BT VIP Package

BT's VIP package is their top-tier TV plan, bundling all the premium content a home could want, and all in HD.

Price:

Content:

Features:

Flexibility:

BT VIP is the biggest TV package available with BT broadband and includes a large array of premium TV content along with the BT TV Box Pro.

The plan includes Sky Sports HD, Sky Cinema HD, Sky Entertainment HD, TNT Sports HD & 4K, Eurosport 1 & 2, and Netflix Standard.

VIP can be bundled with any BT broadband package, although customers will need a minimum download speed of 44Mbps for 4K content.

At a glance

	Package	TV	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Full Works + Fibre 2	125	67Mb average	£107.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Free setup (was £61.99) + (Ends 16/05/2024)

Is the BT VIP package right for me?

The BT VIP package is the largest TV plan available with BT broadband and includes all of the content available on BT TV.

While it's best suited to households who want to watch a bit of everything, it's also extremely flexible and allows customers to downgrade to other BT TV packages on a monthly basis.

The BT VIP package includes:

• Sky entertainment, including Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, and Sky Showcase
• Sky Cinema in HD
• Sky Sports in HD
• TNT Sports in HD, TNT Sports Ultimate, and Eurosport 1 & 2
• Netflix Standard

It's a lot of content and its likely to best suit larger households with multiple occupants who want to watch different programmes at different times. It's also possible to subscribe to BT Extra Room which includes a wireless TV box so all the content can be viewed in a second room.

The ability to downgrade from VIP to any of the other BT TV packages, including Big Entertainment, or Sport, widens the suitability to customers who might only want the additional content during the holidays or for a particular sports season.

In addition, the BT VIP package can be bundled with any of BT's broadband packages, so it can be access by those both in part-fibre as well as full fibre locations. However, BT do say those who want to watch content in 4K or Ultra HD will need a minimum broadband speed of 44Mbps.

What does the BT VIP package offer?

BT VIP is the highest-tier package on BT TV and includes all of the channel packs available on the platform, as well as access to Freeview and the BT TV Box Pro.

The content available in the VIP package includes all that in the Big Entertainment and Big Sports packages, as well as Netflix Standard, and the HD pack with NOW Boost.

Here's how much the BT VIP package currently costs:

	Package	TV	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Full Works + Fibre 2	125	67Mb average	£107.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + Free setup (was £61.99) + (Ends 16/05/2024)
Go	Full Works + Full Fibre 100	125	150Mb average	£108.99	£31.99	24 months
	Offer: £50 BT Virtual Reward Card + No setup fees on BT TV save £30 (Ends 16/05/2024)

While BT VIP can be taken with any BT broadband deal, Fibre 1 plans and above are arguable best suited to the TV package and the HD content due to minimum speeds.

It's an expensive plan that will likely best suit customers for short periods at a time, and while the minimum term on the TV service is 24-months, customers can downgrade to a different BT TV package on a monthly basis.

Is the BT VIP package worth the cost?

The price of BT VIP is £76 per month on top of any broadband subscription cost. When we break it down then, we can see whether it's worth the cost.

When we look at the monthly price of the TV content included in the VIP package if we were to subscribe to these services separately it would come to over £100 a month.

These prices are based on rolling monthly contracts taken directly from the providers, which in this case would be NOW, Netflix, and Discovery for TNT Sports.

In comparison, BT VIP costs around the same but with broadband included, so effectively saves customers around £25 per month. Although, these savings really only benefit those who watch everything included, otherwise they may be better off choosing a different BT TV package.

TV content

The BT VIP package includes all of the content available on the BT TV platform, combining the Big Entertainment and Big Sports package, and adding Netflix Standard and the HD pack.

BT TV customers get the BT TV Box Pro, which offers support for Freeview through an aerial connection. While it's possible to watch some Freeview content over the Internet, it won't cover all channels.

The premium content in the BT VIP package come from subscriptions to the following on-demand services:

• NOW Entertainment
• NOW Cinema
• NOW Sports
• Discovery+ Premium
• Netflix Standard

Customers will also get BT's HD pack, boosting TNT Sports to HD, as well as NOW Boost which also boosts all Sky content to full 1080p HD and includes ad-skipping.

The NOW Memberships and TNT Sports packs include live channels as well as on-demand content through the NOW and Discovery+ apps.

NOW Entertainment

The premium entertainment channels included in the BT VIP package come from the NOW Entertainment Membership.

This includes the following channels:

All of the above channels are available on a live basis, apart from Peacock which is an on-demand only service. Customers also get on-demand content from the above channels, aprt from Sky Showcase and NBC News NOW which are live only channels.

