These days, longer working days and more hectic schedules have made it harder to sit down and watch your favourite TV shows at the same time each week. TV on Demand allows you to watch films, TV programmes and documentaries at a time that suits you.

Most of the major UK cable providers have some sort of on demand or pay-per-view facility built-in to the set top boxes which they supply their customers. Using these you can choose to watch anything from music videos and missed TV shows to big budget Hollywood movies.

Often, the content that you decide to watch will be pre-downloaded and therefore start to play instantaneously. However, in some other cases you may need to wait for your set-top box to collect the data from the cable provider.

Technically, you can also watch 'TV on Demand' on a computer using software such as the BBC iPlayer to catch up on shows you've missed and see new programmes. There are a few other websites which offer similar services, but in this article we're going to focus on 'TV on Demand' for the televisions in our homes.

How it Works

Built in to your set top box is a hard drive which stores data, this can help by streaming video content directly from your cable provider (working as temporary storage) but in some cases it can also be used to store whole programs so you can access them at will.

Often the former way of delivering content is now more common and video servers exist within cable companies which provide rapid and direct streaming content to users.

What's on Offer?

Virgin Media are pushing their V+ HD Box which allows you to watch movies on demand in High Definition (if you have an HD TV.) You can also pause, rewind and record live TV at the click of a button and even record 2 shows whilst you're enjoying a third one. You can even set the box up to record an entire series of a specific show straight on to the hard drive and they're offering some competitive deals including a £100 saving.

Sky

The Sky+ boxes are similar to the V+ boxes, you can record and store shows to watch when it is most convenient for you. A Sky+ subscription is free and the box just costs £99 when you order it online. There is a standard set up fee of £30 for new customers, however.

Tiscali

Tiscali took over Home Choice several years ago. Their services are only available in London but they offer some great deals. With Tiscali + you can record up to 50 hours of TV or movies and watch them whenever you like.

You can also set your box to record an entire series so that you don't have to keep setting the record function each week. It's a really simple interface so you don't have to worry about setting timers or getting too mixed up.

You can also record two programs whilst you watch a third one and pause, and rewind live TV. Those deals we mentioned are pretty great, you can get Tiscali+ for just £50 and that's a one-off payment. You need to renew it in 12 months, but otherwise that's it!