TalkTalk TV


TalkTalk TV is a UK-based consumer television and video on demand service, operated by the TalkTalk Group. In September 2012, TalkTalk TV was launched in partnership with YouView. Its television and video on demand service is delivered over a BT phone line, using ADSL or VDSL. It provides IPTV, video on demand, telephony and broadband internet access. The company features TalkTalk TV Lite or TalkTalk TV Plus. The TV Lite Box cannot record and only has the capability of pausing and rewinding for up to 30 Minutes. The TV Plus Box pausing and rewinding for up to 2 hours.

History

While TalkTalk TV in its current form launched in 2012, its predecessor dates back to 2000 when the UK's first video on demand service, HomeChoice, was launched, at first covering an area in north London. It was provided by Video Networks Limited, based in Shepherd's Bush in London, which utilised high speed ADSL connections. By 2003, HomeChoice had just 3,000 subscribers, compared to Sky's 7 million and over 2 million each for both Freeview and digital cable operators. HomeChoice avoided bankruptcy and relaunched in 2004, striking a deal with BSkyB to provide Sky Sports and Sky Movies to HomeChoice customers. HomeChoice was purchased by Tiscali UK in August 2006 and rebranded to Tiscali TV in February 2007, by which time it had 40,000 subscribers in areas of London and Stevenage.
On 30 June 2009, the European Union approved a deal in which The Carphone Warehouse would buy all the assets of Tiscali UK. As a result of Tiscali UK's acquisition, Tiscali TV was rebranded as TalkTalk TV in January 2010.
TalkTalk TV however struggled to compete against Sky, Virgin Media and BT's television services. On 20 October 2010, TalkTalk announced its plans to launch a new TV service in 2011, in a partnership with YouView. By the start of 2011, TalkTalk discontinued its existing TV service and removed it from their official site.
TalkTalk formally launched its YouView-based TV service in September 2012.
As of May 2013, TalkTalk TV was Britain's fastest growing TV service.
YouView launched a Netflix player for new and existing Netflix customers. This is now on retail boxes and this launched on TalkTalk in late 2015.

Channels and content

TalkTalk Plus TV is delivered by IPTV signals using a YouView set-top box. These boxes also allow access to digital terrestrial television signals using an additional aerial to watch Freeview channels. Originally all its channels and content were available on the TalkTalk Player without any EPG channel numbers. On 7 August 2013, the channels became available on the YouView EPG with channel numbering ranging from 401 to 599. The channels can be bought as packages or 'boosts' which can be changed every 30 days if desired. Customers can Record these 'Boost' channels, along with a new version of the TalkTalk Player. As of June 2015 the channels were re-numbered.
Current TalkTalk packages with the channel numbers are as follows :
NumberChannel NameBoost
301Sky OneTV Select
302Sky WitnessTV Select
303Sky ArtsTV Select
304Sky TwoTV Select
305Sky CrimeTV Select
307Comedy CentralTV Select
308Comedy Central ExtraEntertainment
309MTVTV Select
310GoldTV Select
311WEntertainment
312AlibiEntertainment
313Channel closed down on 12.09.2019Entertainment
314Gold +1TV Select
315EdenEntertainment
316FOXTV Select
317National GeographicTV Select
318Nat Geo WildEntertainment
319SYFYEntertainment
320Sky ComedyEntertainment
321E!Entertainment
327HistoryTV Select
328Crime + InvestigationTV Select
329LifetimeEntertainment
330History 2Entertainment
338ViceTV Select
512TCMEntertainment
401Sky Sports NewsTV Select
402Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports
403Sky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports
404Sky Sports FootballSky Sports
405Sky Sports CricketSky Sports
406Sky Sports GolfSky Sports
407Sky Sports F1Sky Sports
417Sky Sports ActionSky Sports
418Sky Sports ArenaSky Sports
419Sky Sports Box OfficeSky Sports
408BT Sport 1BT Sport
409BT Sport 2BT Sport
410BT Sport 3BT Sport
411BT Sport ESPNBT Sport
415Box NationBox Nation
450BT Sport Extra 1BT Sport
451BT Sport Extra 2BT Sport
452BT Sport Extra 3BT Sport
453BT Sport Extra 4BT Sport
454BT Sport Extra 5BT Sport
455BT Sport Extra 6BT Sport
480Disney ChannelKids
481Disney JuniorKids
482Disney XDKids
483NickelodeonKids
484Nick JrKids
485NicktoonsKids
486Cartoon NetworkKids
487BoomerangKids
488CartoonitoKids
489Baby TVKids
501Sky Cinema PremiereSky Cinema
502Sky Cinema ActionSky Cinema
503Sky Cinema DisneySky Cinema
504Sky Cinema HitsSky Cinema
505Sky Cinema FamilySky Cinema
506Sky Cinema ComedySky Cinema
507Sky Cinema HorrorSky Cinema
508Sky Cinema GreatsSky Cinema
509Sky Cinema ThrillerSky Cinema
510Sky Cinema SelectSky Cinema
511Sky Cinema RomanceSky Cinema
536MTV MusicEntertainment
537MTV HitsEntertainment
538MTV ClassicEntertainment
539MTV BaseEntertainment
540Club MTVEntertainment
541MTV RocksEntertainment
554Sony Channel AsiaAsian
555Zee TVAsian
556Zee CinemaAsian
557Sony MAXAsian

On Demand Services

Entertainment
Kids
Movies
Access
Access to the channels and the Video on demand is via a self branded set-top box that is connected to the customer's Television set. The current set-top box features an Aerial socket and a DVB-T receiver. A wireless router for internet access that connects to the set-top box is also provided.
TalkTalk+
TalkTalk+ includes a 160 GB hard-drive Digital video recorder, which holds 50 hours of recorded television and acts as a replacement for the standard set-top box. TalkTalk+ can simultaneously record up to three separate channels.
Service area
TalkTalk TV was initially only available in parts of London, Surrey and Hertfordshire. Since September 2007 Central and Northern England were TalkTalk TV enabled. Around 680 Telephone Exchanges are now Tiscali LLU enabled, mostly in London, Manchester, the Midlands and Yorkshire and a spattering throughout the rest of the country.
TV Services
The majority of standard UK channels are available, such as BBC One and BBC Two, as well as Premium channels such as Sky Movies and National Geographic Channel, depending on the selected package and corresponding price paid per month.
Video on Demand is available, depending on the selected package. All customers have access to a channel-specific 'catch up' service which allows customers to view a selection of programmes up to seven days after they were initially broadcast. Channels with the catch up service are: BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, Fox, ITV, ITV2, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC Channel, Channel 5 and CBeebies.
On 13 February 2007, HBO announced C1, its new VOD service was to become available on Tiscali TV.
British Sky Broadcasting announced that it was to supply Tiscali TV with its basic TV package including Sky1, Sky2, Sky Arts, Sky News and Sky Sports News.
TalkTalk TV packages as of 2010 are: