How to only pay for TV shows you actually want to watch

Fed up with spending a fortune on channels you never use? This guide will help you ditch them

CHOOSING what to watch on TV and where to watch it has become a minefield. Until around 15 years ago, you had to make do with just five channels unless you had satellite. Today there are hundreds of channels on offer, showing everything from top-level sport to the latest blockbusters. But if you aren’t careful, you could end up spending hundreds of pounds a year on shows you don’t want. Here, with the help of comparison site uSwitch, we talk you through the best deals.

WHAT CHANNELS CAN I GET FOR FREE?

THE default free option is Freeview, where you get access to 70 channels showing news, sport, films and reality TV. In fact, Freeview claims to show 95 pc of Britain’s favourite shows on channels such as BBC1 and 2, ITV, Channel 4, 5, Film 4, Dave and the Food Network.

And for sports fans, Government rules dictate that free channels must be able to show so-called ‘category A’ events such as the FA Cup final, the Olympics, the Grand National, Wimbledon and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final.

BBC also shows the Six Nations, snooker and world amateur boxing championships among other sports.

Last week, new channel FreeSports launched, showing ten live football games a week from the top divisions in Belgium, Portgual and Argentina, as well as the second division in Spain. It will also show ice hockey, rugby league, motor racing, mixed martial arts and horse racing.

BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Film 4 and the Sony Movie channel also show a wide range of films.

Beyond Freeview, choices start to get confusing and expensive.

The average household with a satellite or cable subscription spends £508 a year on it, according to uSwitch. Some telecoms giants will only let you take out one of their TV packages if you sign up for telephone and broadband, too.

These ‘ bundles’ can work out cheaper — but you could end up paying for services you don’t need.

Some newer TV providers are better at allowing you to pick what you want to watch, but don’t always offer the same variety of shows. You may need a combination of deals to get exactly what you want, adding to the confusion.

In order to make it simpler to compare deals from TV firms that insist you take their broadband deal and those that don’t, we are using the average monthly broadband bill of £20. This will give you a good idea of whether you will save money or end up spending more.

IF YOU’RE MAD ABOUT SPORT

FOOTBALL fans will almost certainly have heard of Sky Sports and BT Sport, which own the rights to 126 and 42 Premier League matches respectively this season.

If you want to watch all 168 games, you must subscribe to both. But if you don’t mind missing a few, it’s much cheaper to subscribe to one.

Sky offers the biggest selection. It has dedicated channels for football, cricket, Formula 1 and golf, as well as Sky Sports Arena, with wrestling, American football and boxing.

It costs £42 a month to subscribe for 18 months, and for this you get 270 channels, including Sky Atlantic, Sky1 and Fox, as well as all ten Sky Sports channels.

There is also a £20 set-up fee to cover the cost of sending you a Sky Box, which you plug into your television to access the channels.

If you choose basic broadband (17 megabits per second or 17Mb) as part of the deal, you’ll pay £57 a month for the first year, and £70.99 for the final six months. If you can’t bear to miss out on the other 42 football games, you can add BT Sport’s channels to your Sky TV package for £22.99 a month on a 12-month contract.

This will bring a £42-a-month deal to £64.99 a month. If you are taking the broadband offer, you’ll pay £79.99 a month for a year, and then £93.98 for six months after that. There is also another £20 set-up fee.

If you ignore Sky Sports and just sign up to BT, it works out much cheaper, but you don’t get access to as much sport. You must also take out its broadband deal.

BT has four channels and also gives subscribers access to Box Nation, a dedicated boxing channel. As well as Premier League, it shows top-flight football from Italy and Germany, Aviva Premiership rugby, cricket, tennis and American sports such as baseball, basketball and American football.

For £33.49 a month you get BT Sports along with 80 other channels,

including Freeview channels, Comedy Central, Gold and the History Channel. You will also get 52Mb broadband — faster than Sky unlimited calls at the weekend and a £100 pre-paid card to spend anywhere that accepts Mastercard. There is a £69.99 set-up fee and contracts last a minimum of 12 months. You can add Sky Sports Main Event, which shows Premier League games, rugby, tennis and Sky Sports Extra for £27.50 a month, but you don’t get the other Sky Sports channels. This would bring your monthly bill to £60.99. There is a £20 set-up free and it is a rolling contract. Another option is Now TV, owned by Sky. It allows you to watch TV over the internet on your TV, laptop or even your mobile phone.

It is also the cheapest deal at £33.99 a month, for which you get every Sky Sports channel. You don’t have to sign up for broadband or a phone line and you aren’t tied to a contract, so you can cancel at any time.

