As Black Friday offers the chance to upgrade pricey TV and broadband packages for less our tech team has picked deals from EE, Sky, and Virgin that are worth buying
It won’t be long before Black Friday deals start coming to an end. As of 11:59pm this coming November 29, the deals that have been floating around for the past month will start to end. Let’s face it the global sale date has turned into something a lot bigger than one day, as brands like Sky, EE, and Virgin Media prove with their long-running deals but the timer will soon go off on the savings.
Ahead of the end of 2024 Black Friday sale klaxon our resident shopping tech team has taken a look at three big brands – Sky, EE, and Virgin Media, and picked out the deals we think are worth buying before they go.
From an EE Sport TV deal on one of our writers wishlists, to Sky’s cheaper Stream package that’s rarely less than £20, to an EE broadband plan that’s caught the eye of our gaming-loving writer. If you’ve been looking for an upgrade in time for the festive season and new year here’s what we’d recommend.
READ MORE: Virgin Media is giving away free Disney+ subscription in bumper Black Friday deal
READ MORE: Amazon’s best Black Friday tech deals to shop now handpicked by our experts
EE’s Big Sport Plan
As picked by our TV writer Jake Hackney, he has his eyes on the plan thanks to its cheaper inclusion of the all important sports channels – Sky Sports and TNT. Here’s why he says it’s worth choosing this Black Friday.
As Jake highlights: “One of EE’s Black Friday deals really caught my eye as it offers both domestic and European football, plus fibre broadband all in one plan that’s reduced for Black Friday. With EE’s Big Sport plan, sports fans can tune into all 12 Sky Sports channels and TNT Sports – plus Eurosport 1 and 2 – for £35 a month when coupled with one of EE’s broadband plans.
“EE’s Black Friday broadband deals start at £29.99 a month for Full Fibre 150, which offers average download speeds of 150Mbps. That’s a total of £64.99 a month for Sky Sports and TNT, the UK homes of the Premier League and Champions League respectively and a saving of £168 compared to the usual price.”
Sky also broadcasts Formula 1 and cricket – amongst a range of other sports – while TNT broadcasts NBA, Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The only downside to this plan is that it doesn’t include non-sporting channels, unlike Sky’s TV and Sport bundle.
What other TV packages can I choose from?
If you’d prefer a plan that offers both sports and the latest TV series, it’s worth considering Sky’s Sky Sports, Sky TV, Sky Stream and Netflix package that’s been reduced to £39 a month – down from £46 – for Black Friday. This saves £168 over the 24-month term and also includes the likes of Sky Atlantic and Sky Documentaries, as well as a free Netflix subscription.
You can still get TNT Sports with this bundle, but it costs an extra £25 a month as a 31-day rolling add-on. There’s the option to upgrade to speeds up to 1.6Gbps if you’re happy to pay more, with this plan coming in at £64.99.
Sky Stream, TV and Netflix
As mentioned above this Sky Black Friday addition has already caught the eye of our TV expert thanks to its range of series, film, and movie options. With a ne w£19 per month price it’s proving popular among both eager shoppers and our tech team.
As Commerce Editor Harriet Morphy-Morris points out she’s looking to buy it for a Christmas present. As she said: “Buying a rolling TV subscription may be a unique Christmas choice but having a sister who’s just bought here own home (and I know she won’t read this) practical presents have been on her list.
“So I’ve been weighing up the options of getting her the Sky Stream, TV, and Netflix bundle. The £168 saving is tempting but it goes beyond that. The small Stream box is what really sells it for me, as my sister will be able to carry on using her older Toshiba TV without having to upgrade to a new expensive model.
“The Stream box adds a smart element to its, with easy access to Netflix and apps like BBC iPlayer, and of course with this bundle I’d be gifting her access to Sky TV channels she can’t currently watch. A huge part of this is ease and installation will be as simple as plugging the Stream box with an HDMI cable into her TV.”
It is worth highlighting that this contract does come on a norotriously longer contract, shoppers will have to commit to 24 months.
Another pick from EE – this time broadband
Starting with broadband, as our tech writer Christopher Harper has looked at the likes of Sky, Virgin, BT and picked EE’s 300Mbps broadband plan. Now reduced to £32.99 here’s why it’s on his Black Friday list, as he overlooks the price for its speed.
As Chris said: “Despite being one of the more expensive broadband providers on the list, EE’s 300mb download speed deal is a great pick up for Black Friday – especially if you want blazing fast speeds for downloading, gaming and streaming.
“I recently upgraded my speeds and found a massive difference in my downloads for streaming and gaming. If you have been out of contract for a while and want a good deal that most people can get, this might be the one for you.”
If you’re looking for alternatives the Virgin Media is currently offering three months free across its broadband and TV packages this Black Friday. While its deals for mobile shoppers include a speed boost on data plans. You can shop the Virgin Media deals here.
