What TV Are You Watching?

It's time to review how the last year went, and look ahead to next term.

Academic and alcoholic achievements aside, is everything in your student house as it should be?

With so much else to think about, TV packages can easily get overlooked.

But since watching the box is something students spend a lot of time doing, it's probably worth giving it some thought.

Terrestrial

This is your bog-standard TV package. It's free (once you've paid your licence, that is), but with only five channels, it's probably not going to keep students' appetites satisfied.

Freeview

Freeview goes one step further. For around £25-£30, you can buy a digital box and you're ready to go.

With no ongoing charges and loads of good channels including E4 and Film4, it's a straightforward package that will cater for most students' needs - and budgets.

For more information, including lists of channels, stockists of boxes and a coverage check, visit Freeview.

Freesat

Freesat is a newer, better version of Freeview.

Again, there's a one-off payment for a digital box, and then you'll have access to over 80 channels.

Its ease of use, lack of cost and flexibility mean that online TV is an ideal option for students

Lucy Foulkes

An advantage of Freesat is that there are some more unusual channels and you get HD for free, too: check out Freesat.

Sky

Sky is always going to provide the best in TV entertainment, but with monthly payments, it can seem out of students' price range.

However, Sky's See, Speak and Surf package means you can combine TV with Broadband and phone calls, and get perks like free evening and weekend calls to landlines.

Although the "starter" package is cheap (£16 a month), to get extras like sports and movies (which is probably why you'd want Sky in the first place), you have to pay much more: around £34 a month, in fact.

Online

Which brings us to the obvious advantage of online TV: it's free.

On 4od, there are hundreds of episodes from programmes like 'Peep Show' and 'Teachers' waiting to be watched, as well as the chance to watch any Channel 4 programme from the last 30 days.

All that's needed is to download a small application (all details on the website).

Its ease of use, lack of cost and flexibility mean that online TV is an ideal option for students. (Check out ITV too).

The only problem now is finding time to do that 3000-word essay that's due in tomorrow...