Another benefit is you don’t have to sign up for the entire month. If you only want to watch your favourite team play at the weekend, you can sign up for one day for £6.99 or £10.99 for a week. If you sign up for a week on a Wednesday at 7pm, you will be able to watch any Sky Sports channel until the same time the following Wednesday. This will suit people who are happy with the 70 channels they get from Freeview, but want to watch sports without paying for channels they don’t want.

You can watch through your TV if it is connected to the internet. If not, buy a set-top box from Now TV, Apple or use your BT TV box. A Now TV box costs from £14.99.

TOP TIP: Dani Warner, TV expert at uSwitch.com, says: ‘Sports fans need to do their research because there isn’t much overlap between what Sky and BT show.’

BEST FOR BOXSETS AND NEW FILMS

IF You prefer film to sport, there are plenty of options for you.

For years, Sky has been the go-to option for movie buffs, offering 11 channels, including specific ones for action films, Disney classics, premieres, crime and comedies.

It also has a catalogue of 1,000 films you can access. The cheapest way to get the Sky Cinema collection is through Now TV, at £9.99 month, and you can cancel at any time. Now TV also has a package that includes up to 38Mb broadband plus the full Sky Cinema line-up for £32.99 a month on a 12-month contact.

If you want a few extra channels, try Sky. For £32 a month (over 18 months) you get every Sky Cinema channel plus a further 270 stations — 200 more than Freeview.

If you’re a fan of TV, but don’t want to shell out for films, Sky also has a package for you. For £31 a month you get 365 channels and can view more than 350 boxsets including Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy and Fortitude. You add 38Mb broadband for £51 a month, plus a £39.95 set-up fee. Again, you must lock into an 18-month contract.

Alternatively, sign up to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and download shows for a fraction of the price. Netflix offers access to hundreds of movies and boxsets. It created political drama House of Cards, prison comedy-drama orange Is The New Black, and The Crown.

You can sign up for a free month’s trial. After this it costs £5.99 a month — £71.88 a year. You can cancel at any time with 30 days’ notice.

Amazon Prime Video costs £79 a year or £7.99 a month for a choice of hundreds of movies, as well as 1,000 free boxsets including The Walking Dead and Jeremy Clarkson’s The Grand Tour. There are also more than 6,000 to rent or buy.

TOP TIP: Duncan Heaney, of broadband choices.co.uk, says: ‘If you’re only interested in the latest blockbusters, go for Sky. If it’s boxsets you’re after, it’s Amazon or Netflix.’

SOMETHING FOR ALL THE FAMILY

IF You live in a house where everyone likes to watch different things, Sky and Virgin are your best bet. Sky’s biggest package, Sky Complete, offers 463 channels, including every Sky Sports and Sky Cinema station as well as access to all of its boxsets for £67 a month.

For an extra £15 a month — plus a £39.95 activation fee — you get 17Mb broadband. You can also add BT Sports for £22.99 a month, bringing the total to £104.99 a month.

Virgin Media’s VIP package gives access to every Sky Sports and BT Sport channel, all the Sky Cinema stations and more than 230 others.

If you sign up to a 12- month contract, it costs £90 for the first 12 months and £125 a month after that. A rolling contract from the off, costs £125 a month. There is also a £20 activation fee. As well as TV, you also get ultra- fast broadband of up to 300Mb, and unlimited weekend calls to uK landlines and mobile phones.

TOP TIP: Ms Warner, of uSwitch. com, says: ‘ If you’re really into sport and movies, get the bigger packages. These normally work out cheaper overall than getting separate broadband, TV and then adding sports or movies at a later date.’

TOP OFFERS FOR PENNY PINCHERS

IF You don’t want to shell out hundreds of pounds, there are deals for around £30 a month or less.

With TalkTalk TV Plus you get an extra 40 channels on top of what you get with Freeview — so 110 in total.

These include Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky Living, Real Lives and Sky Arts.

You have to sign up for an 18month contract and there is a £25 set-up fee. You also get broadband thrown in, with a speed of 38Mb.

If you already have broadband, consider buying a Now TV entertainment pass for £7.99 a month.

This gives you access to more than 250 boxsets, plus 11 channels, including Fox, Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic, which is where you will find Game of Thrones, the hugely popular fantasy epic.

TOP TIP: Mr Heaney, of broadband choices. co. uk, says: ‘ Deals that allow you to change your mind without penalty are good if you’re not exactly sure what you want and need flexibility.’