BT TV is bringing back an updated version of one of its popular deals, this time with a 24-months-long discount on its Entertainment and Sport add-ons, for new and existing BT Broadband customers.
The TV bundle includes a subscription to two popular streaming services, or a bundle of sports channels – along with BT’s 4K YouView recorder box, which also lets you watch Freeview without an aerial.
The current discount comes a few months after BT increased the costs of its TV packages – with more price hikes expected in March for some of BT’s existing customers.
BT’s Entertainment Package offers the “Basic” Netflix subscription, Sky’s NOW Entertainment membership, and the 4K Pro box – and it normally costs £18/month.
For a limited time, however, BT is offering the same package for just £10/month – with a 24 months contract – for new and existing BT Broadband customers.
The Sport bundle doesn’t include Netflix or NOW, but includes all 4 BT Sport channels, along with Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, the AMC Channel and the BT TV 4K Pro Box.
Normally it costs £17/month – but with the current offer, you can get it for £10/month – again, with a 24 months contract.
Furthermore, all BT Sport subscribers now get the Discovery+ streaming service at no extra cost – so that’s included in the £10 bundle.
Last time we saw a similar deal from BT, prices were cut in half – but only for 6 months. This time around, the discounts will last for the whole duration of your contract.
Well, almost – since the price of the Sport and TV bundles will increase every March by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation plus 3.9% (just like BT’s broadband).
So if you get these packages at a discount – you’re basically getting a guarantee for a price increase in just a month (though it may still be a good deal for some – see full details below.)
The BT TV Box Pro, which you get as a part of this bundle (as a loan – you don’t own the box), recently got upgraded with a new ‘Internet Mode’ – which finally lets you watch some Freeview channels without an aerial.
The offer is available to both new AND existing BT customers (with a few caveats), but it’s only available until February 28.
BT’s TV Platform Explained
BT has been bundling Netflix into its TV packages since 2021, shortly after launching its 4K BT TV Box Pro box.
The box is a 4K/HDR YouView-based device with streaming apps and plenty of storage for Freeview recordings. It supports Dolby Atmos sound, has 4 tuners (so you can record up to 3 shows on separate channels and watch a fourth), 1TB of storage, a Bluetooth remote and WiFi/Ethernet connectivity.
The BT TV Box Pro also has a long list of supported streaming apps – Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, NOW, Britbox, BT Sport, BT Player, Milkshake and more, as well as all the standard catch-up streaming apps – BBC iPlayer, ITVX, All4, My5, UKTV Play, S4C, STV Player and BBC Sounds.
Strangely, however, even though BT Sport subscribers now get Discovery+ for free – BT’s own box doesn’t support the Discovery+ app – though it will supposedly be added in the future.
In addition to the streaming apps, you can use BT’s box to watch many (but not all) Freeview channels without an aerial – and even record programmes from those channels to its internal storage, something both Sky Glass / Sky Stream and Virgin’s Stream Box can’t do.
For those who want to watch in more rooms – BT also offers the BT TV Mini Box, which includes streaming apps and the ability to stream Freeview channels via broadband – but it doesn’t have any recording capabilities.
BT’s “Flexible” TV packages are attached to BT’s broadband plans (you can’t get BT TV on its own, except for BT Sport, which is also available as a monthly pass and on Sky and Virgin Media).
The BT TV packages, along with BT’s broadband, come with a 24-months contract – so in practice, they’re not very “flexible” – not as flexible as standard streaming services, at least.
But the flexible part comes from being able to change your TV package every 30 days – switch from Entertainment to Sports, cancel one and add another, or just get the VIP package which includes everything (but you can’t cancel the TV contract completely, until your contract is up).
However, if you switch from the Netflix and NOW package, or the Sport bundle, you will most likely not be able to get it back at the £10/month price point – so be careful with that.
In addition to seamlessly switching between packages, customers can also attach stand-alone add-ons to their packages – such as Sky’s NOW streaming plans, Amazon’s Prime Video, and more – or upgrade to Netflix’s higher tiers (to get 4K content, for example).
BT TV’s £10 Offers
From now until February 28, you can get two of BT TV’s bundles for £10/month each – Entertainment and Sport. There are additional discounts for new broadband bundles.
The Entertainment package is available for existing BT customers as an add-on, or for new customers who sign up for BT’s broadband. It includes:
- Sky’s streaming service – NOW – with its Entertainment Membership, which includes Sky’s TV channels such as Sky Atlantic and Sky Max.
- Netflix’s Basic Plan – This plan lets you watch on one device at a time, with 720p picture quality. Note that this isn’t Netflix’s Basic with Ads tier – so you won’t see adverts.
- The AMC Channel, which is exclusive to BT TV and includes American shows and films.
- The BT TV 4K Pro Box
You can now get this package for £10/month (instead of £18/month), for the entire duration of your contract – 24 months.
The Sport package doesn’t include any of the entertainment streaming services, but it does include:
- All 4 BT Sport channels
- The AMC Channel
- Discovery+ (which includes Eurosport)
You can now get this package for £10/month (instead of £17/month), for the entire duration of your contract – 24 months.
There are additional BT TV content packages – like Big Entertainment (which includes Sky Cinema) and VIP (which includes everything) – but those aren’t currently discounted.
Is The BT TV £10/Month Deal Worth It?
Unlike recent deals where the discounts were only active for 6 months – this time they’re going to last for the entire duration of the contract – except for the annual inflation-based price increases.
So let’s start with the Entertainment bundle:
Without BT, the Basic Netflix plan normally costs £6.99/month (after last year’s price increase), and the NOW Entertainment membership costs £9.99/month if you buy it directly – so £16.98/month in total (and that’s without taking into account the fact that you can almost always find cheaper NOW deals).
Furthermore, Netflix recently launched its ad-supported tier, which costs £4.99/month – so if you’re willing to watch adverts, you’ll pay even less.
So, at the regular BT price of £18/month, not only are you not saving money with the BT Entertainment Package – you’re actually paying more, unless you take into account the BT TV Pro 4K box.
A similar Freeview recorder, which also includes streaming apps, like the Humax Aura (see our review), costs around £250. So you’re basically getting an expensive recorder/streaming box at no extra cost (but you have to give it back if you leave BT).
With the current offer, however, you’ll be paying just £10/month for 24 months.
So looking at the price alone, it’s a good deal, as you’re getting a real discount.
BUT… remember you’re also signing up for BT’s broadband service, which may not necessarily be the cheapest or the best in your particular situation/address.
Furthermore – you’re signing up for 24 months. I’m not a big fan of long TV contracts, and you lose the flexibility that cord cutting normally gives you, when you sign up for a Netflix/NOW package for 24 months.
However, if you were going to sign up for BT’s broadband anyway – and you know you’ll definitely want a TV package for 24 months – then you might as well save some money, at which point this deal becomes somewhat favourable.
Things are a bit more complicated with the Sport bundle. It’s hard to compare BT Sport’s prices, because every pay-TV service offers it at different price points and with changing deals.
If you look at the standalone BT Sport Monthly Pass streaming subscription – it now costs £29.99/month – so obviously, if you’re a BT Sport fan, getting it for £10/month (along with Discovery+ and Eurosport) is a no-brainer.
But, again – this means signing up for BT’s broadband and its TV service for 24 months – so it’s only a good deal if you’re willing to lose some flexibility.