MTV Slims Portfolio, Offshoots to Close

ViacomCBS is slimming down its MTV portfolio, and is to close Club MTV, MTV OMG, and MTV Rocks on the 20th July 2020.

In addition to the main MTV channel, which is now more entertainment focused, five music channels will remain:

  • MTV Music
  • MTV Hits
  • MTV Classic
  • MTV Base
  • MTV Live HD

MTV Base is to gain a new Club music chart show, whilst MTV Music will gain a similar show for rock music.

MTV channels are subscription channels currently available on Sky and Virgin Media.

Upcoming Sky Q Updates

Sky have unveiled a series of upcoming updates to the Sky Q platform, the flagship receiver which allows access to online and catch up content alongside the usual range of channels.

Among the improvements are:

  • Revised user interfaces, replacing the static user bar with a collapse-able one
  • Improvements to voice control, allowing the user to search by genre.
  • Additional HDR (high-dynamic range) content, including from Disney Plus.

The first update is expected in the next few weeks.

BBC Premier League Record, Success for Hamilton on Disney+

Attracting a peak audience of 5.7 million, the BBC has set the record for the most viewed Premier League game with their broadcast of Southampton vs Manchester City. The previous record was set by the Manchester United and Manchester City derby game in 2012, which was viewed by 4 million.

Although not normally a rights holder for live premier league games, the BBC is showing 4 games live due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Disney’s switch of the release of the musical Hamilton to its Disney Plus platform appears to have been successful, with data from Apptopia showing the app had been downloaded 513,323 times over the July the 4th weekend. The recording of the Broadway musical was scheduled for cinematic release.

Additionally, there have been 71.5 million worldwide downloads of the Disney Plus app since launch. This figure excludes India or Japan, where the service has been integrated into existing apps.

Cuts to Regional BBC Services

The BBC are cutting some regional TV shows, in order to cut costs. 450 job losses are expect, with the axing of inside out the most prominent move.

Regionally news bulletins on the Breakfast programme (BBC One) will return, although a date for this has not been announced. All 6.30pm news bulletins will have a single presenter going forward. The regional politics programmes will be reinstated, but with a new format to reach a wider audience.

Inside Out, which has 11 regional variations will be replaced with a new investigation programme, from 6 larger regions. The unnamed programme will focus on single investigation per programme, rather than three 10 minute long segments.

Perhaps the biggest changes are at the local radio stations in England, which will retain the standard blocks of 4 hour long programmes introduced initially as a temporary measure back in March. Local programmes will be retained between 6am and 10pm, with a new national late show planned for 10pm to 1am. All shows will have 1 presenter only.

Some of the cuts are necessary due to the delays in reintroducing TV license charges for the over 75s, and the cost of covering the licenses for those on Pension Credit.

Freesports Leaves Freesat

Freesport left the Freesat satellite platform without warning on 30th June, after failing to agree terms with Freesat. This means the channel is no longer available on the Freesat EPG.

The channel is available free-to-air on satellite, and can still be manually tuned. The manual tuning parameters are:

Satellite Astra 28.2
Frequency 11426
Polarisation Vertical
Symbol Rate 29500
FEC 8/9
Service ID 52575

The channel remains available on Sky in HD and Freeview in standard definition (limited coverage).

Disney to Close Channels

Children’s channels Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD are to close in the UK. Unsurprisingly, this is part of the moving of content to Disney’s subscription streaming service Disney Plus, which will become the exclusive home for all of the content.

The move will take effect on October 1st, and will affect Sky and Virgin Media subscribers who currently subscribe to packages which include the channels.

Disney Plus launched in March this year, and costs £5.99 a month. Sky subscribers can access the service through the app on Sky Q.

The change is specific to the UK, although similar moves may made in other countries. Other Disney owned channels including National Geographic are not affected by the change.

Changes for Pick Ahead of Live Football

Sky owned Pick has made a few changes ahead of the broadcast of live football from Friday.

The most noticeable change is a tweak to the brand, with the Sky Pick name being adopted, along with a new logo in the corporate Sky style. This is likely to be the first time viewers will have been made aware of the channel’s owners.

New high-definition (HD) feeds have appeared. On satellite, a new HD outlet has opened, and is available on both Sky and Freesat on a UK spot beam, without encryption.

The use of a UK spot beam is crucial, as the Premier League (and other sports) have carriage deals with other broadcasters in other countries. Therefore, if the channel was carried on a Europe wide beam, it would need to be encrypted to protect the rights of other broadcasters.

This means that the standard definition version on Freesat will not carry football, as the channel is available on a Europe wide footprint. Additionally, the +1 timeshifts on both Sky and Freesat will also not carry football, neither will the Irish versions of the channel.

On Virgin Media, Sky Pick has switched to HD, although viewers may not immediately be aware as the HD suffix has not been added to the channel name.

Free to Air Premier League

With the remaining Premier League football matches to be held behind closed doors, a number of broadcasters have announced they will showing games free to air.

The BBC will broadcast four games live, in addition to its Match of the Day highlights programmes. The channel to show these matches is not known, but is likely to be BBC One or the BBC Red Button service.

Sky owned free-to-air channel Pick will be showing 25 games live, with the first being Everton v Liverpool, which will also be simulcast on Sky Sports.

Amazon will be streaming 4 matches on its platform Amazon Prime platform, without the need for subscription. The exact matches are yet to be announced.

This leaves BT Sport as the only rights holder to have not announced any free to air coverage.

Including the free to air matches and those as part of subscription services, all remaining Premier League games will be televised live.

Sony Crime Channel to Close

Sony Crime ChanelThe Sony Crime Channel is to close on during the early hours of 10th June 2020, on its remaining platforms Sky (satellite) and Virgin Media (cable), as Sony focuses on its remaining movie and entertainment channels.

Although launching with a large amount of publicity, the channel had struggled to compete with its rivals, and has been downgraded. The channel had already lost its national Freeview (terrestrial) slot.

Sony Crime Channel launched in February 2018, and has lasted just over two years on the air.

Further Sky Branded Channels to Launch

Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature are due to launch this spring, and will be joined by Sky History and Sky History 2.

Sky History is part of a joint venture between A+E Networks UK and Sky, and will be a rebrand of the current History channel. Both Sky History and Sky History 2 will be available on Sky’s Now TV streaming platform, as well as Virgin Media, BT TV and TalkTalk TV.

The changes are also due to take place this spring, with both channels to continue being operated and managed by A+E Networks UK.