SKY viewers are gaining two Christmas-themed TV channels tomorrow as part of a big channel shake-up.
But for some viewers, it’s simply too soon to get into the festive spirit.
The new additions are part of a channel shuffle affecting 12 stations on Sky between 1 and 5 October[/caption]
“Christmas channels are getting earlier, why can’t everything start beginning of November,” one Sky customer wrote in a community forum.
Many believe that anything from Christmas movies, to stocking fillers in the supermarket, shouldn’t be advertised until Halloween has passed.
Brits had the same reaction when GREAT! Christmas was relaunched on Sky, Virgin and Freeview boxes on 5 September – albeit the earliest it has ever returned.
But Movies24, the station bringing two new Christmas channels to Sky viewers, began leaning into the festivities on 1 October last year.
As per tradition, two festive channels called Christmas24 and Christmas24+ will replace Movies24 and Movies24+ tomorrow.
- Movies24 renames to Christmas24 on Satellite 312 – Glass/Stream 313
- Movies24+ renames to Christmas24+ on Satellite 315 – Glass/Stream 314
The new additions are part of a channel shuffle affecting 12 stations on Sky between 1 and 5 October.
Sky Sci-Fi & Horror, on Satellite 311 – Glass/Stream 311, is set to rebrand to Sky Halloween/Halloween HD to get viewers into the spooky spirit.
Sky Greats, on Satellite 304 – Sky Glass/Stream 304, will also swap with Sky Halloween, on Satellite 311 – Sky Glass/Stream 311.
ITV1 and ITV2 are scheduled to disappear from some TV boxes on 3 October due to a big satellite overhaul.
The British broadcaster is pulling the SD (standard definition) version of its two main channels from satellite altogether.
ITV has already yanked SD versions of ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe.
The BBC has already done the same with its own channels.
And Sky is about to follow suit, forcing owners of old kit to upgrade or face their subscription being cancelled automatically.
Check out the full list of Sky TV guide changes coming in the next few days:
1 October
- Ultimate Action (Satellite 307/851 – Sky Glass/Stream 307) renames to Sky Action / Sky Action HD (reverting from a temporary change)
- Sky Sci-Fi & Horror (Satellite 311 – Glass/Stream 311) renames to Sky Halloween/Halloween HD (temporary change).
- Sky Greats (Satellite 304 – Sky Glass/Stream 304) swaps with Sky Halloween (Satellite 311 – Sky Glass/Stream 311).
- Movies24 (Satellite 312 – Glass/Stream 313) renames to Christmas24 (temporary change).
- Movies24+ (Satellite 315 – Glass/Stream 314) renames to Christmas24+ (Temporary change).
- Sky Sports Racing HD ROI launches (Satellite 415/872 – Sky Glass/Stream 411) – replacing the existing UK feeds in ROI
3 October
- ITV1 London SD closes and is replaced by ITV1 London HD at 103.
- ITV1 Central West SD closes and is replaced by ITV1 Central West HD at 103.
- ITV1 Granada SD closes and is replaced by ITV1 Granada HD at 103.
- ITV1 Meridian East SD closes and is replaced by ITV1 Meridian East HD at 103.
- ITV2 SD closes and is replaced by ITV2 HD at 118
5 October
- Sky True Stories (Satellite 302 – Sky Glass/Stream 302) renames to Sky Feel Good/SkyFeelGoodHD (temporary change).
Sky customers at risk of losing subscription:
SOME Sky customers are at risk of losing their subscription
Customers have received warning that their subscriptions will be automatically cancelled tomorrow if their package relies on an old standard definition (SD) box.
Sky is automatically cancelling affected subscriptions from tomorrow (1 October).
Fortunately, the vast majority of viewers should be unaffected by the move.
But anyone with a very old Sky box may be impacted unless they upgrade to Sky Q now – at no extra cost.
