THERE are mere weeks to go until all of Sky’s channels will disappear from selected TV boxes.
The broadcaster has been slowly switch off old standard definition (SD) versions of their channels in a shift to make them all HD only going forward.
Other channels like BBC and ITV have already done the same, shutting down their SD broadcasts on satellite for now.
Several Sky SD channels have already gone, including Sky Cinema and Sky Sports.
But before long they will all be gone.
For the vast majority of customers this shouldn’t be a problem, as most people now use a modern box like Sky Q.
Even the older Sky+HD box is fine.
The boxes that are affected are much more dated, so much so they can’t even handle HD.
Sky has previously announced that the cut off date is August 31.
So we’re only two weeks away from the Sky SD channel closures, meaning affected boxes will have a lot less channels available to watch.
Sky is offering affected customers an upgrade to Sky Q at no extra cost.
For those who wish to cancel, there won’t be an early termination charge.
“If you don’t cancel you’ll still be charged for your subscription, but you’ll only have access to a limited number of channels,” Sky explains.
Here’s a list of the affected models:
Digibox
- 4F01 to 4F08 (Amstrad)
- 4E01 to 4E05 (Grundig)
- 9F01 to 9F08 and 9F0A (Pace)
- 0F01 to 0F05 (Panasonic)
- 4E06 to 4E08 (Thomson)
Sky+
- 4F2001 to 4F2006 (Amstrad)
- 4F2101 to 4F2118 and 9F2101 to 9F2137 (Amstrad or Pace)
- 9F2001 to 9F2024, PVR2, 9F2201 to 9F2235, 9F2301 to 9F2339 (Pace)
- 4E2101 to 4E2141 (Thomson)
IS MY SKY BOX AFFECTED?
If you’re not sure what your Sky box model is, follow these steps to find out:
- Press Services on your Sky remote
- Then tap the 4 key, followed by 5
- Here you’ll see the version number
Why are channels disappearing?
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
Don’t panic, your favourite channels aren’t shutting down, it’s just the standard definition versions.
And about time too.
HD TVs are commonplace now – and if you can afford to subscribe to Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, you can surely afford a HD TV too.
Those who aren’t watching via HD are missing out on a far superior experience.
Sky is even offering a free upgrade to Sky Q, which you may as well take up.
Ending SD broadcasts via satellite frees up satellite capacity, which costs companies money to run and ultimately falls on all customers to pay towards – it’s hard to justify this cost when so few are still using them.
Remember, this only affects satellite for now.
SD broadcasts of other channels will still be available on Freeview for the foreseeable future.
