Virgin Media offers free TV upgrade to millions of homes – simple way to get it

Not got enough things to watch? Virgin Media is hoping its latest update will give your nightly telly binges a boost. The telecoms giant has just announced the launch of the Rakuten TV app on its set-top boxes which includes hours of entertainment at no extra cost. In fact, once installed, Virgin users will find over 150 so-called FAST channels which show things for free thanks to being supported by adverts.

These FAST services include genres such as Top Movies and Action, Entertainment, Reality, Sport, News, Lifestyle, Cooking, Kids, Crime & Mystery, Docs & Factual.

Along with free programmes, the Rakuten TV app also offers instant access to buy or rent the latest movie releases such as Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2, and A Quiet Place: Day One.

Sound enticing? You’ll find the Rakuten TV service in the app section on Virgin TV360 or Stream boxes.

David Bouchier, Chief TV and Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “Virgin TV is the home of great entertainment with a host of must-have apps, on demand shows and popular channels. The addition of the Rakuten TV app to our platform gives our customers access to even more unmissable content and fan-favourite films at the click of a button.”

Sidharth Jayant, Chief Product Officer at Rakuten TV, said: “Rakuten TV offers a great choice for Virgin Media Customers with the premium new releases to rent or buy and a great selection of Movies, TV Shows and FAST channels for free. We are pleased to collaborate with Virgin Media to offer this high-quality experience to its customers. This partnership is a further step in our strategy to bring our TV offer to telco clients across Europe”

It’s been a stellar week for free content boosts. Sky has also just confirmed that it’s finally added a long-awaited app to its platforms. It was all the way back in July that the telly provider told users to expect the new U service to arrive on screens but that date was delayed due to some unforeseen circumstances.

Now Sky has started rolling out U to UK homes and it’s packed with popular content such as Gavin and Stacey, Top Gear, Have I Got News For You, Masterchef and Would I Lie To You.

You’ll find U in the app store on Sky Glass and Sky Stream.