Sky TV & broadband vs Virgin Media

While Sky and Virgin Media are both popular broadband providers, they're especially dominant when it comes to TV and broadband bundles – together they're responsible for three quarters of bundle customers.

It's perhaps not surprising. The two companies are well known, and both offer a wide range of content across hundreds of channels. But which should you choose when taking out a new deal? Read on to find out how they compare.

To discover how the two compared with rival providers, head to our round-up of the best and worst TV and broadband providers.

Sky TV and Virgin Media: which is best?

Sky is best known as a pay-TV provider, although it also offers broadband, home phone and now mobile phone services. Like BT, EE and TalkTalk, Sky's broadband service is supplied using the Openreach network. Its TV channels were traditionally received by a satellite dish attached to your property, although now they'll usually come via your broadband connection.

In contrast, Virgin Media specialises in broadband, although it also offers pay TV, and home and mobile phone options. Virgin's TV services are supplied through its own fibre-optic network, which consistently offers fast broadband speeds but isn't as widely available as Openreach.

Both providers offer long contracts – typically 18 or 24 months.

To help you compare the two providers and weigh up which would be best for you, we've pulled the key details into the table below.

Sky TV and Virgin Media compared

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Sky and Virgin Media – which offers better broadband?

Virgin Media's strength is its broadband service. Because it runs on fibre cables, it offers some of the fastest speeds available from mainstream providers – its popular TV and broadband deals have average speeds of 132Mbps, 362Mbps, 516Mbps or an eye-watering 1,130Mbps (1.1Gbps). Late last year, Virgin Media also started offering a 2000Mbps (2Gbps) service, although this isn't available across its whole network (it can currently only be accessed in around a million premises throughout the country).

Virgin Media's packages also include unlimited downloads, and it no longer applies traffic management to downloads or uploads. You can sign up for a Virgin Media broadband deal without paying for a home phone service, although the promotional deals it offers (on broadband and phone deals) mean that this doesn't always work out cheaper.

Sky offers the typical speeds seen from providers using the Openreach network. Its very widely available fibre offerings have average speeds between 35Mbps and 61Mbps. Nearly two thirds of customers can also access Sky's full fibre deals, which have average speeds of 36Mbps, 61Mbps, 100Mbps, 145Mbps, 500Mbps and 900Mbps. Lightning-fast speeds as high as 5Gbps (5000Mbps) are also available in a handful of areas, outshining the fastest speed offered by Virgin Media - but only around one in 10 UK homes can access this gigabit broadband via Sky, so it's less widely available than Virgin Media's 2Gbps gigabit broadband offering.

Like Virgin Media, Sky doesn't apply any traffic management; its packages include unlimited data, and you don't have to take a phone line if you won't use it.

Read our in-depth round-ups of the TV and broadband services offered by Sky and Virgin Media – and how satisfied their customers are – using our TV and broadband provider reviews.

Is Sky or Virgin Media better for a home phone?

Sky's basic broadband, TV and phone deals don't have any inclusive calls – you'll either need to pay as you go or add a calling plan. The cheapest calling plan provides free evening and weekend calls to UK mobiles and landlines, and usually costs £5.75 a month, although Sky may offer discounts on this.

Virgin Media's TV and broadband packages include free weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers.

Read our reviews of the best cordless home phones to see which models rate for call quality, nuisance call blocking and other handy features.

How do Sky and Virgin Media's pay TV services compare?

While Virgin Media is well known for its broadband, Sky is the king of pay TV – it does deals that are limited to free-to-air channels, but if you opt for its pay-TV package, you'll get more than 300 channels, including Sky Atlantic – home to popular shows such as House of the Dragon, The Last of Us and The White Lotus. You can pay more to get additional channels, including film and sports options, or to get extra TV boxes that allow you to watch in more than one room. 

Sky also usually includes access to several paid TV streaming services with its bundles – Discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max and Netflix are all in the mix, although you'll often have to upgrade if you want to remove ads. 

Virgin Media doesn't have any of its own TV channels, but it does offer most of the key channels you get from Sky. You can even watch Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and Sky Atlantic. Bear in mind that Virgin's TV packages generally include a smaller selection of channels – its Flex service starts with 120 Freeview channels, for example, while its Big bundle package includes 190 – so you'll need to subscribe to a larger bundle if you want access to the Sky entertainment channels. 

Netflix is usually included with most of Virgin Media's pay-TV bundles (Flex is the exception) - although, once again, you'll need to upgrade if you want to remove ads.

What equipment do Sky and Virgin offer?

Both providers have started offering their own Stream boxes – these are small set-top boxes (also called 'pucks') that work using a broadband connection. They don't record – instead, you can watch shows that have already aired via catch-up services. Stream boxes are likely to become increasingly common as both providers focus on services that work via broadband connections, allow you to add apps for additional services (such as Netflix and Disney+), and don't require an aerial or satellite dish.

However, Virgin Media offers its TV360 Box to those who take out bundles with a greater number of channels. It allows you to pause and rewind live TV, record multiple channels while watching another, and access on-demand content.

On the other hand, Sky no longer advertises its Sky Q boxes, although they are still available to customers who can't access high-speed broadband – you'll need to contact customer services or speak to someone in-store to order one. The Sky Q 1TB box offers much of the same functionality as the TV360 Box and also has a 1TB storage capacity.  

If you're really keen on having access to a set-top box that allows you to record, Virgin Media is likely to be a better choice for you – or you could explore buying your own. Get started using our guide to set-top boxes and PVRs.

What extras do Sky and Virgin Media offer?

Both services have accompanying apps that let you check TV listings and set recording schedules while on the go, and even stream live TV to your mobile device.

Virgin Media gives its customers access to O2 Priority - a loyalty scheme that offers early access to event tickets, discounts at cinemas and restaurants, price draws and other perks and rewards. Sky's equivalent of this is called Sky VIP - however the perks are more limited and depend on how long you have been a Sky customer. You can access free engineer visits or discounts on certain services, as well as the chance to win tickets to events.

Both Sky and Virgin Media have closely associated mobile providers – Sky Mobile and O2. Taking out what is called a 'triple play' package (pay TV, broadband and mobile services) is generally much cheaper than taking the services separately – although it's worth checking that you can't get a more affordable mobile service from a different provider. Find out more using our guide on how to save money on your mobile phone bill.

Which should you pick?

Both Sky and Virgin Media have their strengths and weaknesses. Your choice will be determined by whether the broadband or television aspect of your bundle is more important to you. If you want the fastest broadband, Virgin Media is probably the better option; if you're after the widest choice of TV shows, Sky will likely be the better bet.

But there's more to choosing the best provider than simply looking at what it offers – it's also useful to know more about the customer service provision and value for money. And it's important to remember that Sky and Virgin Media are not your only options – providers such as BT, EE and TalkTalk also offer TV and broadband services, and some have particularly satisfied customers. 

Find out which TV and broadband services are available where you live – and how much they cost – using the free broadband comparison service from Which?