BT TV Packages

BT TV packages offer customers the ability to swap plans on a monthly basis, as well as fine-tune content with optional add-ons and apps.

Customers can access TNT Sports and premium Sky channels including Sky Atlantic, Sky Cinema, and Sky Sports.

While plans are built using NOW Memberships, BT customers have the added advantage of being able to pause, rewind and record live TV to the BT TV Box Pro.

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At a glance

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Who is BT TV best suited for?

BT TV packages are best suited for households who want extra flexibility on their TV content and budget, as packages can be swapped on a monthly basis and fine-tuned with individual add-ons.

Content focuses around TNT Sports, Netflix and Sky content, including Sky Atlantic, Sky Kids, Sky Cinema, and Sky Sport. Which covers all the main bases for a decent home entertainment plan.

The BT TV Box Pro has seen new support added in recent years for Discovery+, Apple TV+, and most recently, Paramount+. However, customers still miss out on the ability to watch Disney+, which is supported by Sky Stream and Virgin 360. So, that's worth bearing in mind.

The best value for money from BT TV is found when customers take more content, which means households will need to spend more each month in order to benefit from discounts on taking multiple TV packs.

BT broadband is also a more premium service, and is rarely the cheapest on the market, which means it's better suited to households that are comfortable spending a little extra on their home entertainment and telecoms packages.

There are benefits to BT TV however, including:

• Flexibility to swap TV packages each month
• Fine-tune viewing with individual add-ons, will mean everyone is the house is kept happy without overspending
• Sky content through NOW with the option to pause, rewind and record live TV
• Improved app support, with options to view Netflix, Prime Video, Discovery+, Apple TV+, and Paramount+

BT also offer an advance TV box that supports up to 4K Ultra HD viewing and Dolby Atmos sound, along with the ability to record up to four channels at once and store up to 600 hours of TV.

Overall, BT is a unique combination of premium TV and broadband, with the budget-friendly flexibility of monthly rolling TV plans.

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What do BT TV packages offer?

BT last majorly overhauled their TV packages in February 2020, when they moved to a flexible subscription service based on NOW Membership plans.

Now BT TV packages offer customers the ability to watch Freeview, access the features of the BT TV Box Pro, and customise their viewing experience by adding Sky content through a range of NOW Memberships.

One of the main features of the new BT TV service is the ability for customers to swap TV packages and add-ons on a monthly basis, so they could watch Sky Entertainment and Cinema during the holidays, and then swap to Sports during the Premier League, for example.

The BT TV packages on offer include:

• Entertainment (Sky Entertainment + Sky Kids + Netflix + Discovery+ Basic)
• Big Entertainment (Sky Entertainment + Sky Cinema + Sky Kids + Netflix + Discovery+ Basic)
• Sport (TNT Sports + Discovery+ Premium)
• Big Sport (TNT Sports + Discovery+ Premium + Sky Sports)
• Full Works (All of the above + HD pack + Netflix Standard)

Whichever BT TV package a customer chooses, they can also further customise their viewing plan by adding individual NOW Memberships, and boosting the viewing quality to full 1080p HD.

One major benefit of subscribing through BT TV is that customers will be able to access Sky content through the BT TV Guide, which means they can pause, rewind and record live programmes using the BT TV Box Pro. That's something customers who subscribe directly with NOW can't do.

Here's a quick breakdown of the main BT TV packages:

BT TV and broadband

BT TV is available exclusively to BT broadband customers, who can either add a TV package to their existing deal, or new customers can sign up for a TV and broadband bundle for extra discounts:

BT offer a range of broadband deals from superfast part fibre connections, to full fibre to the premises with download speeds of up to 900Mb per second.

It's worth checking availability in your area for the latest offers, but full fibre deals are now available to over 16 million premises across the UK, and BT plans to reach a total of 25 million in the next few years.

Customers on a budget can still access the cheaper superfast plans, but will benefit from a full fibre connection where it's available anyway, which offers a more reliable broadband experience. BT Full Fibre 100 is the provider's cheapest broadband plan in any case.

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How do BT TV packages work?

BT TV requires a broadband connection to deliver content, and customers can optionally connect a TV aerial for Freeview.

Customers will need a minimum broadband speed of 5Mb per second to view content in HD, and 30Mb per second to watch in Ultra HD. Speed requirements increase if more than one device is being used at a time.

Customers who don't have an aerial can still use BT TV and some of the free-to-air Freeview channels will be delivered over broadband instead, but not all channels will be available.

While the main ones will be there, such as BBC One, ITV, and E4 for example, some are only available with an aerial, including Dave. There are around 94 channels on Freeview usually, but BT TV over broadband only has 41 of these.

