Sky Sports News now in High Definition
Launching this week is Sky digital TV‘s latest HD channel, and one that will have the boys drooling in more ways than one! Sky Sports News HD launched on Monday and is available in the UK and ROI for all customers who have the News & Events Pack or any Sports HD Pack. Based on channel 455 (note to self: 455 not 408!), Sky Sports News HD will offer a bigger and better widescreen viewing experience and new graphics.
Sky Sports News is the number one choice for all the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and is certainly the first channel that gets turned on in my house! Plus I can’t think of a better reason to watch Sky Sports News HD than to see Georgie Thompson in High Definition (though what she sees in ‘multimillionaire’ Declan Donnelly is anyone’s guess!)
Plus if you order you’re Sky+ bundle today with Sky Sports, not only will you get ESPN absolutely free for 3 months, but you will also receive a free £25 M&S voucher with every order!
> > Click here to order Sky TV today
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Virgin Media Launch Sofa Stadium Soccer Application
Virgin Media broadband is launching a new exciting online football application where you can vote on player performance, complain about a terrible refereeing decision, and join other fans across the country cheering or jeering whilst watching a live match on TV. Sofa Stadium will incorporate tons of match statistics and real-time voting, and run alongside live Premier League football matches on TV.
This awesome new service is completely free to anyone with an internet connection, and is great for all those football fans who like to let their feelings be known and have a good rant (show me one that doesn’t!). Sofa Stadium lets you, the fans, vote for your favourite player, banter with other supporters online, and enjoy comprehensive match stats to enjoy whilst the game is in progress.
Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, said -
Sofa Stadium is the perfect place for armchair supporters, commentators and managers alike, to get actively involved in football, and a brilliant way to bring together the multi-screen entertainment experience. A perfect companion for fans looking to get the most of their football experience, Sofa Stadium provides an incredible way to enjoy the beautiful game, especially with Sky Sports now available in HD on Virgin Media.
Plus with fans being able to see what people are saying via Tweet Watch and Facebook, all the sofa social circles will be completely covered too. Launched on the opening weekend of the season, Sofa Stadium is sure to be a massive hit with fans up and down the country, so why not check it out and get your opinions out there!
> > Click here to check out Sofa Stadium
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3 Months Free with PlusNet Broadband – Offer ends 31-08-10
PlusNet broadband are offering their excellent value connection for only £6.49 a month, and if you sign up before midnight on Tuesday 31st August 2010 you will now receive 3 months absolutely free! This awesome deal is perfect for those looking for a simple and cost effective home broadband solution, and provides -
- Up to 20MB speeds
- 10GB Usage Allowance
- Unlimited overnight usage
- Free Wireless Router (worth £40)
- 24/7 Support
PlusNet broadband was voted ‘Best Value Home Broadband’ in last years Top 10 Broadband Awards, and at these prices it’s not hard to see why! Add to that the fact you can receive extra discounts on your bill if you recommend a friend to PlusNet’s award winning service, it’s easy to see why more and more people are switching providers to take advantage of these great prices.
> > Click here to order PlusNet broadband
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UK Begins To Lag In Broadband Speeds
A new report released this week suggests that the United Kingdom has begun to lag when it comes to broadband speeds. The report titled “state of the internet” and authored by consultancy Akami suggests that during the first quarter of this year, the UK held the 27th spot in a ranking 0f 201 countries, and that broadband users had an average speed of 2.8 Mbps. This is down from 23rd place in the report from the fourth quarter of 2009.
South Korea was the top ranking country, clocking an average speed of 12Mbps, which was then followed by Hong Kong with 9 Mbps and then Japan with an average speed of 7.8 Mbps. Britain also failed to make it into the top 100 cities list with the fastest broadband. Japan dominated that particular ranking with 53 cities in the list, followed by South Korea with 11.
In fact only eight European cities across five countries made the list, four of which are in Romania. Britain and Germany were the only two nations surveyed in the report which failed to show accelerated growth in internet penetration during the quarter.
A recent OFCOM report found that Virgin Media Cable Broadband currently has the top available speeds in the UK – their “up to” 50Mb cable service delivered on average download speeds of around 36Mbit/s with single thread tests and around 46Mb with multi-thread tests conducted between 4 and 6am.
Use our post code checker to compare broadband providers and see the best package for your needs.
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Virgin Media Broadband Streets Ahead in Ofcom Testing
Virgin Media broadband came out on top of OFCOM’s 10MB and 20MB UK speed comparison tests, whose figures were published on Tuesday 27th July 2010. In both studies Virgin Media offered almost DOUBLE the average broadband speed of the nearest competitor between the peak hours of 8-10pm.
OFCOM research provides the UK’s most comprehensive internet speed survey, and shows that the countries residential broadband speeds have risen nationally by 25% over the past 12 months. The survey does however show that many providers advertised service are not exactly what is available for many customers. Cable broadband was shown to deliver much faster download speeds than other services available, with OFCOM’s findings including -
Virgin Media’s ‘up to’ 10Mbit/s and ‘up to’ 20Mbit/s cable services delivered average download speeds around twice as fast as DSL packages with the same or similar headline speed.
Virgin Media’s ‘up to’ 50Mbit/s cable service was the fastest service tested, delivering average download speeds of around 36Mbit/s with single thread tests and around 46Mbit/s with multi-thread tests conducted between 4 and 6am. A single thread test involves downloading a single file, while a multi-thread test involves conducting three file downloads simultaneously, which is more typical of the way heavy internet users consume broadband.
