Major Freeview And Sports Channels Missing From Sky Glass

Sky Glass, the new streaming-based TV set (and service) from Sky, is missing quite a few channels that are currently available on other services – Freeview, Freesat, and even Sky’s own Sky Q box.

Among the missing channels – Freeview’s NOW music channels, the Great! movie channels (formerly known as Sony Movies), Freesports, CNN, Court TV and many others (see the full list below).

And since Sky Glass customers are limited to the channels and streaming apps that come with the TV – they won’t be able to watch the missing channels by any other means (unless they connect a 3rd party streaming device or Freeview box).

What Is Sky Glass?

Sky Glass is the newly announced 4K streaming TV from Sky. It comes with a QLED HDR screen, and a built-in soundbar with five speakers. You can learn more about it in our in-depth Sky Glass review.

Sky Glass doesn’t use a satellite dish – instead, it relies on broadband and streaming – much like other streaming devices such as the Fire TV and Roku.

This means that Sky’s channels and on-demand content, as well as Freeview channels, will be streamed to your TV via the internet.

Even programmes that you choose to record (up to 1,000 hours), will be recorded on the cloud – and streamed back to your TV.

Interestingly, Sky Glass does have an aerial port – but officially it will only be used for “backup purposes” – so potentially for cases when your internet is down (and you want to at least watch Freeview channels), or if you unsubscribe from Sky.

Sky Glass also supports a range of 3rd party streaming apps, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and many others (see the full list of Sky Glass apps here).

The TV features an advanced user interface that aggregates content from a variety of Sky channels and 3rd party streaming services – so you will see recommendations and a “playlist” with content from all the services/channels you’re interested in.

Unlike most of the other Sky products, Sky Glass doesn’t require a long-term contract. Instead, you can buy the TV outright (or pay in instalments), and sign up for Sky Ultimate (and add-ons) with a rolling monthly contract.

Sky Glass is already available to order – buy at the moment only Diamond & Platinum customers can get it (customers who have been with Sky for more than 8 years). Others will have to pre-register and wait.

Sky Glass Channels List – What’s Missing?

With some customers starting to receive Sky Glass, Sky has updated the full list of available channels on its new TV, which is available here – there are 140 channels in total (though some require an extra subscription).

While all the public broadcasters are there, along with a long list of other channels – sharp-eyed customers were quick to notice that some channels are missing from that list. 

Curiously, some of these channels are totally free channels that are normally available on Freeview and Freesat (well, free for viewers – the channels usually need to pay Sky a carrier fee).

And all of these missing channels are currently available on Sky Q.

Some of the major channels that are currently missing from the Sky Glass list are:

NOW 70s / NOW 80s / NOW 90s – A trio of Freeview music channels that air nonstop music from different decades.

Great! TV / Great! Movies / Great! Movies Action / Great Movies Classic – These channels were formerly known as the Sony Movies channels, and they’re normally available on Freeview and Freesat (and Sky Q). They mostly air a revolving selection of older movies and old TV shows (And around this time, there’s also GREAT! Movies Christmas).

Court TV – An American TV channel that’s dedicated to live, real-life courtroom broadcasts. It joined – and then left – Freeview earlier this year, but is still available on Freesat and Sky Q.

FreeSports – A free-to-air HD channel that broadcasts numerous sporting events. It’s available on Freeview (Freesat lost it last year), and on other Sky devices – but not on Sky Glass.

SportyStuff TV – A sports channel dedicated to greyhound racing and other unique sporting categories, it launched on Freesat and Sky earlier this year, but is not on the Sky Glass list.

CNN International – The premium news network was removed from Freesat (as well as Virgin Media and BT TV) back in August, leaving Sky as the only pay-TV provider to have it. But it’s not on Sky Glass…

QVC – The popular TV shopping channels are available on Freeview, Freesat and Sky Q – but shoppers won’t be able to find them on Sky Glass for now.

And the list goes on – from more sports channels like La Liga TV, BoxNation and Premier Sports 1 and 2, to more news channels like Bloomberg TV and even the ill-fated GB News, as well as the POP! kids channels and several international foreign-language channels.

A member of the Sky community even created a handy chart that details all the missing channels (as of this writing) – you can find it here.

And while Sky is saying that more channels are set to be added to Sky Glass in the future – it remains unclear when that will happen, and which channels will be added.

From launch there will be 140 channels, with 108 as part of Sky Ultimate TV, 11 cinema, 8 kids, 13 sports channels. A further 22 channels will be added in the near future. Thanks, Graeme

— Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) October 18, 2021

We approached Sky for comment and clarification – and will update this article when it arrives.