TV Bundle or Streaming: Which Is Cheaper?

For years the choice was easy: if you wanted more than the free channels, you got a TV package. Now there's a streaming service for almost everything, and the question has flipped. Is a TV and broadband bundle still worth it, or are you better off with broadband on its own plus a couple of streaming subscriptions?

The honest answer is that it depends on what you watch. But you don't have to guess. Here's a simple way to work out which costs you less, using your own numbers.

step 1: write down what you actually watch

Not what you might watch. What you actually watch. For a week or two, jot down the shows, films and sport that get switched on in your home, and where they come from.

You'll probably find it falls into a few groups:

free-to-air channels, which you can get with an aerial through Freeview, or through the apps for those channels
one or two streaming services that do most of the heavy lifting
sport or films that only sit behind a paywall
things nobody watches, which is where the money tends to go missing

step 2: price the broadband you need on its own

Whichever way you go, you need broadband, and streaming needs a decent connection. As a rough guide, a household streaming in HD on a couple of screens at once is well served by 60 to 100Mbps. Several 4K screens at once needs more.

Compare broadband deals and note the whole-contract cost of one that suits you: the monthly price over the full term, plus any set-up fee and the mid-contract rise, which has to be shown in pounds and pence before you sign.

step 3: price the streaming that covers your list

Go back to your list and match each item to a service. Then compare streaming services to see what each costs. Two ways to bring that number down:

use the ad tier where adverts don't bother you. It's often a decent saving, but check it doesn't also cut picture quality or downloads.
rotate instead of stacking. Most services are rolling monthly with no contract. Subscribe to one, watch what you want, cancel, move on to the next. Over a year that can cost far less than keeping them all running.

Add it all up for the same length as the broadband contract, so you're comparing like with like.

step 4: price the bundle over the whole contract

Now compare TV and broadband bundles that include the things on your list. The trick is to ignore the headline price and work out the total:

the intro price and how many months it lasts
the price after the intro ends, for the rest of the term
the mid-contract rise
one-off costs, like set-up, installation or a box fee
add-ons you'd need, such as sport, films, HD or extra rooms

Multiply it out across the contract. That's the real cost.

step 5: put the two totals side by side

Here's an example with made-up round numbers, just to show the method. Say the bundle you like is £60 a month for the first 12 months and £75 a month for the next 12. That's £1,620 over two years. Now say broadband on its own is £30 a month for 24 months (£720), and two streaming services rotated through the year average £15 a month (£360). That's £1,080 over the same two years.

In that example, going separate saves £540. With your own numbers the answer might be the other way round, and that's fine. The point is that you can see it.

when a bundle usually wins

you watch a lot of live sport across several competitions, and the bundle packs it together for less than buying each one separately
you want premium channels and films and would be paying for most of them anyway
you value one bill, one box and one remote, and the extra cost is worth the simplicity to you

when going separate usually wins

you mostly watch one or two streaming services and free-to-air channels
you're happy to rotate subscriptions through the year
you don't want a long contract, as streaming can be cancelled month to month

costs people forget

the TV licence. You need one to watch or record live TV on any channel or service, or to watch anything on BBC iPlayer. That applies whether you use a bundle, streaming or an aerial.
kit for streaming. An older telly may need a streaming stick or box, which is a one-off cost.
the end of the contract. Bundles often jump in price once the term ends. Diarise it.

the short version

list what your household actually watches
compare broadband on its own and note the whole-contract cost
add up the streaming services that cover your list
compare bundles over the whole contract, not the intro price
put the two totals side by side and pick the cheaper one for how you watch

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