Phil Wilkinson-Jones | May 19th, 2022

TalkTalk TV channels

TalkTalk is one of the UK’s biggest broadband providers, offering a budget-friendly alternative to the likes of Sky, BT and Virgin Media. TalkTalk also has a TV offering which offers a good range of free-to-air channels backed up by access to most of the big streaming services.

TalkTalk customers get the choice of two YouView boxes – one that allows you to record live TV and one that doesn’t. In this guide we’ll focus on the channels included in a TalkTalk TV package and the options available to TalkTalk TV customers if you want to increase your viewing choices.

Freeview channels

Built on a YouView platform, TalkTalk TV is based around the Freeview channels. There are more than 70 channels included as standard alongside 15 HD channels and 30 radio stations. Let’s quickly run through what channels there are.

To start with, there are your BBC channels – BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC and CBeebies. There is also BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, BBC News HD and BBC ONE NI HD. As you’d expect, there are also the ITV channels – ITV, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4, ITV Be, ITV+1, ITV 2+1, ITV 3+1, ITV 4+1, ITV Be+1, ITV HD, ITV1 Wales HD and CITV.

You get Channel 4 and its related channels, E4, More4, Film4, 4seven, 4Music, E4+1, Film4+1, More4+1, and 4HD. There’s also Channel 5 along with 5 USA, 5 Star, 5Select, Channel 5+1 and Channel 5HD. Other entertainment channels are Pick, Dave and Dave ja vu, Really, Yesterday, Drama, Paramount Network (formerly Spike), Great! TV (formerly MovieMix), Quest, Quest Red, Quest+1 and Quest Red+1, Challenge, CBS Drama, CBS Justice, CBS Reality, Horror Channel, Talking Pictures TV, Pop and Tiny Pop, TBN UK, Blaze and Blaze+1.

Also included in TalkTalk TV’s lineup of Freeview channels are a number of home shopping and home improvement channels including QVC, QVC Style, QVC Beauty, QVC HD and QVC HD Beauty, Ideal World, Craft Store TV, Gems TV, Jewellery Maker, The Store, and TJC. The news channels Sky News and RT (formerly Russia Today) are also included.

Ketchup TV, which features on demand content for kids including Peppa Pig, Thomas & Friends and Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, is also included.

The radio stations available via TalkTalk TV will vary depending on where you live, but will most likely include the BBC radio stations 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 Music, Asian Network and World Service. Other stations include Hits Radio, Kiss, Magic, Great Hits Radio, Kerrang!, Smooth Radio, talkSPORT, Absolute Radio, Capital FM, Heart, Classic FM and LBC.

Premium channels

TalkTalk used to offer a selection of TV Boosts, which allowed you to add various collections of channels to your package, each for an additional monthly fee. TalkTalk stopped offering TV boosts in November 2020. If you already have a TV Boost you’ll be fine to continue using it, but if you change your package the Boost will be removed.

What TalkTalk now recommends to anyone wishing to add extra channels is to get a NOW TV membership. As that’s now the only way to add premium channels to TalkTalk TV, we’ll quickly take you through the different NOW TV memberships that are available and what is included in each one. Each membership costs a set monthly fee and renews automatically, but can be cancelled at any time.

NOW TV Entertainment Membership

If you’re thinking about adding the likes of Sky One and Sky Atlantic to your package, the NOW Entertainment Membership is the one for you. NOW TV memberships include on demand content as well as live channels so having access to Sky One and Sky Atlantic means you can watch old favourites such as Game of Thrones and the latest box sets like Boardwalk Empire and Chernobyl.

The Entertainment membership also features Sky History, Sky Nature, Sky Witness, Sky Comedy, Sky Crime, Sky Documentaries, MTV, Comedy Central, GOLD, SYFY and National Geographic.

NOW TV Sky Cinema Membership

TalkTalk TV already features the likes of Film4, Great! TV and the Horror Channel, but the Sky Cinema Membership is the one for you if you’re on the lookout for premium movie channels. The Sky Cinema channels Premiere, Hits, Greats, Disney, Action, Family, Comedy, Romance, Thriller, Sci-Fi and Horror are all included, so there’s something to suit everyone. Temporary channels are also added throughout the year, such as Sky Cinema Christmas during the festive season.

As well as being able to watch the live Sky Cinema channels, this membership also lets you stream hundreds of movies whenever you like.

NOW TV Sky Sports Membership

This is the membership that gives you access to all 11 Sky Sports channels. With the sports membership, you can choose a monthly membership that renews automatically unless you cancel, or a day membership that expires after 24 hours for a one-off payment.

The Sky Sports channels included with this membership are the dedicated channels Premier League, Football, F1, Cricket, Darts, Golf, Racing and NFL as well as Sky Sports Mix, Sky Sports News and Sky Sports Main Event.

NOW TV Kids Membership

Looking for something to keep the kids entertained? The NOW TV Kids Membership features six channels that aren’t on Freeview – Boomerang, Cartoonito, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and NickToons – and thousands of episodes available on demand.

NOW TV hayu membership

The hayu membership gives you access not to any live channels but to thousands upon thousands of US reality TV shows. If shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians are your thing, a hayu membership may be the addition to TalkTalk TV that you need.

Streaming services

Now TalkTalk has dispensed with its TV Boosts, it relies on streaming services to give its customers more viewing options than the standard Freeview channels. We’ve covered NOW TV as that’s the way to get premium live channels added to your package, but there are plenty of other apps available to watch through a TalkTalk TV box.

• Netflix – You’ll have to have a subscription, but Netflix allows you to watch a huge variety of films and TV shows including an impressive number of Netflix originals
• Amazon Prime Video – Prime Video also requires a subscription unless you already have Amazon Prime for deliveries. There are Amazon Original series and films as well as new movie releases
• BBC iPlayer – Thousands of shows from the BBC including live sport and some hidden gems from the Beeb’s archives, plus a selection of new and classic movies
• ITV Hub – The place to catch up on the ITV shows you’ve missed and watch box sets of the channel’s best dramas
• All4 – All4 describes itself as the UK’s biggest free streaming service. There are loads of box sets including some classic comedies and documentaries
• Demand 5 – The best of Channel 5 available as box sets and to catch up if you’ve missed your favourite show on the live channel
• Milkshake! – Channel 5’s popular kids show includes favourites like Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol. Here, they are available to watch on demand whenever you like
• UKTV Play – This streaming service offers the best content from some of the most popular Freeview channels including Dave, Drama and Yesterday
• S4C – Drama, entertainment, comedy, live sport and more from the Welsh language channel

Compare TalkTalk TV deals