Sky to replace Sky Viewing Cards - News updates

05 April 2009

Early reports (from various sources) confirm what i have said about these cards for the past few months, that they are not able to be activated in a non-sky receiver, or even be used to watched channels in a non-sky receiver...

07 April 2009

The "new cards sent to you" message has been appearing on sky boxes since Sunday, and some Sky subscribers actually received them today.

24 April 2009

I am not 100% certain that freesatfromsky cards will be replaced. Firstly, if you order a freesatfromsky card direct from sky then sky are, according to reports, still sending out old blue yellow house freesatfromsky cards, where as all new sky subscription cards being sent out are the new white cads. This seems a bit weird. Secondly, the channels that the freesatfromsky card was initial produced to "decrypt" - ITV C4 and FIVE - are all available for free and can be watched on a sky box without a viewing card. So with this in mind i would suggest that there is no onus on sky to keep producing the freesatfromsky cards.

I will try and keep you updated on this page as and when I have more information.

1st May 2009

Freesat From Sky Cards...I have just seen that there is now a message at the bottom of the sky card change adverts that says "All PAY TV customers will receive a new card"...which may indicate that FSFS cards are not, for whatever reason, being replaced.

Either they are not going to replace the fsfs cards and keep them all running, or maybe there will no longer be a need for fsfs cards as you can get fta versions of all 5 main uk tv channels now anyway...maybe five will find some space on astra 2d (narrow beam to limit signal outside the uk) and thus even less need for a fsfs card... Will continue to keep you all posted.

5th May 2009 - "This is the wrong card for this Set Top Box"

According to various reports, the new sky card can only be activated on an actual Sky receiver. Furthermore, they can only be activated in the card "correct" Sky receiver. So if you have a Sky subscription card, and if you go to Sky Sports 1 and see the message "This is the wrong Sky Card for this Set Top Box" this means that your Sky card is not correctly paired to your Sky box, and you may have difficulties in activating your new white Sky card, when they are sent out.

5th May 2009

It may be an idea, if you are concerned about loosing access to the "Other Channels" section of the Sky receiver if / when your existing Sky card is turned off, to deactivate any Parental Controls that may be set. To do this you must know your card PIN number. Unless you have personally changed it the PIN is the last 4 digits of your Sky card - or the last 4 digits of your previous Sky card. Some reports have suggested that without a card and with Parental Controls turned on you cannot access the "Other Channels" section!

13 May 2009

One of my contacts has now confirmed that when you insert your new white Sky viewing card, your old Blue Yellow house viewing card will cease to function, and you will not be able to view any "encrypted" channels, including the Free to View channels like Five and Fiver.

August 2009:

Update: August 2009:

It looks like these typs of Sky viewing cards will be changing also soon......

Messages have been appearing on screens this weekend with a message along the lines of "Your viewing card is about to expire - you may lose channels after September 2009"

Unlike the new cards for Sky subscribers, Freesat replacement cards will not be sent out automatically, but via an onscreen message saying the card is due to expire and to contact Sky.

If you do nothing then you will loose access to any FTV channels:

ITV1 (in these regions only: Anglia W, Central SW, Mer N, Mer SE, TT S, Yorks E)
Channel 4 HD
FIVE
FIVE USA, FIVE USA +1, FIVER, FIVER +1
Sky 3

If you purchased a Sky FTV card after 1st May 2006 you are entitled to a free replacement card. Either call Sky or apply for a new card online before the end of September 2009. You can apply online at: http://www.sky.com/replacecard. Just enter your viewing card number and it will tell you if you are eligible for a replacement.

Please note that this may be different if you bought your card from an agent or installer in Spain who may charge for a replacement! Similarly there is no mention if the new cards you will get are preactivated or not....so you may also have to contact sky to get the cards activated.

Update September 2009

A small update: Sky are planning to continue the mail out of replacement cards through to September/early October.

Update December 2009:

New cards are still being issued and it is currently expected that the old blue yellow house card will be discontinued / switched off early 2010.

Sky's official New card website is www.sky.com/replacecard, not www.sky.com/replacementcard

On the 18th December Sky started to flash messages to most freesatfromsky cards that have not been replaced indicting they viewing cards will soon be deactivated, and to contact sky on www.sky.com/replacecard to order a replacement card.

It appears that although the old blue yellow house viewing cards will cease to provide access to the free to view (FTV) channels like Five, Fiver, Five USA, Sky3 and the six ITV1 regions, they will continue, for a while, to provide the regionalisation options for 101, 102, 103.

January 2010

Many people have been in contact saying that on their Sky+ box, their old expired sky + card works with box the recording but not the new white card.
This is correct.
Many old ex-subscription cards, that were paired to a Sky+ box, have been working with the hard disk record and playback functions. However, normally, to access the hard disk record and playback functions of the Sky+ or Sky HD boxes, you MUST pay Sky something per month, either £10 per month, or a TV subscription package. So it appears that some of the ex-subscription cards were not properly deactivated, and the hard disk recording and playback features were still active. So, people have received their new replacement white sky viewing card, and expected to still have the Sky+ or Sky HD record and playback function. If you are not paying a months fee to Sky then you will not have access tot he Sky9 or Sky HD boxes hard disk record or playback features.

March 2010

Sky card Switch off.

The old blue sky cards are in the process of being switched off. If you want to continue to watch Five, Fiver , Five USA, Sky 3, and the other free to view channels, then you will need to get a replacement WHITE sky card. You will know as if you have a blue sky card, and you are receiving a message on the TV screen to the effect of "This Programme is Not Available", then you need a replacement white Sky viewing card.