UK ISP TalkTalk Launch TV Subscription Free Streaming Service

Apparently everybody has to have their own Internet video streaming service and TalkTalk has become the latest to join the party with the launch of their new Blinkbox based pay-as-you-go (payg) TV Store, which claims to offer “the latest movies and hit TV shows at Britain’s lowest price” to everybody.

Readers might recall that TalkTalk gobbled up Tesco’s Blinkbox (video streaming) business over one year ago in January 2015, when they also took on the ex-provider’s 75,000 broadband subscribers (here). Today’s new TalkTalk TV Store launch is thus based off that same technology.

The service initially claims to offer more than 7,000 of the latest movies and TV shows (all available on multiple devices) and you don’t have to be a TalkTalk subscriber in order to access it, although existing TalkTalk TV subscribers do get the benefit of being able to rent or buy a show on their home TV and then switch to a mobile device to watch the same show (they can also use their existing login to access it all).

Key features of TalkTalk TV Store:

* Watch films, individual TV shows or entire series on different devices including: desktops, laptops, Apple (iOS8+), Android (OS 4+) Windows (8.1+) smartphones and tablets, LG and Samsung (2012+) Smart TVs and Google Chromecast.
* Watch on your TalkTalk TV box and another device at the same time.
* Download content to watch when offline – in and out of the home.
* Available to all TalkTalk customers, including those without a TV package.
* Anything bought or rented through TalkTalk TV Store will be added to existing customers’ TalkTalk bill.
* Customers can register up to five devices per account.

The new store can be accessed here (https://www.talktalktvstore.co.uk) and there will be no changes to the service for former Blinkbox customers (i.e. their personal digital libraries remain unchanged).

Aleks Habdank, TalkTalk TV, said:

“The launch of TalkTalk TV Store is an exciting step forward in our mission to offer the best film and TV content at Britain’s lowest price. It’s all about choice and flexibility – you can opt for anything from Star Wars to Game of Thrones, only pay for what you watch, and switch easily between devices.

It puts you back in control, as you can enjoy all the shows and movies you love on your own terms.”

As for offering “Britain’s lowest price,” it may be more accurate to say that they’re similar or the same as most other payg streaming solutions. For example, you can stream Star Wars: The Force Awakens from £3.45 (SD) or £4.45 (HD) on TalkTalk, which is a few pence cheaper than on Google Play where it’s £3.49 (SD), but the same (£4.45) as Amazon Prime charges for HD.

Most people also appear to prefer the low monthly subscription and unlimited streaming services, such as NOW TV, Amazon Prime and Netflix. TalkTalk’s service thus be at risk of dropping another option into an already fragmented market, albeit with not enough of a unique selling point to truly set them apart (this was one of the problems that Blinkbox had). But only time will tell.