BT’s new TV packages bring Now TV, Amazon Prime and Netflix to one box
An alternative to Sky and Virgin Media
BT has decided to shake up its TV offering, with a bunch of options that can be tailored each month to ensure you only pay more when you want – be it during the football season or when the Oscar-winners arrive.
Although the overall TV package is a long-sounding 24-month contract, the various bolt-ons can be upgraded or downgraded each month, starting 21 February.
While there’s nothing here that’s not available elsewhere – via Netflix, Amazon, or Now TV – the new initiative lets you play all the channels from your BT set-top box, and means your bill for each product is available in one place, making it easier to manage your finances. It also adds in the function to pause, rewind and record Sky Entertainment and Sports content, which certainly sounds appealing. We’ve asked what happens to recordings once they leave Now TV, as that sounds a pretty big deal. We’ll update this when we hear back.
Prices start at £10 per month for the Entertainment Package – notably, that’s £1 more than the cost of a monthly pass from Now TV directly, though you do get the latest BT set-top box, plus exclusive access to AMC channels.
The rest seem to match pound for pound, though. The other options include the BT Sport pack which comes with all four BT Sport channels and BoxNation for £15 per month; the Big Entertainment pack, which offers Now TV Entertainment and Now TV Sky Cinema for £20; the Big Sport package, which includes both Sky Sports and BT Sport for £40; and finally the VIP package which is all of the above for £60.
Grab whichever you like, and you can also add 30-day bolt-ons for the normal prices – Sky Cinema for £12 per month, Now TV Entertainment for £9, Netflix from £6 and so on. Amazon Prime Video is also there for £6 per month, and BT suggests it’ll be free for six months, which is a nice little bonus
If you’re interested in broadband at the same time, BT will also offer a launch promotion where you can get Superfast Fibre and the Entertainment package for £38 per month, which you can then tailor with bolt-ons to your heart’s content.
The new TV options will launch on Friday 21 February.