Which is better for TV in a student house - cable or aerial?

Other

We have a 3-bed BTL house which 3 students will occupy from September. They are keen to have a TV point in each bedroom and the living room to access Freeview TV and we have suggested Virgin cable as the best option. The house previously had Virgin cable and Virgin have said they would waive the £50 installation fee to extend the cables to the 4 rooms. However a 9-month Virgin contract with TV would cost the students more per month than accessing Freeview TV via a hardwired external TV aerial. They are happy to use Virgin cable for broadband. But the aerial option would cost us about £350 in installation costs, which we are clearly keen to avoid.

Is it reasonable for us to insist the students use Virgin cable? The installation would be available for future tenants to use and we have offered to pay towards the extra monthly cost of using Virgin for TV. But the students think we are being cheapskates by not buying an aerial (which future tenants may not want to use).

What do you suggest is "normal" best practice and what should we do? What legal obligations to provide a TV aerial and access points do we have as landlords? The RLA AST is silent on this matter.

Cesca