Anyone in the UK looking to make the jump to premium TV services is essentially stuck with two options: Virgin and Sky. While Sky has been aggressively pursuing mobile streaming for some time, Virgin is finally playing catch-up in the same space today by launching its long awaited Anywhere service. The company is promising live streaming of subscription channels and on-demand content from various providers, but when you look a little closer, the issues start to become apparent.

It’s understandable that Virgin has been blocked from streaming Sky’s own channels, especially when the latter company is keen to peddle its own service, but there’s no denying that TV Anywhere falls short in comparison to Sky Go. The rival service, for instance, offers apps on iOS, Android, and the Xbox 360, with users able to stream from the console and two additional devices simultaneously. Sky doesn’t place restrictions on 3G streaming either, and there’s a higher quality of on-demand content to choose from.

If Virgin had been able to at least match Sky on a technical level, then it could have at least worked on content issues over time. As it stands, however, the company simply hasn’t made a compelling argument for those looking to move beyond free-to-view TV, nor has it created a viable alternative to Sky's service.