Tag: Country Music Entertainment

Music Channel Changes

A few changes have been or are being made to music channels. This will be a longish article, but I felt it wise to wait until I had the full details, rather than post multiple very short articles.

I shall begin with the easiest change, relating to terrestrial (Freeview) only. Now 90s has moved down to channel number 87, to allow for the new Earthx channel take over number 79 (an article on Earthx will follow later this week).

A little more complex, is that of Classic Hits (formerly That’s TV Music), which has resulted in increased coverage. On the Manchester only Freeview multiplex, Classic Hits has replaced Country Music Entertainment, giving a 24 hour service to the Greater Manchester area. The latter remains available on compatible internet connected devices, via the OnDemand365 streaming portal. The Manchester version is labelled Classic Hits MCR, and has taken Classic Hits original number 91.

The part-time version of Classic Hits continues, but now broadcast from 4am to 7am, instead of 1am to 7am. This allows That’s TV (UK) to extended it’s broadcast hours to 4am, with both services continuing to timeshare. The UK version of Classic Hits has taken over Country Music Entertainment’s channel number 88, benefitting from a slightly higher and more prominent EPG position.

In addition Classic Hits has also launched on satellite, and can be found on Sky channel number 366. The service is free to air, and can be manually tuned in to other satellite receivers, but is not yet available on the Freesat EPG.

Trace Urban, Trace Latina and Trace Brazuca have joined the Channelbox streaming platform, which can be accessed via the portal on Freeview channel number 271 and via mobile phone apps.

Lastly, Spotlight TV (formerly Keep It Country) have now confirmed the channel is leaving the Sky and Freesat platforms, on or around the end of August. The channel is looking to join the above mentioned Channelbox platform, although at the time of writing has not yet done so. The channel was for a time the only music channel on the Freesat platform, and has blamed the decision on the methods used to calculate viewing figures. The channel is expected to continue in a more limited, and largely online based form.

Freeview Changes

Further to the previous post, Drama +1 has now replaced CCXTV on terrestrial platform Freeview, retaining channel number 73.

Speculation was that CCXTV was created to allow for eventual transfer of what was Create & Craft’s high EPG number of 23 to another channel. While this does appear to have been the case, unlike Merit which allowed a high position to transfer from ITV to Sky, CCXTV ran a near full time service, and had an active presence on social media.

The channel re-numbers have also taken place, but are far more extensive than previously reported. The full changes are summarised below.

Channel New EPG No. Old EPG No. Multiplex
Now 70s 75 78 Greater Manchester
Now 80s 76 83 COM7
Now 90s 78 84 Greater Manchester
Clubland TV 79 82 Greater Manchester
Together TV 82 87 COM5
Together TV +1 83 88 COM7
PBS America 84 91 COM6
PBS America +1 87 93 COM7
Country Music Entertainment 88 98 Greater Manchester

Freeview Channel Changes

From tomorrow (29th July 2020), some Freeview services are changing.

Ketchup/Yaaas (streamed service on devices connected to the internet) will be separating, becoming Ketchup on the existing channel number, and Yaaas on channel 212. This returns Ketchup and Yaaas to their original format, prior to merging as one portal.

A new channel Country Music Entertainment, will be launching on channel 98, and will be a 24/7 country music service. This channel will be on the Greater Manchester multiplex, so coverage will be restricted to the Greater Manchester area, but viewers others parts of UK with internet connected devices can access the streamed version via channel 271*. The streamed version is also in HD.

The Freeview website also states that new channel Merit is changing the way it is broadcast. The change is unclear, but this normally means the service is switching to a different multiplex.

In most cases, a partial retune or add new channels function should make the necessary adjustments for these changes to take affect on your device, but a full retune may still be required in some cases. Some devices may adjust automatically. Consult your device manufacturer if unsure.

*Update (29th July 2020): Thanks to Country Music Entertainment for letting me know about the streamed version of the channel.