Sky free-to-air satellite
Price £150 one-off payment with no monthly subscription fee. But this will only be available from Sky, not high street stores, and the price is unlikely to come down.
Services 116 TV channels and 81 radio stations. TV options include the BBC's eight digital channels plus ITV1, Channel 4, Five and Sky News. Other free channels include QVC, Fashion TV, Chart Show TV and the God Channel.
But it will not include premium services such as Sky Movies and Sky Sports, Sky One, E4 and MTV. Viewers will have to take out a Sky subscription.
Equipment A satellite dish, receiver, viewing card and installation by a Sky engineer are included in the price.
Reception 97% of the UK, according to Ofcom.
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Freeview
Price About £60 one-off payment with no monthly subscription fee. The price has been going down since the service launched in 2002 thanks to competition between manufacturers and shops.
Services 30 TV channels and 21 radio stations. TV options include the BBC's eight digital channels plus ITV1, Channel 4, Five and Sky News. Other free channels include QVC, UKTV History, The Hits and Sky Sports News.
But it does not include premium services such as movies and live sport channels, Sky One, E4 and MTV. Some extra channels - including E4, UKTV Gold and Discovery - are available via a separate subscription service, Top-Up TV.
Equipment Set-top receiver that takes its signal from an existing TV aerial. Some new TV sets have these receivers built in. But some viewers may need an aerial upgrade.
Reception 73% of UK households get all channels, with another 7% receiving some channels, according to Ofcom.
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