VIRGIN MEDIA (Cable)
Virgin Media's "TV Size: M" Pack will give you all the same channels as Freeview plus a few more. You get the package free when you take a the company's telephone service which costs £11 per month. Other packages are available. Installation for new customers is usually free. As you rent your Set Top Box from the company, faults are always repaired for free.

SKY (Satellite)
Back in 2005, Sky completely changed the way they packaged their channels. They are now available as themed "mixes" of channels, thus making a direct comparison with other providers impossible. The smallest package you can get from Sky is "2 Mixes" and this will cost you £15 per month. Although you do not need a telephone line to get the service installed (unless you take their Multi-room service) you will be charged a fee of £25. No phone means you won't be able to use any of their paid-for interactive services and will have to call them to order Sky Box Office movies and events. Although Sky will 'give' you the dish and box, they will only repair it free-of-charge while it is under guarantee in the first year

There is an alternative to subscribing to Sky. You can currently get FreesatFromSky. This will cost you £150 for the equipment (Satelite dish and STB) but you only get channels that are either Free-To-Air or Free-To-View. This will include most of the standard 'Freeview' channels. However, due to Channel 4's encyryption agreement with Sky, you will not be able to receive their E4 and More4 channels. This agreement is due to end sometime next year. If you have your own compatible dish and box already, you can get a card that will allow you to receive the following FTV channels: Channel 4, five, five US, five Life and Sky Three. This card costs £20.

Later this year, a consortium of UK broadcasters, inlcuding the BBC and ITV, hope to lauch their own Freesat service. For more information, click here.

FREEVIEW (Terrestrial)
Freeview is the cheapest way to 'go digital', with the price of the equipment starting from as little as £30, with nothing else to pay. However, you may need a new, digital aerial fitted and these can cost anything from £80 to around £150.

TOP UP TV (Terrestrial)
Top Up TV have recently introduced their new Top Up TV Anytime service, which offers over 100 programmes to watch at anyone time through a Digital Video Recorder. The programmes are specially selected from 19 digital channels including Disney, LIVINGtv, UKTV Gold and many more. The service costs just £9.99 a month plus the cost of the Top Up TV Anytime DVR, which is £180 for new customers.

	Provider	Cost	Channels	Contact
	Sky	£15-43.50 per month (plus £11 BT Line Rental)	Over 100 subscription channels and over 150 non-sub channels	08702 424242 Website
	FreeSat	One-off payment of £150 (or £20 if you already have a compatible dish and box.)	Over 150 Channels	08706 06 1111 Website
	Freeview	One-off payment. Digital Boxes from £30; Digital TVs from £100	Up to 40 standard channels	Website
	Top-Up-TV (only on Freeview platform)	£180 for the DVR and £9.99 monthly (Service not available without DVR)	Programming from 19 channels	0870 054 3210 Website
	Virgin Media	Basic Packge (similar to Freeview) is FREE with a VM phone-line for £11 per month. Other packages avialable.	Up to 130 channels, plus On-Demand films and TV programmes, for which extra charges may made.	0845 454 1111 Website