Virgin Media quietly rebrands its Sky Stream rival and introduces monthly £5 fee for new viewers

Virgin Media has quietly rebranded its Stream set-top box to Flex.

For those who don’t know, Virgin Media launched its Stream box back in April 2022 as a broadband-based solution with live television, on-demand boxsets, and streamers like Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Virgin Media offered 10% cashback for every streaming service you signed up with the svelte set-top box to incentivise viewers to make Stream their one-stop-shop for all content streaming.

Unlike Sky Stream, which is now available to buy direct from EE and works with all major broadband providers, Stream from Virgin Media is only available to broadband customers on Virgin Media’s network. With flexible 30-day contracts, you can pick and choose between premium content like Sky Cinema and Sky Sports every month — or pause your subscription entirely with just a few weeks’ notice.

Start watching on Virgin Media Flex from £5 with any broadband bundle

With a brand-new name, Virgin Media has made its Flex set-top box the default way to watch live television, on-demand boxsets, and popular streaming services. With a bolstered roster of channels — an increase of 60 compared to the previous catalogue, and a reduced set-up fee, Flex connects to any flatscreen television via HDMI and offers streaming in up to 4K Ultra HD picture quality.

The change to the Virgin Media Stream name was announced with almost no fanfare by a Community Manager a post on the firm’s Help Forum. Alongside the shake-up to the name, Virgin Media has introduced a £5 monthly fee for all new viewers who sign-up from today.

This marks a significant departure from the previous pricing model, which offered the Stream box free of charge to existing Virgin Media broadband subscribers. However, it’s not all bad news.

While it has added a new monthly subscription fee, Virgin Media has reduced the one-off activation fee from £35 to just £10. That means you’ll need to be subscribed for over five months before you’ve spent anymore than you would’ve under the previous pricing model when the set-top box was still branded as Stream.

Virgin Media is one of the few remaining broadband companies to offer 18-month contract terms as standard across its full-fibre internet packages.That means you’ll be able to renegotiate your broadband (and television) deal much sooner than comparable bundles from BT, EE, and most recently, Sky TV.

Flex from Virgin Media now boasts an expanded lineup of channels, with 150 live channels between Freeview and ad-supported streaming content. That’s a significant increase from the previous maximum of 90 channels and brings Virgin Media’s offering much closer to rivals broadband-powered set-top boxes, like Sky Stream, EE TV, and TalkTalk TV, all of which charge a flat fee for their basic telly services.

Existing Stream customers will not be affected by the new monthly charge, according to Virgin Media. However, they will see the name change from “Stream” to “Flex” in their monthly bills.

“There is nothing to worry about, and this won’t affect your service in any way – you will still be able to enjoy your favourite entertainment in exactly the same way as you do today, and any subscriptions you have added will be unaffected. Your equipment (TV box) will still be known as the Stream Box. As a result of this change, you will now see Flex on your bills, and areas of your account view within My Virgin Media will be renamed too,” a Community Manager for the full-fibre broadband firm confirmed in a forum post.

In the final shake-up to its television offering, Virgin Media has increased prices for some of its premium add-ons. Sky Cinema HD now costs £24.99 per month, significantly higher than Sky’s NOW Cinema Membership at £9.99. Sky Sports HD has risen to £34.99 monthly, matching the latest NOW price tag before discounts.

Other premium options include Essential Entertainment at £15 per month and TNT Sports for £18 monthly. A bundle of Sky Sports HD and Sky Cinema HD is available for £49.99 per month. Netflix options through Flex exclude the ad-supported tier, offering only Standard (HD) at £10.99 and Premium (4K) at £17.99 monthly.

Some of these bundles of channels could be cheaper with the best Sky Stream deals or best Sky Glass deals, both of which offer flexible 30-day contracts for those willing to pay a premium each month.

These changes come as Virgin Media shifts towards broadband-based solutions, mirroring Sky TV’s move away from traditional satellite services. The firm’s entry-level broadband and TV bundle now exclusively ships with its Flex, replacing the previous Virgin TV 360 set-top box.

This suggests that Virgin Media wants to lean into the industry trends towards flexible, streaming-based solutions. As traditional cable TV services decline, Flex represents Virgin Media’s attempt to adapt to changing consumer preferences while maintaining a competitive edge.

Despite the clear preference from the majority of British TV viewers — most visibly with the fact that the 55-inch Sky Glass (an all-in-one television with everything you need to stream live and on-demand content from Sky TV) was the best-selling television in the UK last year — campaigners have warned that pushing ahead to an all-streaming future for television could leave thousands unable to tune-in.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Police escalate crackdown on free Sky TV streaming in UKMapped: The most expensive and cheapest cities for broadband in the UKAmazon reinvents Kindle lineup with first colour e-ink screenBest VPN deals

Under current Government policy, traditional broadcasts will only be guaranteed until the early 2030s. Independent regulator Ofcom is reviewing whether this cut-off date should be extended.

Given that the UK Government is targeting 99% broadband coverage by 2030, it might seem reasonable to switch off Freeview and other traditional free-to-air broadcast services in the following decade.

But a new report from consultancy firm EY has highlighted the significant gap in broadband uptake. If that persists, 18% of UK homes will be left behind ―leaving over 5.5 million premises unable to tune in to live television.

Those impacted by the decision to go all-in with online-only broadcasts will be disproportionately elderly or disabled individuals, rural communities, or low-income households, the findings show.