TopUpTV
Top Up TV in the UK officially launched in March, 2004. Top Up TV offers ten channels that are not available on Freeview with their subscription plans. These include UK Style, UKTV Gold, Discovery, UK Food, Toonami, Eurosport, TCM, Cartoon Network, Bloomberg, and Boomerang.
Top Up TV began to scale down the broadcasting of these live television channels at the end of 2006, and moved to a new service known as Top Up TV Anytime.
The original and basic - Top Up TV Service
The original Top Up TV bundle that was £7.99 for 11 channels is not available any longer. It was phased out as this branch moved over to its Anytime service. Customers who did not make the switch to Anytime are still receiving a reduced live TV service. However, the customers are only receiving a small amount of content. As of August, 2007, the live channels that are being broadcast on Top Up TV are the following:
• Channel 17 - UKTV Gold (is broadcast from 5pm - 11:30pm)
• Channel 26 - UKTV Style (is being broadcast from 1pm - 4pm)
• Channel 33 - Eurosport UK (is being televised from 7:30am - 10:30am)
The basic service is not available for new customers - the main offering for new customers now is Top Up TV Anytime.
Top Up TV Anytime?
Top Up TV Anytime made its official launch in November of 2006. This is a hard-disk based method that uses a specialized set-top box in order to record a certain number of television programmes from Top Up's listing of channels. You then record the programme onto the box’s built-in-hard disk in the off-peak hours. This way you can watch them at your convenience the next day.
The following channels are available from Top Up Anytime: UKTV Gold, Hallmark Channel, Discovery Factual, MTV, Warner TV, UKTV Food, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Paramount Comedy, Living TV, Discovery Lifestyle, TCM, Life & Times, UKTV Style, Cartoon Network, and CNN Too.
In order to get the ‘Anytime’ service, you will first need to purchase an Anytime set-top box. You can get this at a cost of £99.99, and you will be able to order this online from Empire Direct. The subscription for this is only £9.99 a month.
What do I do to get Top Up TV?
In order to subscribe to Top Up TV, you must first have to live in a Freeview coverage area. Your digital TV set or the Freeview set-top box must be able to receive Freeview Channel 5. This is on the same list of channels that you get when you’re on the Top Up TV service.
Anytime’s Subscription
The monthly cost is just £9.99 a month and you can pay for this by direct debit. When you get a subscription to Top Up TV Anytime, you will get to have access to all of the Freeview channels. You will also be able to get up to 100 hours of television content that will be downloaded to the specialized ‘Anytime’ box overnight that can be viewed on-demand. This service will only work with the new Anytime box that Top Up TV has put out. This special box holds as much as 180 hours of TV and will allow someone to freeze live Freeview TV. This box comes with a 14-day programme guide. You can get this box if you are:
• An existing and new Top Up customer: You can get Top Up TV Anytime for only £89.99. You can order this box online from Empire Direct.
What Kind of Set-top Box Will I Need?
Until 2007, you could only get as many as 11 extra television channels with Top Up TV with only using a Freeview box that has a card slot. You could also have a television that already accepts a subscription card. In 2007, this service was phased out by Top Up TV and it was replaced with “Top Up TV Anytime.” Here is what you need to do in order to get the service:
* The Anytime Box – Top Up[ TV Anytime will offer the Freeview TV + radio channels, a small quantity of extra live programming such as UKTV Style, GOLD and just a few hours of Eurosport + as much as 100 hours of extra programming which can be seen on demand. For new customers, this is priced at £99.99.
Other Digital TV Options
Sky |
BT Vision |
Virgin Media |
Top UP TV |
Tiscali |
What are these?