Sky Sports is what it says on the tin; sports channels provided by Sky television, including Sky Sports 1, 2 & 3, Sky Sports Xtra, Sky Sports News and the Sky Sports HD channels if your telly is HD-capable.

The sports subscription option when getting Sky is obviously very popular, and given that Sky pays silly amounts of millions in securing the rights to the sports that they show, mainly football, it is not cheap, but very much worth it if you are a sports follower with plenty of time on your hands to soak up all of the sport on offer!

Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 & Xtra cover a vast number of sports, with football the main attraction. Sky shows selected Premier League matches, Carling Cup, Champions League and International games. Otherwise, rugby union, rugby league, cricket, boxing, motor sports, tennis, sailing and all sorts are on throughout the day and night. Whilst much of the sport is live, there is also lots of pre-recorded material and highlights, as well as feature programmes, such as the Premiership Years and Football League Review (no prizes for guessing that I watch it for the football!)

Personally, while Sky does come under much criticism for various reasons, I think it's great and without it I wouldn't be able to see half the games I do. For me, Sky oozes presentation class, with crisp pictures, well-oiled presenters and top pundits and experts. I especially enjoy Super Sunday, which features live Premier League action on Sunday afternoons, where one of the games will be commentated on by the formidable partnership of Andy Gray and Martin Tyler!

Live sport on Sky Sports often follows a fairly routine format, but this presentation is clean and well-structured, especially in comparison to some of the more shabby live coverage on offer on terrestrial and in the days of Setanta Sports.

Overall, if you are serious about your sport, especially football as there is almost always some sort of football show being aired at any time during the day (and if their isn't watch Sky Sports News as this primarily covers football), then Sky Sports is key and well worth the money. Sky Sports is also now available via the internet and by mobile phone.