ITV are currently testing three new ITV1 HD regions on satellite.

These regions are Central West, Meridian South and London.

So some Sky HD box users may notice that their 103 which is currently ITV 1 SD (Standard Definition), may revert to ITV1 HD soon.

ITV1 HD on Freesat will remain on Freesat channel 111.

However, these three new regions are testing on frequencies on the UK beam.

And those particular frequencies are very weak here in Spain, especially in my service area, Continue reading »

Sky and the NFL have agreed a new five-year partnership to broadcast the NFL, the first time the league has joined with an international broadcaster to launch a channel dedicated to the sport.

The agreement marks the 25th anniversary of live NFL coverage on Sky Sports and will see ‘Sky Sports NFL’ launching from Thursday, September 3 ahead of the 2020 season, which kicks off on Thursday, September 10.

The brand new in-season channel will be the round-the-clock home of the NFL on television in the UK and Republic of Ireland from the regular season through to the playoffs, with Super Bowl LV live from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, February 7.

The channel will screen a minimum of five games a week including every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night Football.

Stephen van Rooyen, Chief Executive Officer, Sky UK & Europe said: “We are proud of our quarter-century partnership with the NFL and are hugely excited about launching a dedicated channel which will be a first for the NFL with an international broadcaster. Sky Sports NFL will allow us to take our customers even closer to the sport.

Since 2007, NFL has run 28 regular season games.

Sky Sports NFL will broadcast on Channel 407, currently home to Sky Sports Action.

• Minimum of five live games each week
• First-pick exclusive game on Sky Sports NFL in the 6pm and 9pm slot every Sunday
• Every Thursday Night, Sunday Night, and Monday Night Football
• NFL RedZone
• Every minute of every playoff game, Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl live
• Flagship programming from NFL Network, including the popular Good Morning Football and Total Access shows
• Award-winning documentaries and other content from NFL Films and NBC Sports
• Brand new weekly shows to review the action and discuss the stories of the league, including original Sky Sports programming
• Increased coverage across Sky Sports News, Digital and Social platforms

Viacom, who operate Channel Five, MTV and Nickelodeon channels, will be closing some of their channels on satellite soon.

Paramount +1 (Sky channel 250) closed today (14th July)

MTV Rocks, Club MTV and MTV OMG will all be discontinued 6am next Monday, July 20.

The “+1” channels for MTV, MTV Music and Comedy Central Extra will also be closing.

Apparently this is to blame on a drop in advertising due to Coronavirus, and the downturn in music channel viewing, where people can get their music fix instantly with the likes of Youtube.

Sky are to close three Standard Definition “Sky Cinema” channels, in a move seen to be towards HD only distribution in the UK.

The three Sky Cinema channels set to cease SD broadcasts from the end of June 2020 are : Sky Cinema Continue reading »

Earlier this month, some Virgin Media users have been sent a letter to tell them that their current Virgin Media box they are using to access Virgin Media (and therefore Sky UK) pay channels will soon no longer be able to be used for pay tv channels.

They will be issued with a free upgrade to a new Vigin Media box. ( see community.virginmedia.com/t5/Virgin-TV-V6/Free-swap-to-V6/td-p/4277655 )

Why is this news and how could it impact your viewing on IPTV?

Continue reading »

Sky Cinema will be launching its very own animation channel next month.

Sky Cinema Animation will be available from July 23 2020.

Sky Cinema Animation will be available to all customers at no extra charge.

Sky Cinema Animation will be showing family-friendly favourites (and their sequels) such as The Angry Birds Movie 2, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon 3.

If you have recently just lost your reception of UK TV channels like Sky News and Pick TV, then this is because they have changed frequencies.

Users with Freesat or Sky boxes will not be affected as these boxes automatically update whenever channel change their frequencies.

But users of cheap / basic “free to air” receivers will have lost these Sky News and Pick TV channels, as your box has not updated with their new frequencies. One of the disadvantages of such boxes.
Continue reading »