4Music no longer free-to-air, now free to view

4Music, which was free to air on satellite, is now “free-to-view”, following a satellite frequency transponder change.

4Music, along with sister channels The Box, Box Upfront, Box Hits, Kerrang and Kiss, have moved from the UK beam to the European beam which covers the whole of Europe.

However, due to rights restrictions,

entertainment content on 4Music cannot be broadcast on the European beam meaning that Freesat users who manually tuned in 4Music following its departure from Freesat earlier this year will no longer have access to the channel via satellite.

The difference between free-to-air and free-to-view is that viewers need a valid Sky viewing card to receive the channel. Sky viewers shouldn’t need to take any action – the receiver will make the necessary changes automatically, although a small minority may need rebooting if channels are lost.

The other channels that have moved remain available on a free-to-air (unencrypted) basis across the UK, Ireland and many parts of Europe via the Astra 2G satellite.