The main benefit to BT TV is that all these channels, including the premium content, are available through the BT EPG, which means customers will be able to pause and rewind live TV, as well as record live TV to the BT TV Box Pro.

The BT TV Box Pro can store around 600 hours of SD content, which provides a level of flexibility to record programs to watch later, that isn't available direct with NOW.

However, customers using the box in Internet Mode may find some channels can no longer be recorded to the set top box, such as BBC, where customers are directed instead to the iPlayer catch-up app.

Once customers have taken a broadband and TV contract, they can swap their TV package and any add-ons on a monthly basis, which isn't possible with pay TV providers like Sky Q or Virgin 360 who have set minimum term contracts on most of the content.

This does mean BT TV is more akin to the newer streaming services from Sky and Virgin - Sky Stream and Virgin Stream - which do offer the ability to take add-ons on rolling monthly terms.

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BT TV packages

BT TV offers a Freeview service with additional premium content from TNT Sports, Sky, Netflix, and Discovery+.

BT TV packages include:

• Around 94 Freeview channels, including 16 in HD (using an aerial connection, or 41 Freeview channels in Internet Mode)
• Discovery+ Basic with all TV plans
• Recordable TV box with up to 600 hours of storage space
• Optional premium content, from entertainment, films, or sports

Customers can choose from one of the following TV packages to further customise the premium content included:

Entertainment:

• Sky Entertainment (inc. Sky Atlantic)
• Sky Kids
• Netflix Standard with Ads
• Discovery+ Basic

Big Entertainment:

• Sky Cinema
• Sky Entertainment (inc. Sky Atlantic)
• Sky Kids
• Netflix Standard with Ads
• Discovery+ Basic

Sport:

• TNT Sports
• Eurosport 1 & 2
• Discovery+ Premium

Big Sport:

• Sky Sports
• TNT Sports
• Eurosport 1 & 2
• Discovery+ Premium

Full Works:

• Sky Cinema
• Sky Sports
• Sky Entertainment (inc. Sky Atlantic)
• Sky Kids
• Netflix Standard
• TNT Sports + TNT Sports Ultimate
• Eurosport 1 & 2
• Discovery+ Premium
• HD pack

Entertainment

The Entertainment plan from BT includes Freeview, Netflix Standard with Ads, Discovery+ Basic, and a NOW Entertainment Membership plan integrated with the BT TV guide and BT TV Box Pro.

Alongside 15 premium channels, including the exclusive Sky Atlantic channel, NOW Entertainment also includes 300 box sets on-demand and 7 kids channels.

Premium channels include:

It's an added benefit of NOW over Sky as the kids channels have now been bundled into the Entertainment plan, while Sky customers have to add the Sky Kids pack separately.

The on-demand box sets are kept updated and include exclusive content through Sky Originals programming.

Netflix Standard with Ads offers 1080p HD viewing quality, but customers can choose to upgrade to Netflix Standard to remove ads for £6 extra, or Premium for £13 extra.

The Sky entertainment channels are shown in 720p HD as standard, and customers would need to add the HD pack for an extra £6 to boost viewing to full HD.

Big Entertainment

The Big Entertainment TV package from BT is a boosted version of the Entertainment plan, with Sky Cinema added as well.

Customers will get everything in the Entertainment plan, plus 11 Sky Cinema channels and over 1000 movies to watch on-demand.

It's worth noting that while Sky and Virgin Media customers get the Sky Cinema pack in full 1080p HD as standard, BT TV customers will get the channels in 720p HD unless they pay extra for the HD pack.

Sky Cinema channels include:

Sky Cinema also includes 1000 movies on-demand, alongside the 11 live channels above.

Sport

BT TV customers choosing the Sport package will get Freeview, along with:

• All four TNT Sports channels
• Eurosport 1 & 2
• Discovery+ Premium

It's worth noting that the TNT Sports package only includes the above channels in SD, and customers will need to upgrade to the HD pack for an extra £6 per month to get the channels in full 1080p HD, as well as access to the TNT Sports Ultimate channel which shows matches and events in 4K Ultra HD.

Big Sport

The Big Sport TV package from BT includes everything in Sport, plus the Sky Sports pack.

The Sky Sports channels are made available via NOW, which means unlike BT Sport which is shown in SD by default, the Sky Sports channels will be in 720p HD.

Again, for full 1080p HD on both BT Sport and Sky Sports customers will need to add the HD pack.

The Sky Sports channels included are:

Big Sport is one TV package that allows customers to combine BT Sport and Sky Sports to ensure they don't miss out on any action, as both channels now have secured varying exclusive rights.

