IPTV service UK
An IPTV service is easy to sell and hard to run well. This page explains what separates a dependable one from a cheap login, how much internet you need for it, and what Vivid TV includes: 34,000 live channels and 195,000 films and series in up to 4K.
The basics
An IPTV service delivers live television and on-demand films over your internet connection. You install a player app, enter a login and the channels appear, with no dish or aerial. The service is made of three parts: the streams themselves, the TV guide that sits on top of them and the servers that keep both running when demand peaks.
The live side is channels grouped into folders, with a guide showing what is on now and next. A good guide is set to UK time and matches the programme on screen.
The on-demand side works like any streaming library: search, pick a title and press play. Vivid TV carries 195,000 titles.
What matters
The best IPTV service is not the one with the longest channel list. It is the one that holds a steady picture when the most people are watching, keeps its TV guide accurate, runs on devices you already own and states its terms plainly. Those four things decide whether you enjoy the next twelve months.
01
Any service works at 11am on a Tuesday. Judge it at 8pm on a Saturday and during a live match, when the servers are under the heaviest load.
02
If the guide shows the wrong programme or the wrong hour, finding anything becomes a chore. Check three UK channels against the real schedule.
03
A service that needs its own box is selling you hardware. A good one runs on a Firestick, a Smart TV, a phone or a laptop.
04
One price, one end date, one refund rule. If you need to email to find out any of those, keep looking.
Hardware
IPTV services reach your television in one of three ways: a streaming stick, an app inside a Smart TV or a separate box. The picture is the same on all three when the connection is good. The difference is cost and convenience, so pick the route that uses what you already have.
Route
What you need
Best for
Streaming stick
A stick in an HDMI port and a player app
Older TVs and second rooms
Smart TV app
A player from the TV's own app store
Recent Samsung, LG and Google TV sets
Separate box
A box with a network socket
TVs with weak Wi-Fi or no app store
The IPTV installation guide walks through each route in four steps.
Your connection
An IPTV service needs about 10 Mbps of download speed for an HD channel and about 25 Mbps for a 4K stream. That is per screen playing. Measure it on the device you will watch on, in the room where it sits, because the speed behind a television is often well below what the router reports.
HD at 10 Mbps suits most broadband packages. 4K at 25 Mbps needs fibre and, ideally, a network cable to the main television.
An hour of HD uses roughly 3 GB and an hour of 4K roughly 7 GB. Three hours of HD every evening comes to about 270 GB a month, so check for a data cap.
Wi-Fi is fine for HD in the same room as the router. For 4K, or a television two walls away, a cable or a mesh point removes most stalling.
Our service
The Vivid TV IPTV service includes 34,000 live channels and 195,000 films and series in up to 4K, on one connection, for a single payment per term. It is the same service on every plan from 3 to 24 months. Nothing renews automatically, and a 72-hour refund covers you if it does not work.
01
£24.99 for 3 months, £34.99 for 6, £49.99 for 12 and £79.99 for 24. The channels and films do not change with the price.
02
4K is not reserved for a top tier. If your screen and connection can show it, you get it.
03
Set your login up on the TV, a phone and a laptop, then watch on one of them at a time.
04
Long enough to test a weekday evening, a live match and a Saturday night. If the service fails, we refund you.
05
Your login is emailed within 10 minutes and works in any IPTV player, on MAG boxes too.
See the terms side by side on the IPTV subscription plans page, or read how to weigh us against other IPTV providers in the UK.
Questions
These questions cover what people want to know before paying for an IPTV service: whether it replaces their current television, how it behaves on slow broadband and what happens away from home. The answers use the same figures as the rest of this page and apply to the Vivid TV service on every term.
For most households, yes. You get live channels, a guide and on-demand films without a dish, a contract or an engineer visit.
HD needs about 10 Mbps on the device itself. Below that, expect stalling at busy times.
Yes. Your login works on any decent connection, as long as only one screen is playing.
No. Any television with an HDMI port works once a streaming stick is plugged in.
Choose a term, pay once and we email your login. Enter it in a player app and the channels load.
Pick a term, pay once and test the service on your own screen and your own broadband. Twelve months costs £49.99, which is 14p a day for 34,000 live channels and 195,000 films and series. If it does not work in your home, ask for a refund within 72 hours.
See plans and prices