Christmas is coming early to Sky — very early.

Great! Christmas is set to return on Wednesday 26 August 2026, with Great! Romance being renamed Great! Christmas for the festive season.

According to information posted on the Sky Help Forum, the changes will see:

• Great! Romance — Satellite 322 become Great! Christmas
• Great! Romance+1 — Satellite 323 become Great! Xmas+1
• Great! Christmas — Sky Glass/Stream 319, with the HD version branded Great! Xmas HD

But there is an important point for viewers using Freesat.

Great! Christmas isn’t on the Freesat EPG

Although these Great! channels are available through the satellite service and appear on the Sky EPG, they are not included in the standard Freesat EPG.

That means Freesat viewers won’t simply find Great! Christmas sitting in the normal Freesat channel list.

Instead, anyone wanting to watch the channel on a compatible Freesat receiver will need to use Non-Freesat Mode and manually add the channels.

This is particularly relevant for UK TV viewers in Spain who use Freesat receivers to receive the free-to-air channels from the UK.

The channels are still being transmitted via satellite, but because they aren’t part of the Freesat EPG, the receiver needs to be switched into its alternative Non-Freesat Mode to locate them.

So if you look through your normal Freesat EPG on 26 August and can’t find Great! Christmas, that doesn’t necessarily mean the channel isn’t there.

It simply isn’t part of the Freesat EPG.

Christmas keeps getting earlier

And 26 August is an exceptionally early date for the channel to return.

In 2025, Great! Christmas was already appearing from around 4 September, while discussion from 2024 records its return on 5 September.

That makes the planned 26 August 2026 launch around nine days earlier than 2025.

We’re not talking about the beginning of autumn.

We’re talking about August.

There will still be nearly four months to go until Christmas Day.

But Christmas has already arrived in July!

Great! Christmas isn’t the first Christmas-themed television to appear during the summer of 2026. The increasingly familiar Christmas in July phenomenon has once again seen festive movies and programming appearing during July on various television and streaming services.

But Great! Christmas taking over a UK satellite channel in August is another matter altogether.

The planned 26 August 2026 launch would be considerably earlier than the channel’s recent returns in September, potentially making this the earliest Great! Christmas launch yet.

And for Sky and satellite viewers, there’s an additional twist: while the channel is carried on the Sky EPG, it isn’t part of the standard Freesat EPG. Freesat viewers therefore need to use Non-Freesat Mode and manually add the channel if they want to watch it.

From Christmas in July to Christmas in August

There is something slightly strange about watching Christmas movies while summer is still in full swing.

For viewers who love festive films, however, it will probably be very welcome news.

Great! Christmas specialises in Christmas movies, particularly the romantic and feel-good productions that have become a familiar part of seasonal television.

And if previous years are anything to go by, once Great! Christmas arrives, it isn’t going to be disappearing again anytime soon.

What does this mean for Freesat viewers?

If you’re watching via a Sky box, the channel change should be straightforward because the Great! channels are carried on the Sky EPG.

If you’re watching via Sky Glass or Sky Stream, Great! Christmas will also appear through the relevant Sky service.

But if you’re using a Freesat box, it’s a different story.

Because Great! Christmas isn’t on the Freesat EPG, you’ll need a receiver that supports Non-Freesat Mode and you’ll need to manually scan/add the channel.

This is an important distinction because simply performing a normal Freesat channel scan won’t necessarily put Great! Christmas into the standard Freesat channel list.

For viewers in Spain using satellite equipment to receive UK television, this is another reason why knowing the difference between the Freesat EPG and the underlying free-to-air satellite transmissions can be useful.

Christmas in August — are we ready?

For some viewers, Christmas television in August will be far too early.

For others, there is never a bad time for a Christmas movie.

Either way, the television calendar is clearly changing.

What was once largely restricted to December has expanded into November, October and September — and now Great! Christmas is preparing to plant its festive flag firmly in August.

So while summer is still very much with us, Great! Christmas will be thinking about mistletoe, snow, romance and Christmas trees.

And for Freesat viewers, there is one extra thing to remember:

You may need to leave the normal Freesat EPG behind and use Non-Freesat Mode to find it.

Christmas 2026 hasn’t even reached September — and television is already getting festive.