Summary
- BT is restoring the BT TV name from 15 October 2026 for customers who already have BT broadband and EE TV.
- Packages, monthly prices, channels, recordings, boxes and add-ons such as Netflix, NOW and HBO Max stay the same.
- Box viewers need no new kit. App viewers move to the BT TV app. The box light changes from aqua to blue.
- New orders can take the BT TV Box Pro, which records more than 600 hours, or the smaller BT TV Box Edge, which has no recorder.
- Virgin Media TV customers get the kids channels, usually £5 a month extra, at no extra cost for the whole of October 2026, including on-demand episodes and Virgin TV Go.
BT is putting its own name back on pay TV. From 15 October 2026, customers who already take BT broadband with EE TV will see that TV service renamed BT TV. Virgin Media is making a separate move in the same month, opening its paid kids channels to TV customers for October at no extra cost.
The two changes are not linked. One is a brand switch on an existing platform. The other is a one-month channel unlock for half-term.
BT TV name returns on 15 October
BT set the date on 1 October 2026. BT TV is available from 15 October with BT broadband, and it closes the consumer brand return that began when BT Mobile came back in May 2026.
The group now runs three consumer brands. EE remains the main brand for new households. BT is for customers who already use the BT name. Plusnet stays the lower-price brand.
BT describes the launch as the point where broadband, TV and mobile sit together again under one familiar name. It also says it is one of the only providers to put live sport, live TV and streaming in one place. That is the company’s wording. Sky and Virgin Media already combine live channels, sport and streaming apps on their own platforms.
For anyone already on BT broadband, the wider package is covered in our BT Broadband Review. EE’s own broadband plans are separate, and they are set out in the EE Broadband Review.
Existing TV stays put
If you have BT broadband and EE TV, the service name changes to BT TV on 15 October 2026. The rest does not.
Your TV package, monthly price, channels and recordings stay as they are. The box stays. Subscriptions stay too, including Netflix, NOW and HBO Max. You do not need a replacement box.
Leave the box switched on and in standby overnight on 15 October so it can take the software update. If the menus still show EE branding after that date, the box has not picked up the update yet. The EE TV Store becomes the BT TV Store.
App move and the blue light
Watching on the box needs no action from you. The visible change is small: the light on the box turns from aqua to blue, and the on-screen branding switches from EE to BT.
The app is different. If you use the EE TV app, you open it from 15 October, follow the steps on screen, download the BT TV app and sign in. Keep the old app installed until that move is finished.
Settings, linked devices, scheduled recordings, purchases and rentals transfer on their own. Programmes already downloaded for offline viewing do not. Those need to be downloaded again in the BT TV app.
After 15 October, the EE TV app is not supported on a customer’s own Apple TV. Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TVs and browser viewing get their own steps in the app or on the BT site.
Older boxes are a separate issue. Netflix has already been pulled from two earlier BT and EE boxes, which we covered in Netflix leaving two older BT and EE TV boxes. That change is not part of the October rename, but it is worth checking if the box in your home is several years old.
Pro box and Edge box
New BT TV orders use the same two boxes EE has been supplying since the September refresh.
The BT TV Box Pro combines streaming apps with live TV tools. You can pause and rewind live television, and record more than 600 hours. The BT TV Box Edge is the smaller box. It drops the recorder and is meant for on-demand and catch-up, plus live channels that do not need a hard drive.
Which box you get depends on the package, not on a free choice at the checkout.
Packages carried into the rename
EE and BT TV are the same platform, so the September 2026 package refresh carries over. These are the TV prices, not the cost of a full broadband bundle.
- Entertainment includes NOW Entertainment and Netflix Standard with Ads. It comes with the BT TV Box Edge. The offer price is £10 a month, reduced from £17.
- Entertainment Plus includes NOW Entertainment and HBO Max Basic with Ads, plus Netflix Standard with Ads. It comes with the BT TV Box Pro. The offer price is £18 a month, reduced from £22.
- Sport includes TNT Sports 1–4 in HD, TNT Sports Ultimate and TNT Sports on HBO Max. It is £5 for three months, then £27, on the BT TV Box Pro.
- Sport Plus adds NOW Sports and NOW Boost to Sport. It is £55 a month on the BT TV Box Pro.
- Full Works brings together the Entertainment Plus streaming set, Netflix Standard, NOW Cinema, TNT Sports and NOW Sports. It is £88 a month on the BT TV Box Pro.
Nothing in the 15 October rename cuts those prices or swaps the channels. A household that already pays for EE TV keeps that package and that bill.
Virgin Media kids channels open for October
Virgin Media is running a separate offer for its own TV customers. For the whole of October 2026, eligible Virgin Media TV homes get the kids channels at no extra cost. That set normally costs £5 a month on top of the TV package.
The provider has done the same thing in previous Octobers, timed for half-term. Richard Vivian, director of commercial development at Virgin Media O2, has tied this year’s unlock to school holidays and to extra viewing while children are off.
You do not need to order the add-on for the month. The specialist reports do not set out a retune or a software step. Virgin Media has not published a fresh 2026 eligibility list that names individual TV packages, so the confirmed group is Virgin Media TV customers who do not already pay for the kids set.
Virgin Media’s TV and broadband combinations are covered in our Virgin Media bundles review. The entertainment side of those bundles is in the Virgin Media Entertainment bundle review.
Channels and on-demand
The free set includes Sky Kids, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nick Jr. Too, Nicktoons and Baby TV. Hundreds of on-demand episodes sit alongside the live channels.
Shows named for this October include Pip and Posy’s Spooktacular Party on Sky Kids, Adventure Time Side Quests on Cartoon Network, SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon, Paw Patrol on Nick Jr., a Gumball Halloween special on Cartoon Network, and HexVets & Magic Pets on Nick Jr.
This is a temporary open-up of a paid add-on, not a permanent price cut. When October ends, the £5 charge returns for anyone who wants to keep the pack. Virgin Media has used short free-channel windows before. In February it opened extra Sky channels for a limited run, which we reported in Virgin Media and Sky free channels.
Virgin TV Go away from the box
The same channels are available in the Virgin TV Go app, so children are not tied to the set-top box. Streaming works over Wi-Fi, 4G or 5G while you are in the UK.
That is useful if half-term means a day out or a grandparent’s house, as long as the phone or tablet is on a decent connection. It does not change the home broadband package. Virgin Media’s current broadband plans are in the Virgin Media broadband review.
Two October changes, two bills
BT customers get a new name on 15 October and keep the package they already pay for. Virgin Media TV customers get a kids channel unlock that lasts for October and then closes.
If you are on BT broadband and EE TV, check the app on the 15th and leave the box in standby overnight. If you are on Virgin Media TV and you do not already pay the £5 kids add-on, the extra channels should be there for the month without a separate order.
