Satellite – All About Digital TV

That’s TV Revises UK Wide Lineup

That’s TV has made further changes to its UK lineup which sits along side various localised versions of its main channel. Six natioanl channels are now availble, split evenly between general entertainment and specialised music services.

Tiny Pop to Return to the Airwaves

Children’s channel Tiny Pop is to return to traditional broadcasts this month, after converting to streaming only back in March. Sister channel Great Real, which took over bandwith used to transmit Tiny Pop, is closing down after an existence of less than 6 months.

Licence Fee to Be Retained

The new Labour led UK Government has confirmed a commitement to the TV Licence providing some certainty on how the BBC will be funded going forward. There had been some debate on the best way forward for funding the state owned public service broadcaster, amid a rise to streaming services such as Netflix meaning some no longer required a TV licence.

Box Plus Network Closes Down

Satellite and cable channels The Box, 4Music, Kerrang, Kiss and Magic, all closed down at midnight on 1st July (2024), bring in an end to what had been known as The Box Plus Network. Channel 4 have axed the channels in the first move away from linear broadcasts.

Freesat Scraps Remote Recording

Freesat has removed remote recording functionaility from its mobile apps. Remote recording allowed users to programme recordings on compatible Freesat recievers remotely via their mobile phone (when both devices were connected to the internet).

Rewind TV Launches

Rewind TV, and independently operated TV channel dedicated to showing classic British TV shows, launched on 23rd May (2024). The channel is available free-to-air on satellite.

UKTV to Rebrand in 2024

UKTV, part of the commercial arm of the BBC, have announced a name to be introduced during the summer of next year (2024). The name will also roll out to its streaming service and as a prefix to its channel line up.

Further Restructure of AMC UK Lineup

AMC Networks UK has made a further restructure of their channel lineup, following a similar exercise in 2022, which has seen the end of the use of the CBS brand. No changes have been made to platform availability, with the channel remaining on Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media, and Freeview.

Standard Definition Migration on Satellite

The pace of conversion to high definition (HD) broadcasts is becoming quicker, with many changes upcoming that will largely render older standard definition Sky and Freesat boxes redundant.

Sky to Revamp Pick

Pick, a free-to-air channel operated by Sky but without Sky branding (similar to sister channel Challenge), is to be rebranded to Sky Mix. Existing programming will be maintained, however additional content from across Sky’s portfolio will be added.