Popular TV service to be removed from some BT and EE set top boxes

If you have an ageing BT or EE branded set top box that you use to stream to your TV using apps, you might soon lose access to a swathe of content from a popular streaming service.

As reported by Cord Busters, several older BT and EE TV boxes will stop supporting the Discovery+ app from September 22, meaning customers of Discovery+ and TNT Sports will no longer be able to stream any on-demand content from the app, even if they are a paying subscriber.

Discovery+ is the home of TNT Sports, the sport streaming service that was once branded BT Sport. Confusingly, you can sign up to TNT Sports through Discovery+, Sky, Virgin Media, or BT and EE services such as EE TV. BT has full information on the changes on its website.

EE TV, previously BT TV, offers flexible TV packages where you can sign up for a two-year contract but can switch your content packages every 30 days if you want to. EE TV is only available to BT or EE broadband customers.

If you own one of the affected older TV boxes, live programming from TNT Sports channels will still work. However, all on-demand sports and entertainment reached via the Discovery+ app will no longer be accessible to BT and EE customers using the 4K Recordable TV Box, TV Box or Recordable TV Box, some of which are YouView branded.

The newer TV Box Pro, TV Box Mini or the Apple TV 4K EE Box will not be affected.

If you have an old box, you'll still be able to access your Discover+ or TNT Sports on-demand content on other devices, but it'll stop working on the box hooked up to your TV. Aside from using another device such as a tablet to view on-demand content, your only other option is to upgrade your set top box.

Cord Busters notes that while BT and EE customers are usually entitled to a new free set top box when things like this happen, you may need to start a new 24-month contract in order to be eligible. Get in contact with the firm to check if you can get a free box before doing this.

BT, which owns EE, is slowly pushing its customers on EE-branded services for both its broadband and TV products, though this particular change is down to a decision made by Warner Bros. Discovery, owners of Discovery+.

It's representative of the wider evolution of how we access TV in 2025. Older set top boxes were designed to receive linear TV channels via satellite, whereas new technology is built around on-demand streaming that's delivered via Wi-Fi over a broadband connection. Just as we upgrade our phones and televisions, eventually the set top boxes we buy and forget about will need replacing too.