close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

The Brits have warned that Channel 4 will disappear from some Sky and Freesat TVs in DAYS as part of the satellite ‘shutdown’ plan.
asane

The Brits have warned that Channel 4 will disappear from some Sky and Freesat TVs in DAYS as part of the satellite ‘shutdown’ plan.

CHANNEL 4 is the latest channel to make changes to the way it broadcasts via satellite.

As a result, some viewers turned on heaven and Freesat may lose access to the home Bake Off and Glasses case.

The changes affect old Sky and Freesat boxes

1

The changes affect old Sky and Freesat boxesCredit: Getty

From the end of November, Channel 4 will only be available in HD on satellite, accordingly Radio Times.

A Channel 4 spokesperson told the magazine that it “changes the technology we use to deliver our channels to Sky and Freesat households – ensuring we give everyone the highest quality HD viewing experience and opening up the potential for us services in the future”.

Fortunately, this shouldn’t be a problem for the vast majority of UK households.

But anyone with an older Sky or Freesat box capable of SD (standard definition) only has a big problem.

Sky has already moved customers with old SD-only boxes to newer HD-capable ones with a free upgrade to Sky Q.

Sky customers not currently using a Sky HD, Sky+HD or Sky Q box were notified during October that their account would be automatically canceled if they did not upgrade.

The BBC and ITV have already been busy shutting down their SD satellite broadcasts this year as well.

The changes only affect satellite services, so Virgin Media and Freeview I remain as I am.

However, Channel 4’s other channels – E4, More4 and Film4 – are expected to continue on satellite in SD, according to RXTVInfo.

That’s because the HD versions of these channels are encrypted via satellite and are only available to paying Sky subscribers.

Instead, Channel 4 is making technical changes to a new standard, which means those SD channels won’t work on old tapes either.

A new TV channel is dividing viewers early for Christmas 2024