What’s new?
The new season of nPower Championship and League football kicks off on August 17, so here at Recombu Digital we’ve compiled a guide to who’s showing what, and how much it costs.
August 8, 2012
Who has the rights to the 2012/2013 nPower Championship and League matches?
TV coverage of the English Football League nPower Championship and League matches is exclusive to Sky this season.
Sky Sports will show 75 live games from the Championship and League, plus the play-offs and all three finals. It will also broadcast 15 Carling Cup matches, including both legs of each semi-final and the final. In the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, it will show the final and at least two matches in the earlier rounds.
The BBC has a new three-year deal to show highlights from the Championship, League, Carling Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, via the weekly Football League Show, as well as live reports into Final Score on Saturdays.
Why can’t I watch matches with a 3pm kick-off?
The Saturday 3pm ‘closed window’ was created to protect attendances at lower-league games where ticket receipts are a vital source of income. It has resulted in many fixtures being shifted around the week to encourage TV audiences.
How can I find out which games are on Sky?
The Football League hosts a list of which fixtures are on Sky, at www.football-league.co.uk/page/TVGamesDetail/0,,10794,00.html. Sky shows most games on Sky Sports 1, with some games on Sky Sports 2.
Can I watch the nPower Championship and League in HD or 3D?
Sky Sports shows all of their games in high definition, which can be seen on Sky and Virgin Media.
Sky viewers will need a £10.25/month HD subscription to watch high definition on any channel, Virgin charges £7/month extra for Sky’s premium HD channels.
None of the nPower Championship or League matches will be shown in 3D.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on Sky?
For the full season of games, you’ll need a Sky Sports subscription, with most of the action carried on Sky Sports 1 and 2.
Sky Sports 1 or 2 cost £13/month each on top of a £21.50/month Entertainment pack (total £34.50/month), or £21.50/month for both sports channels (£43/month).
The six-channel Sky Sports pack costs £21/month plus the Entertainment pack (£42.50/month), and includes the dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel as well as five general Sky Sports channels.
The complete Sky World package, with Sports, Movies, HD and 3D, costs £65.75/month.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on Virgin Media?
Virgin Media buys the Sky channels wholesale and sets its own prices, but you’ll need to start with the Virgin TV M+ package from £7/month.
The Sky Sports channels add £15.50/month each for Sky Sports 1 or 2, £25.75/month for Sky Sports 1 to 4 and F1, or £32.75/month with Sky Movies. It’s an extra £7/month to upgrade all your Sky premium channels to HD.
So if you want all of Sky Sports with Virgin Media, it’ll cost £59.75/month, or £66.25 with Sky Movies.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on TalkTalk TV?
Broadband provider TalkTalk now offers its own TV service, based on YouView, with a free Huawei YouView box for subscribers.
There’s no need for a basic subscription, but you need to have TalkTalk broadband and line rental. The cheapest deal for this is TalkTalk Plus with advance line rental, at £24/month.
A Sky Sports package of Sky Sports 1-4, plus F1, costs £30/month, making a total of £54/month.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on Freeview with Top-Up TV?
Top-Up TV carries both Sky Sports 1 and 2, which you can receive using the TUTV T215 set-top box for £49.99, plus a monthly subscription which gives you a viewing card.
All Freeview digital TVs have a CI slot (usually on the left hand side), and you can buy a Top-Up TV CI+ CAM adapter for £49.99 – or it’s free with any two-channel combination of sports channels. There’s also a £20 connection fee for any new subscriber.
Subscriptions are on a rolling monthly contract, with no long-term commitment, and start at £24.99/month for Sky Sports 1, or £33.99 for both Sky Sports channels.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on BT Vision?
BT Vision boxes are fitted with a slot for a viewing card for Sky Sports 1 and 2, or ESPN. The viewing card costs £10 and the BT Vision box is free to subscribers, but you also need BT Broadband and line rental. The cheapest deal for this is BT Vision Essential, at £30.08/month.
Sky Sports 1 and 2 add £12.90/month each, or £18.20/month together, making the cheapest BT Vision deals £42.98/month or £48.28/month.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League on Freesat?
Neither Sky Sports nor ESPN are available on Freesat.
How can I watch the nPower Championship and League online?
Sky subscribers can watch all of their Sky Sports channels, on Sky Go via broadband, WiFi or 3G, on your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, selected Android phones and Xbox 360.
If you’re not a Sky subscriber, you can get Sky Go for £35/month with Sky Sports and entertainment, and £40 a month for entertainment, Sky Movies and Sky Sports.
Some nPower Championship and League matches are expected to be added to Sky’s new Now TV pay-as-you-go service later this year.
What about other major football championships?
We’ve also compiled guides to watching the Barclays Premier League, Scottish Premier League (including Rangers), FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
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