Virgin Media has confirmed that it’s changing things up for some of its TV users.
Virgin Media first launched its diddy Stream box all the way back in 2022 with it offering a simple way to tune into live and on-demand content – plus all the most popular streaming services – via the web.
Anyone with a broadband contract with the company could add this telly-watching gadget to their plan without paying a monthly fee.
Just a simple one-off £35 fee was needed along with paying for any premium additions such as Sky Sports, Movies or access things such as Netflix and Disney+. One bonus of Stream is that all of these premium platforms can be controlled via one monthly bill with Virgin promising that customers can chop and change what they subscribe to each month.
Now, in a surprise move, Virgin is not only changing the name of its Stream box but also charging new customers a fee to use it – even if they only have the device plugged in to watch free channels such as BBC and ITV.
The telecoms giant has decided to switch ‘Stream’ to the name ‘Flex’ with users now seeing the update appear on future bills.
Those who signed up before the update came into force this week will continue to get the device for free but anyone joining Virgin will now pay £5 per month plus a one-off fee of £10.
“Stream from Virgin Media customers may have noticed a message in recent bills advising of an upcoming name change to their service,” Virgin explained.
“We can confirm that from today it will be called Flex. 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 (E.g. “My Flex Plan”).”
It’s unclear why the changes have been made but the new name could be a bid to set it apart from Sky.
The TV firm also has its popular Stream box which is very similar to Virgin’s set-top device.
