By Roca IPTV Support Team, Installation & customer support. Written by the Roca IPTV support staff who walk customers through setups on WhatsApp every day. Steps are re-checked on real devices whenever the player apps change their menus.
"How much would I actually save?" is the question we're asked most by people thinking of leaving a traditional UK TV package. This guide answers it the honest way: by putting every cost on the table for a full year, showing the calculation, and pointing out what you give up as well as what you save.
Short answer: a year of Roca IPTV on one screen costs $69 (USD), paid once. A UK pay-TV package that includes live sport typically runs to several hundred pounds a year on contract, and a stack of two or three streaming apps plus a sports pass usually lands somewhere in between. For most households the difference is several hundred pounds a year — but you need decent broadband, and you set it up yourself.
How we worked out the numbers
Pay-TV and streaming prices change frequently, vary by region and come with promotional discounts that expire. So rather than quote one provider's price list, we use typical ranges for packages that include live sport, before introductory discounts, and show the arithmetic so you can plug in your own bill.
Three scenarios are compared:
- Pay-TV with sport — a satellite or cable TV package with entertainment and sport channels, usually on an 18–24-month contract.
- Streaming stack — two or three on-demand streaming apps plus a monthly sports pass or sports app.
- Roca IPTV — one subscription with live channels, sport and on-demand films and series.
In every scenario we assume you keep your existing broadband. All three need it; only the first also needs the provider's box.
The yearly cost, line by line
| Pay-TV with sport | Streaming stack | Roca IPTV, 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly TV cost | £70–£100+ | £35–£60 | $5.75 equivalent |
| × 12 months | £840–£1,200+ | £420–£720 | $69, paid once |
| Set-up / box fees | Often £0–£50 | £0 | £0 (your own device) |
| Extra room | Usually a monthly multiroom fee | Depends on tier | Choose 2–5 devices at order |
| Price rise mid-contract | Common | Common | None — price fixed for the period |
For the Roca IPTV column, the 12-month price is divided by twelve only to compare like with like. You pay $69 once; there is no monthly bill.
If you need more screens
Families often watch on two or three TVs at once. Roca IPTV prices that up front:
| Screens at the same time | Roca IPTV, 12 months |
|---|---|
| 1 | $69 |
| 2 | $109 |
| 3 | $139 |
| 4 | $169 |
| 5 | $199 |
With pay-TV, each extra room normally means a monthly multiroom charge and another box; with streaming apps, more simultaneous streams often means moving up a tier.
A worked example
Take a household paying £85 a month for TV with sport on contract — a mid-point of the typical range.
- Pay-TV: £85 × 12 = £1,020 a year.
- Roca IPTV for two screens, twelve months: $109 (USD).
Even after converting currency and adding the cost of a Fire TV Stick for the second TV, the difference is several hundred pounds in the first year and more in the second, because the stick is a one-off purchase.
Now a household with a streaming stack at £45 a month: £45 × 12 = £540 a year. Here the saving is smaller, and the decision is less about cost and more about whether you want live channels and sport in one place rather than mostly on-demand content.
What you get for the money
Price isn't everything. Here is how the three compare on what you actually watch.
Live channels. Pay-TV gives you hundreds of channels, mostly UK. Streaming apps have few or no live channels. Roca IPTV has 35,000+ live channels covering the UK, Ireland, the USA, Australia and international.
Sport. Pay-TV packages usually include one or two sport broadcasters, with others as add-ons. A streaming sports pass often covers just one competition. Roca IPTV includes the sport channels and pay-per-view events in every plan.
On demand. Streaming apps are strongest here, with polished apps and originals. Roca IPTV includes about 160,000+ films and 60,000+ series in the player app's Films and Series menus — a big library, but the apps are less polished than the big streaming services.
Picture quality. All three offer HD, and 4K where the source is 4K. Pay-TV over satellite is the most consistent; streaming, including Roca IPTV, depends on your broadband.
What you give up
Being fair about the trade-offs matters more than the headline saving:
- You set it up yourself. Installing an app and typing a login takes ten minutes with our setup guides, but there's no engineer visit.
- Broadband quality matters. On a slow or unstable connection, IPTV buffers where satellite wouldn't. You want at least 10 Mbps per HD screen.
- No recording box. Some apps can record or offer catch-up on selected channels, but there's no hard-drive box with series link.
- A TV licence still applies in the UK if you watch or record live TV, whatever service you use.
Contract and cancellation
This is where the difference is starkest. Pay-TV contracts usually run 18 or 24 months, with early-exit fees and annual price rises. Streaming apps are monthly but renew automatically until you cancel. Roca IPTV is a one-off payment for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months that never renews by itself; when it ends, you decide whether to buy another period. There is also a 7-day refund window if it doesn't work for you.
How to switch without missing anything
- Check your contract end date with your current provider, and any early-exit fee.
- Run the free trial of Roca IPTV during an evening with a live match, on your main TV. Request it here.
- Buy a streaming device if your TV isn't a recent Samsung, LG or Android model — a Firestick is the simplest choice.
- Order a 1- or 3-month plan first, then move to 12 months once you're happy.
- Keep your broadband — you need it — and give notice on the TV part of your package.
The bottom line
For a household paying for live sport on a pay-TV contract, Roca IPTV typically saves several hundred pounds a year, with more channels and no contract, in exchange for a little DIY setup and a reliance on good broadband. For someone already on a modest streaming stack, the saving is smaller and the main gain is live TV and sport in one place. Either way, the free trial is the quickest way to find out — see all prices when you're ready.