Sky’s Final Deadline: Upgrade Or Lose 14 Channels

Another major change is coming to Sky next week: As part of the ongoing transition from SD to HD broadcasting, Sky will close 14 SD channels on May 29, 2024. 

This means that subscribers who are still using older Sky boxes will lose access to several Sky Sports and Sky Cinema channels – unless they upgrade their equipment (which they can do at no extra cost – see more details below).

As we previously reported, Sky has been talking about the plan to switch from SD to HD for a while – but this week, the full list of affected channels, along with the final date – has been announced, with more SD channels set to shut down in August.

This move is in line with a broader industry trend aimed at improving picture quality and enhancing customers’ overall viewing experience.

The shift from SD to HD has been a gradual process, with major broadcasters like the BBC and ITV taking the lead in shutting down most of their SD channels on satellite platforms earlier this year.

HD offers significantly better picture quality and sharper resolution, which are increasingly becoming the standard expectations among viewers (not to mention Ultra HD / 4K, which is also slowly becoming the norm with some of the content).

The BBC undertook a significant step in 2022 by making all its channels available in HD, including regional news on BBC One – which finally brought an end to those dreaded regional news HD warnings.

In January 2024, the BBC accelerated its switch-off of SD channels on Freesat and Sky, moving all its broadcasting to HD due to low demand for SD channels.

Following the BBC and ITV’s lead, Sky announced that older SD-only boxes would cease to function properly in 2024.

Earlier this year, the company unveiled a detailed timeline for discontinuing support for these older boxes, with the transition set to take place in three stages.

The first stage involved removing all BBC SD channels from Sky’s satellite platform on March 26, 2024. The HD versions of these channels replaced their SD counterparts on the EPG.

In the second stage, which is set to begin next week, customers with older SD boxes will lose access to several key Sky channels, including Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and the MUTV channel.

Subscribers to these channels will have their subscriptions automatically cancelled unless they upgrade to an HD box.

Sky has offered affected customers the option to cancel their subscriptions altogether without incurring early termination fees or to continue watching without the mentioned channels.

The final stage of the transition is scheduled for August 2024, at which point SD box users will no longer be able to access any of Sky’s channels.

While viewers could theoretically continue to watch non-BBC and non-Sky channels that remain available in SD, it would make little sense to pay for a Sky subscription without access to Sky’s channels.

It’s important to note that this change does not mean Sky is completely ceasing SD broadcasting. Some SD channels will still be available on more modern devices like Sky Q, catering to viewers who prefer or require SD viewing for various reasons, such as maximizing recording capacity.

However, the SD versions of the channels that will be shut down on May 29 will permanently cease to work.

For customers still using older SD-only boxes, such as Sky+, these changes mean that an equipment upgrade is necessary to continue watching the affected channels.

Sky is offering affected customers free upgrades to Sky Q, and they would not need to change their current subscription plan or pay extra.

How Do I Know If My Sky Box Is Affected?

To check if your Sky Box is SD-only (and will therefore lose access to the cinema and sports channels next week), Sky suggests you:

• Select Channel 105 on your remote.
• If you see Channel 5 HD, you’re not affected. If you see Channel 5 in SD, you are, and you’ll need to upgrade your Sky box.

Note that Channel 5 isn’t affected by these changes – it’s just a way to check whether your box is currently capable of showing HD channels. 

Alternatively, you can:

• Press Services on your Sky remote
• Press 4 ,then 5
• Check your box’s version number, as seen here:

The affected Sky boxes are:

Digibox:

• 4F01 to 4F06 (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)

These changes will not affect Sky customers with newer Sky boxes, such as Sky Q, or the streaming-based devices, Sky Glass and Sky Stream, where Sky’s channels are already HD by default.

It’s also worth mentioning that even though Sky still offers a paid Sky HD upgrade on some of its boxes, the Sky Sports and Sky Cinema channels are already available in HD at no extra cost for subscribers with compatible HD boxes, such as Sky Q and Sky+ HD.

This means that customers who currently receive these channels won’t need to start paying an additional HD fee once the SD versions are shut down.

Sky Channels Shutting Down On May 29

These are the channel changes expected to happen as part of the second phase of the HD switchover:

Cinema Channels Shutting Down

• Sky Cinema Premiere SD (Satellite 301/848) closes permanently – HD service remains at 301 in the UK and ROI
• Sky Cinema Greats SD (Satellite 304/849) closes permanently – HD service remains at 304 in the UK and ROI
• Sky Cinema Family SD (Satellite 306/850) closes permanently – HD service remains at 306 in the UK and ROI
• Sky Cinema Action SD (Satellite 307/851) closes permanently – HD service remains at 307 in the UK and ROI

Sports Channels Shutting Down

• Sky Sports Box Office SD (Satellite 491) closes permanently in the UK and ROI
• Sky Sports Main Event SD (Satellite 401/859) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 401 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Premier League SD (Satellite 402/860) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 402 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Football SD (Satellite 403/861) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 403 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Cricket SD (Satellite 404/862) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 404 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Golf SD (Satellite 405/863) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 405 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports F1 SD (Satellite 406/864) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 406 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Action SD (Satellite 408/865) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 408 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Arena SD (Satellite 412/867) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 412 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports News SD (Satellite 409/866) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 409 – no changes to ROI
• Sky Sports Mix SD (Satellite 416/873) closes permanently in the UK only – HD remains at 416 – no changes to ROI

May 28 Update: At the last minute, Sky announced that Sky Sports News SD and Sky Sports Mix SD are staying put.

 

Other Changes

• Sky Sports Box Office HD (Satellite 492) moves to 491 in the UK and ROI
• Sky Sports Football ROI SD launches on satellite at 861 in ROI only – swapping with the existing HD ROI service at 403
• MUTV SD (Satellite 418/875) closes permanently – HD remains at 418

How Can I Upgrade My Sky SD Box?

If you have one of the affected, older Sky SD-only boxes, Sky is offering to upgrade you to Sky Q at no extra cost.

Importantly, Sky says there’ll be no change to your Sky TV package or pricing. 

That’s important, as customers who wish to upgrade their Sky equipment are usually asked to upgrade their plans and contracts – and that won’t be the case this time.

Once you sign up, one of Sky’s engineers will install the new Sky Q box on a date that works for you.

At that point, you’ll be able to watch all the BBC and ITV channels in HD, as well as all the Sky channels that you are subscribed to.

To start the upgrade process, Sky customers can call 0333 759 5121 or upgrade online via this link.

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