> > Click here for OFCOM’s full report
As you can see, Virgin Media delivers a great selection of top end speeds across all their packages. When it comes to choosing a broadband provider, OFCOM’s findings show that when you require power and speed, Virgin Media broadband truly is top of the pile.
> > Click here to order Virgin Media
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ESPN Free for 3 Months with Sky Sports – Offer ends 31-08-10
Sky digital TV is currently offering the awesome ESPN channel for free for 3 months when you order Sky Sports bundle package online before midnight on Tuesday 31st August 2010. ESPN is perfect for all those football nuts out there, with 23 exclusive Premier League games, 25 FA Cup fixtures, plus all the latest games from the Scottish Premiership, German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A. Add that to all the baseball, ice hockey, golf, 20/20 cricket and motor sport, and you could say that ESPN has all the bases covered!
This great new deal offers -
- Free Sky+ box & free standard set up
- Free Sky Sports on your laptop and iPhone until end 2010
- Free ESPN for 3 months
- Free 20Mb broadband
This superb deal is only available until the end of August 2010, so be sure to order as soon as possible if you want to take advantage of this great deal, only available online with Sky digital TV.
> > Order Sky digital TV today
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Virgin Media Sign Sky Sports 1 & 2HD
Virgin television is the latest company to sign up Sky Sports 1 & 2 to their Virgin media package offerings. The new sports channels will be available from Monday 2nd August 2010 and will cost only £7 per month on any TV package. Both channels will also be available in high definition when subscribing to the optional HD subscription which also covers all ten Sky Movies channels.
Sky Sports is the latest addition to Virgin Media’s stellar cast of HD channels, and is sure to be the jewel in the crown of their diverse and compelling range of HD sports to enjoy. Featuring all the best Premier League football, international cricket and rugby union, Sky Sports is arguably the best sporting channel in the world, and at just £7 a month is an absolute bargain.
Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, said -
As the new home of HD telly, we’re delighted to bring our customers Sky Sports in HD at incredibly competitive rates. With the rapid growth of HD content, customers are demanding more and more from their TV service, and with our growing range of HD channels and on demand content in HD, Virgin Media is the best place for the whole families’ entertainment needs.
With the new Premiership season just around the corner, now is a great time to order with Virgin Media. Plus with the much anticipated Ashes Series due in the winter in glorious HD, you need not miss any of the action both home and abroad with this low cost alternative to Sky TV.
> > Click here to order Virgin Media TV
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2 Months Free Unlimited and Pro with Be Broadband – Offer ends 31-08-10
* * STOP PRESS * * EXTENDED TILL 31-08-10
BE Broadband as just won the ‘Best Consumer Fixed Broadband ISP’ at the 2010 ISPA Awards, and to celebrate are offering 2 Months Free on their ‘Unlimited’ and ‘Pro’ packages. Simply add the voucher code -
FREEMONTHS
when ordering to take advantage of this great offer, which can save you over £40! Both of these packages offer -
- Unlimited downloads
- 24Meg Downlaod speeds
- Wireless modem
- Free 24 hour support
This great offer is only available for a very limited time, so if you’re in the market for a professional broadband service at a price that’s right, look no further than this great deal from BE broadband.
* * STOP PRESS * * EXTENDED TILL 31-08-10
> > Click here to order BE Broadband
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Virgin Media Welcome Channel Five High Definition
Virgin Media television will be making Channel Five’s new High Definition channel, Five HD, available to it’s 3.7 million TV subscribers for no extra monthly fee. Five HD, will feature Aussie soaps Neighbours and Home & Away and some of the best American dramas available, Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order, as well as great sporting coverage of International Cricket and The Europa League football.
Five’s Director of Strategy, Charles Constable, said -
We broadcast so many high quality series shot in HD, such as Don’t Stop Believing and our line-up of great US dramas, so our schedule is really suited to fantastic picture quality. Five HD is a great addition to our channel portfolio.
Virgin Media TV now has 13 HD channels launched to date, with a further 20, including Sky Sports and Movies, expected later this summer. They also have hundreds of hours of HD TV on demand, which is available as and when you are ready at the touch of a button. As well as a great selection of television series’, there’s also a wide variety of blockbuster movies to watch, not to mention the BBC iPlayer HD. In fact, in the first three months of this year alone, customers have collectively viewed on demand content on their TV’s a staggering 200 million times!
Executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, said -
Five is delivering some really innovative schedules; picking some outstanding international series and pairing them with original home-grown shows. Our customers will now be able to enjoy the HD channels of every national terrestrial broadcaster as well as a rapidly growing roster from other broadcasters so we’re delighted to give our customers Five, in HD.
> > Click here to order Virgin TV
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Full Sports Packages Only With Sky TV
Sky digital TV is still the only place to watch ALL the biggest sporting events from around the globe on their 5 sports channels and 4 HD channels. With BT recently announcing that they have secured the rights to Sky Sports 1 and 2, Sky TV is still the best place to catch all the action, plus it’s also available in beautiful HD. High definition really does make a big difference to your viewing quality, and as a recent subscriber myself, I generally check to see if anything I’m intending on watching is available in HD first.
For an additional £10 a month with Sky, you can now receive -
- 5 channels of live sports and sports news
- 4 high definition channels
- Red button interactivity for match choice
- 24/7 Sky Sports News – soon in HD
Plus all new Sky customers will receive a free £25 M&S Voucher with any order, even more reason to order your Sky Sports package online today!
> > Click here to order Sky Sports today
Please Note - All Prices Quoted Are Correct at Time of Posting