For those with kids, the NOW Entertainment plan includes seven kids channels, and on-demand box sets from Milkshake!, CBeebies and CBBC.

One benefit of BT TV over say, Virgin Media, is the Entertainment plan here includes access to Sky Atlantic, which is usually exclusive to Sky and isn't available with Virgin.

NOW Cinema

The BT VIP package includes everything in the Big Entertainment plan, which means customers get all 11 Sky Cinema channels, as well as access to over 1,000 movies on-demand.

The Sky Cinema pack includes the following channels:

Sky Cinema adds three to four premieres each week, usually added over the weekend.

The major bonus of the BT VIP package over the Big Entertainment plan is that it includes NOW Boost for free, which means the Sky Cinema channels come in full 1080p HD and ad-skipping, so any on-demand movies will be ad-free.

NOW Sports & Discovery+ Premium

One of the main attractions of the BT VIP package is the sheer amount of sports content on offer.

The plan includes both the Sky Sports pack, as well as a Discovery+ Premium membership, which covers both TNT Sports and Eurosport channels.

The sports channels included in the VIP package are:

The VIP plan is one of the most comprehensive sport packages available on pay TV in the UK and it's all included in full HD as standard, with the TNT Sports Ultimate channel in Ultra HD.

BT say it covers more than 20 of the top sporting competitions in the world including Premier League and UEFA Champions League football, The Open golf and NBA.

Read more on the cheapest ways to get Sky Sports and BT Sports (now TNT Sports).

Netflix Standard

The BT VIP package also includes Netflix Standard, which isn't part of either the Big Entertainment or Big Sports packages.

Netflix Standard usually costs £10.99 per month and includes Netflix in full 1080p HD, with the option to watch on up to two screens at the same time.

BT TV customers will be able to watch Netflix on their main TV screen through the BT TV Box Pro, as well as on a second box if they also take an Extra Box subscription.

BT TV Box Pro

All BT VIP customers receive the latest BT TV Box Pro with their TV subscription. This box was released in mid-2021 and is now the standard set-top box for BT TV customers across all packages.

The BT TV Box Pro has impressive specifications:

BT TV VIP customers can record up to 600 hours of shows and films in standard definition (SD), although this figure shrinks as the quality goes up so expect around 300 hours if you record in HD.

The most innovative feature of this TV box is the wireless connectivity and the BT TV Pro Box was the first set-top box from a big player to allow customers to stream their subscription content over wi-fi without the need for wires.

A 1.5 metre Ethernet cable is included in the box if customers prefer to hook the Pro up with wires, but the option to operate it over wi-fi will be freeing for many.

As well as being the viewing platform for live channels, the BT TV Box Pro is also the portal to all the on-demand content available to customers.

This includes content in their subscriptions (including Netflix) but there are other apps included on the YouView platform such as BritBox, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer.

Other streaming services may require additional subscriptions and it's worth noting the third most popular streaming service in the UK - Disney+ - is unavailable on the BT TV Box Pro.

It's also running somewhat behind boxes from both Sky and Virgin Media, and misses out on newer services including Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Lionsgate+.

Extra Room

BT VIP can be turned into a multiroom package if customers pay an extra £10 per month for the basic BT TV mini box.

A BT TV mini box is a non-recordable piece of equipment that allows customers to pause and rewind live TV for up to 30 minutes and watch Freeview and subscription channels alongside any on-demand players like BBC iPlayer.

As we explain in our guide to multiroom services, the BT TV multiroom option isn't as comprehensive as other providers since customers can only add a single extra box but, on the other hand, it's much cheaper than the multiroom services from Sky and Virgin Media, and the wireless box means installation is very easy.

Verdict: Is the BT VIP package any good?

The VIP package from BT TV is the best BT has to offer with plenty of premium channels including all the sports and movies channels available from Sky.

This gives a good range of channels, but it's important to highlight that channels are limited in comparison to the full pay TV service from Sky or Virgin Media. That said, BT TV has some benefits over these services.

The NOW Boost ad-skipping service offers on-demand programmes ad-free, which is better than Sky where ads still exist in on-demand content.

In addition, BT TV beats getting a subscription directly with NOW as customers are uniquely able to pause, rewind and record content with the BT TV Box Pro.

For customers who want to combine the most comprehensive TV package available from BT with their broadband, the BT VIP package is the ultimate answer.

While its more expensive than equivalent plans from Virgin Media, like the Ultimate Volt, the ability to downgrade on a monthly basis provides some assurances to those who don't want to spend quite as much all of the time.