00 one-off cost

Virgin TV XL + Phone M + V+ HD

160 digital TV. Includes Virgin Phone Size M (Talk Weekends) with free weekend calls. Includes V+ HD service. (more)

12 months

£21.50

per month

£357.00

includes £99.00 one-off cost

Cable TV Explained

For a while now there have been two key choices in the subscription TV market, either satellite or cable television. Both require some kind of installation of technology both in and on your property, and with cable TV you need to make sure that you are living in an area that had had the cable network laid.

The advantage of cable TV is that it requires no external aerial or dish to be fitted to your property as all of the information is transferred over a single underground cable straight into your home. Once you sign up for a cable TV service and once your line has been connected you'll be provided with a free set top box which will decode the digital TV signal and then allow you to watch cable TV in your living room.

Virgin Media is the supplier of over 95% of cable TV services in the UK and has a cable network that covers more than 55% of UK homes so it is pretty likely that you will be in an area that is covered by their network. However, if you're not it could be worth checking up on their website to see if your area is soon to be cabled as they are always extending their networks to reach new areas, and are currently rolling out the latest fibre optic cabling across many major urban centres in the UK.

Cable TV Packages

Like most subscription TV services there are a number of package options that you can choose from which will cost you different monthly amounts. The minimum contract length for a cable TV subscription is 12 months and you will need to pay an installation charge, starting from £30, at the beginning of your contract in order to get the line installed in your home. You will also need to sign up for a Virgin Media telephone line with every cable TV package, but this is not a bad thing necessarily. Packages are divided into three varieties; M, L and XL.

Compare the Latest Virgin TV Packages, Deals & Offers »

The M package is actually free with no monthly subscription provided you take the Virgin Media phone line, and provides over 45 digital TV channels, most of which are available on Freeview, but with a few notable benefits over free-to-air terrestrial TV. For one thing cable TV from Virgin Media comes equipped with their 'Catch Up TV' service. This is an on demand video service that allows you to watch a selection of shows aired over the previous week any time you want, giving you the ability to start and stop watching whenever you like and making it harder to miss your favourite show.

Cable TV is currently the only way to receive the BBC's on demand video service called iPlayer. iPlayer works in a similar way to catch up TV in that you can start to watch any program broadcast on any of the BBC's channels over the last 7 days. If you want more than the basic package of channels and are willing to pay more a month then you might want to opt for the L or XL packages. L includes over 100 channels, including popular choices like Sky 1, and XL has over 160 and includes Setanta Sports for all the big sports fixtures, as well as loads more entertainment channels for kids and adults alike. For an extra £5 a month you can add a V+ Box HD, which let your pause and rewind live TV, record your favourite programs and watch high definition channels.

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