TV Communication Option in London:
To watch television you must obtain a TV License, which you can purchase online through this site and pay via direct debit: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk. A colour license costs £145.50 per year but can be paid in monthly installments. One license covers one household. Even if you watch TV on your monitor set or your phone, you must have a license. Fines are up to £1000 if you do not. If you change homes, you transfer your license to your new address.
Free Television
If you have a basic TV and aerial you can access BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. BBC runs everything from news to soap operas and comedies. Channel 4 is a bit more artistic and airs more controversial shows and documentaries. The other channels have a mix of comedy, drama and reality shows.
Freeview: http://www.freeview.co.uk
This is your best bet to obtaining hundreds of channels for ‘free’. New TVs come with Freeview. If you have an older TV, you can buy a Freeview receiver for less than £20 from Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk). Film 4 and BBC 3 are two channels that come with Freeview.
Cable and Satellite TV
To watch channels from your home country you will need cable, a satellite dish or an internet tuner. There are a plethora of companies that offer these services, which you can compare on http://www.uswitch.com.
The best known is Sky: http://www.sky.com
Sky is the premier digital satellite service in London. Entertainment packages start at £21 per month. If you’re a sports enthusiast you will definitely want Sky Sports. Combined entertainment and sports packages start at £43 per month. To set Sky up you will need a mini satellite dish and a Sky digi-box. You can also call a TV or Sky engineer who will do the work for you, there is a charge which varies according to your area, approximately £50 and usually you will have to pay upfront. An appointment is necessary but they are very prompt.
Its direct competitor is Virgin: http://www.virginmedia.com It is about the same process as above except that Virgin uses cables rather than mini-satellite dishes. In both cases the whole process should take about 1 hour to install, but it could run over if the engineer hits a problem such as a broken cable in the street.
In certain areas, such as conservation areas, it is not allowed to have a satellite dish in full view.
Internet Television
Most channels now offer the ability to watch their shows either live on the go or download recent episodes (normally up to 7 days) either on your computer or via a smartphone or tablet.
- BBC iPlayer – http://www.bbc.co.uk/
- ITV Player – https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/
- Channel 4 4oD – http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od
- Channel 5 Demand 5 – http://www.channel5.com/demand5
- Sky Go – http://go.sky.com/
Alongside these Netflix and other streaming TV/movie services now have a presence in the UK.
