TalkTalk TV Store is the new name for Blinkbox, the on-demand service that only charges you for what you watch, instead of a flat monthly fee.
On the cards ever since TalkTalk bought Blinkbox from Tesco back in 2015, the TalkTalk TV Store, despite it’s name, is a service that’s open to anyone with an Internet connection.
Rented and bought TV shows and movies are stored in a digital locker which can be accessed from anywhere in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Your purchases can be watched on a range of phones, tablets, set-top boxes, PCs and games consoles.
Here’s everything you need to know about TalkTalk TV Store, what it means for old Blinkbox customers and TalkTalk TV customers.
Are my Blinkbox purchases safe?
Yes – TalkTalk TV Store is essentially the new name for Blinkbox, to the extent that many of the URLs on the TalkTalk TV Store site still feature ‘blinkbox.com’.
Anything you’ve bought in the past will be safe and you’ll be able to watch it as normal.
How much is TalkTalk TV Store?
Prices vary on the TalkTalk TV Store depending on what you’re buying and whether your want to watch a show or movie in HD or not.
Movies like The Hateful Eight cost £3.45 to rent in SD and £4.45 to rent in HD.
This gives you a 30 day window to watch your purchase. Once you’ve started watching a movie or TV show, you’ve got a 48 hour window to get all of your viewing done.
TV shows are not available to rent, but you can buy on a per episode or a per season basis. Prices for individual shows are normally £1.89 for a single episode in SD or £2.49 for HD episodes. This essentially lets you ‘try before you buy’ if you’re unsure about something.
Whole seasons can cost around £15-£17 for standard definition while HD prices hover around the £22-£25 mark.
Are HD movies on TalkTalk TV Store Full HD?
No. Like Blinkbox, high definition movies bought or rented from the TalkTalk TV Store are currently only available in 720p HD only.
While many phones and some tablets won’t have a resolution that’ll be able to fully support a 1080p stream, many laptops and desktop PC monitors will, not to mention most smart TVs.
TalkTalk doesn’t have any plans to change this as of yet, but we live in hope that it’ll one day take a leaf out of the iTunes book and offer titles in 1080p Full HD.
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What can I watch on TalkTalk TV Store?
Content deals with the likes of 20th Century Fox, ABC, HBO, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Universal and Warner Bros. means that shows and movies including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Daredevil, Family Guy, Parks and Recreation, Bridge of Spies, Community, True Detective, Creed, Ash vs Evil Dead and more.
At the time of writing, according to the TalkTalk TV Store site, there’s 6,437 movies available and 1,127 TV shows available to rent and/or buy.
Can I watch UltraViolet purchases?
TalkTalk TV Store lets you link an existing UltraViolet library or create a new one, meaning digital versions of your hard copy purchases can be watched through the same portal as your TalkTalk TV Store and Blinkbox purchases.
How can I watch my TalkTalk TV Store rentals and purchases?
You can access TalkTalk TV Store purchases online through a bespoke HTML5 player built for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. If you’re using Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari you’ll need to install Microsoft Silverlight in order to watch TalkTalk TV Store purchases.
There’s also TalkTalk TV Store apps available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone tablets and phones as well as apps for Xbox 360 and Xbox Ones, Samsung and LG smart TVs and connected Blu-ray players.
The iOS and Android apps are also Chromecast-compatible, making it easy to watch your content on TV.
TalkTalk TV customers will also be able to easily access their purchases through the TalkTalk TV Store app.
Can I watch TalkTalk TV Store purchases on holiday?
Even if you can get decent WiFi from your hotel room in Barcelona, Okinawa or Svalbard, you won’t be able to watch any of your Blinkbox purchases abroad.
Due to licensing restrictions, you can only watch purchases in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
How fast does my broadband connection need to be to watch TalkTalk TV Store?
You’ll need at least 2Mbps of spare bandwidth to watch SD streams and at least 5Mbps for HD streams.
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