A TRIO of channels will vanish from Sky boxes today as another satellite shake-up takes effect.
And one of the channels disappearing is a Sky Sports favourite.
Sky is making more changes to its satellite broadcasting, meaning Sky Q, Sky+HD and Sky+ customers will lose Sky Sports Racing SD.
Fortunately, Sky Sports Racing hasn't been axed entirely as it will live on in HD only.
So subscribers don't have to miss out on their favourite horse racing competitions.
From today, slot 415 will be filled with Sky Sports Racing HD, replacing Sky Sports Racing SD that sat there before.
This will leave 872 vacant.
The move is the latest as part of Sky's standard definition satellite switch off, after a number of broadcasters began shifting from the old inferior SD TV quality and made HD the one and only option.
BBC and ITV have already done the same with a number of their channels on satellite.
Two other channels are switching off on Sky today too and both are religious interest.
Christian broadcaster TWR on 0128 and Muslim network Ramazan TV HD on 791 will go off air on Sky satellite.
But Sky customers do need to be aware of sweeping changes coming later this week – and it includes even more closures.
In a bizarre twist on SD channels closing in favour of HD, the reverse is being carried out by UKTV.
U&W HD and U&Yesterday HD are leaving Sky Q, Sky+HD and Sky+.
This means viewers will only be able to watch live in SD – though on-demand content from the channels will still be available in HD.
The pair are currently sat at channel numbers 132 and 155 respectively but they'll be switched to the SD broadcast from tomorrow (April 1).
Then on Wednesday Sky History 2 HD is also axed leaving Sky History 2 SD only on satellite.
Channel 163 will be home to the SD version.
See the full list of changes to Sky satellite TV services below:
- ​March 31: Sky Sports Racing HD moves from 872 to 415
- March 31: TWR closes at 0128
- March 31: Ramazan TV HD closes at 791
- March 31: Nick Jr Peppa becomes Nick Jr Too on 613
- March 31: Nick Spongebob becomes NickToons on 605
- April 2: TV Warehouse moves from676to673
- April 2: Cruise1st.tv moves from 681to 675
- April 2: Sky History 2 SD moves from 840 to 163 (168in NI and ROI)
- April 3: Sky Gangsters becomes Sky Thriller on 309
- April 3: Sky Cinema Books To Screen becomes Sky Cinema Adventure on 302
- April 4: Sky Cinema Family becomes Sky Cinema Harry Potter on 306 / 805
- April 4: Sky Cinema Hits becomes Sky Cinema The Hobbit on 303
Is the end of satellite in sight?
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at Flying Eze
Satellite TV is expensive business.
Sky doesn't own the satellites above Earth that beam channels down to us – they have pay a satellite operator for that.
But streaming is seen as the future, not only for Sky but everyone in the TV business.
With Sky Glass and Sky Stream, Sky doesn't have to pay a hefty fee to a satellite operator.
No more satellite dishes are needed, which means far fewer engineers coming out to houses are required too.
Only recently did Sky and its satellite operator SES announce a new agreement that takes satellite TV up until 2029 – after that, we will have to see.
There are still millions of customers who enjoy watching TV with a satellite box.
Sky says 90 per cent of new customers opt for Sky Glass or Sky Stream.