Full Works

The BT Full Works package contains everything from Big Entertainment and Big Sport, plus some additional features, including:

• Netflix boosted to ad-free with the Standard plan
• All Sky content in full 1080p HD, with surround sound, and less ads with NOW Boost
• TNT Sports Ultimate in 4K Ultra HD

While Full Works is expensive, it's the most comprehensive TV package from BT, containing everything a household could want from their home entertainment, as it sits alongside other premium packages like Virgin Media Mega Volt.

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BT TV add-ons

In addition to being able to swap TV packages on a monthly basis, customers can also fine tune deals with individual add-ons, also available on rolling monthly terms.

Add-ons include:

The add-ons above will only be available where they aren't included in the main chosen TV package, so customers can't accidentally order twice. But it does offer a level of granular flexibility not available with providers like Virgin Media, who offer somewhat rigid pre-made bundles.

Add-ons are reasonably priced, with monthly fees matching those offered by NOW and Netflix directly.

However, the best value for money will usually be found in the TV packages themselves, with individual add-ons often costing more when added together. For example, Big Sport costs £45 per month, but includes TNT Sports (£20), Sky Sports (£34.99), Eurosport and Discovery+ Premium.

HD pack

Unlike new streaming platforms, Sky Stream and Virgin Stream, which tend towards including content in full HD as standard, BT TV generally offers content in either SD or 720p HD.

To boost viewing to full HD customers need to take the HD pack add-on, which costs an extra £6 per month.

Where customers are subscribed to premium content like TNT Sports and Sky channels, the HD pack will boost all viewing resolution to full 1080p HD. It also includes the TNT Sports Ultimate channel which offers live matches and events in 4K Ultra HD.

It's a frustrating drawback to have to pay more for full HD, especially as BT TV is aimed at customers watching on a large screen with BT TV Box Pro, however, Sky Q still takes a similar approach too.

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On-demand apps

The BT TV Box Pro is a YouView box and offers support for a range of free-to-air and subscription based on-demand apps.

BT TV customers can access on-demand content through apps including:

App support on the BT TV Box Pro has improved in recent years, with the addition of Discovery+, Apple TV+, and Paramount+ in December 2024.

However, there are still some notable apps missing, including Disney+ and Spotify, which customers can access with the Sky Stream and Virgin boxes.

All BT TV customers get free access to Discovery+ Basic, as well as an upgrade to Premium with any plans including the TNT Sports pack, due to the acquisition by Warner Bros Discovery.

Both Entertainment plans and the Full Works plan also include a subscription to Netflix.

Read more about how BT TV Box Pro compares to Sky Q and Virgin 360.

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BT TV Box Pro

The BT TV Box Pro, launched in June 2021, is a YouView box that supports 4K HDR viewing quality and Dolby Atmos surround sound.

The built-in storage allows customers to record up to 600 hours of live content, and the box can record up to four channels at the same time.

The BT TV guide also lets customers pause and rewind live TV, including premium content offered through NOW memberships.

Connectivity is wireless, including for customers who add an Extra Box in a second room, which helps to remove the clutter of wires, and puts it ahead of the Sky Q Box and Virgin 360 box which aren't yet wireless.

The main specifications include:

Read more in our dedicated review of the BT TV Box Pro.

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Verdict: Are BT TV packages any good?

BT's move to a NOW TV reseller means they offer extra flexibility with customers able to swap TV packages and add-ons on a monthly basis.

Viewing experiences can also be fine-tuned with every add-on also available individually to bundled packages.

The best value for money from BT lies in customers taking multiple TV packs, which can mean it's not as budget friendly as it may first appear.

For example, while channel packs cost the same as they do direct with NOW or Netflix, savings are available for those who take Entertainment, Cinema and Sports plans together, which can push the price up.

BT TV does offer the added advantage that customers cause pause and rewind live TV, as well as record up to 600 hours to the BT TV Box Pro, which is something that isn't available through NOW directly.

BT TV is great for customers who:

• Already have - or want - BT Broadband
• Want flexible TV options, with the ability to swap out packs monthly
• Want to record live TV, or pause and rewind key moments in live sports
• Want to access apps including Netflix, NOW, Prime Video, Discovery+, Apple TV+, and Paramount+

The drawbacks however are:

• BT broadband and TV comes with a 24-month minimum term, and customers need to always have one TV package selected
• Customers have to pay more for full 1080p HD, including on the TNT Sports pack
• No support for the Disney+ app

Ultimately, BT TV may be a good addition to BT broadband, but we're not sure if it would be the tipping point to signing up to BT's home broadband service as Sky and Virgin Media offer better value for money on big bundles.