EE TV is the brand new TV platform from EE, available to its broadband customers from today. This service combines live TV channels, including Sky channels via Now and all your favourite streaming services in one place, with the ability to change your package every 30 days, adding and dropping channels as required.
If this service looks slightly familiar, that’s because it’s based on BT TV, which has been on offer to BT Broadband customers for quite some time. These users will see their service rebranded from today and there are some big updates to the service too. The big one being Apple TV. All new users will get 6 months free Apple TV+, while existing BT customers will get 3 months free.
Perhaps the most impressive feature is that you can get an Apple TV 4K box as part of your subscription that has the EE TV app preinstalled, so you can watch live TV through your Apple TV. The special Apple TV 4K box comes with a unique remote control, which provides more familiar buttons for live TV, including a dedicated TV guide button and a channel up and down rocker.
This full version of the EE TV app only comes pre-installed on this special EE version of the Apple TV 4K. While there will be an EE TV app available for download for existing Apple TV owners, it won’t offer the full live TV experience. This is a slight shame, as we’ve seen apps like Sling and YouTube TV deliver live TV from a downloadable app, but this is due to UK regulations rather than EE themselves.
As an alternative to the Apple TV 4K box, you can also get the EE TV service through one of two EE TV boxes. The TV Box Pro provides a built-in PVR to record upto 600 hours of TV, and with quad tuners it can record on four channels at the same time. With many of the streaming services now providing their own catch-up services, PVRs have become less in demand, but sometimes you can’t beat having a local copy of a show recorded.
A TV Box Mini is a smaller option, ideal for a second room in the house. In fact, EE will provide two TV Box Mini devices to allow multi-room viewing for free with any TV package, so you can have either a TV Box Pro or Apple TV 4K in the living room, and a TV Box Mini in the bedroom and the kid’s room. While this doesn’t provide a PVR, it does still allow you to pause and rewind TV for upto two hours.
I had the chance to try the new EE TV app on the Apple TV 4K as well as the TV Box Pro. The menu system is really straight forward and fast to operate, providing a clear TV guide as well as programmes curated by type. The search facility will rapidly find matching shows across all streaming providers, saving you time and effort. One nice feature is the most viewed programmes feature, which learns your most viewed shows at that time of day, helping you to jump straight to your regulars.
EE TV packages start from £18 per month, for the ‘Sport’ package, going up to £76 per month for the ‘Full Works’. You can then add individual streaming packages from NOW, TNT, Netflix and Apple TV+. New EE TV subscribers also get six months of Apple TV+ for free and multiroom viewing with up to two free TV Box Mini units.
