Three Sky channels to close forever as a dozen surprise changes to TV guide revealed – exact numbers affected from today
Sean Keach, Head of Technology and Science
Published: Invalid Date,
A DOZEN changes to Sky's TV guide are expected to take place this week – including three channel closures.
The bulk of the tweaks are due today, but the shake-up is set to continue right into the weekend.
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Sky has revealed a number of "permanent" channel closures, and a few swaps too.
For instance, several Sky channels are reverting back from temporary changes over the Easter weekend.
That includes Sky The Hobbit (on channel 303) moving back to Sky Hits.
And Sky Harry Potter (previously channel 306) will once again become Sky Family.
Both of those swaps are due to take place today – Tuesday, April 22.
Sky has also confirmed a temporary rebranding of Sky Adventure to Apocalyptic HD, also going live today.
Sadly, TV fans are set to see three channels closing, all of which are variants of Pop Max.
The kid-friendly TV channel is being killed off after 17 years on air.
It means your Sky TV guide will be losing Pop Max (615), Pop Max HD (215), and Pop max+1 (628).
THIS WEEK'S SKY TV GUIDE SWAPS
Here's the full list of TV swaps coming this week:
Sky TV remotes have hidden trick that saves you so much time
Tuesday, April 22
Sky Adventure (Satellite 302 - Sky Glass/Stream 302) renames to Apocalyptic HD (temporary change)
Harry Potter (Satellite 306/850 - Sky Glass/Stream 306) renames to Sky Family/Sky Family HD (reverting from a temporary change)
Sky Sci-Fi & Horror (Satellite 311 - Sky Glass/Stream 311) renames to Sky Horror HD (temporary change)
Sky The Hobbit (Satellite 303 - Sky Glass/Stream 303) changes name to Sky Hits / Sky Hits HD (reverting from temporary change)
POP Max (Satellite 615) closes permanently
POP Max HD (Sky Glass/Stream UK 215 (NI & ROI 216)) closes permanently
POP Max+1 (Satellite 628) closes permanently
Tiny Pop moves from 618 to 615 on satellite only
POP+1 moves from 619 to 618 on satellite only
Tiny Pop+1 moves from 629 to 619 on satellite only
Friday, April 25
Sky Family (Satellite 306/850 - Sky Glass/Stream 306) changes name to The Hobbit / The Hobbit HD (temporary change)
Saturday, April 26
Sky Hits (Satellite 303 - Sky Glass/Stream 303) renames to SkyIndianaJones / IndianaJonesHD (temporary change)
OTHER APRIL SKY TV GUIDE CHANGES
Those aren't the only changes we're seeing in April.
Tuesday, April 1
U&W HD ROI closes on satellite only - the SD remains at 132
U&W HD closes on satellite only - the SD remains at 132
U&Yesterday HD closes on satellite only - the SD remains at 155 - 161 in ROI
U&Alibi HD moves from 130 to 120 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&Gold HD moves from 131 to 121 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&Dave HD moves from 132 to 130 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&W HD moves from 133 to 131 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&Drama moves from 134 to 132 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&Yesterday HD moves from 161 to 133 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
U&Eden moves from 162 to 134 on Glass and Stream only in England, NI and Wales. They remain unchanged in Scotland and ROI
GINX TV HD moves from 419 to 417 on Glass/Stream only in the UK
MUTV HD moves from 420 to 418 on Glass/Stream only in the UK
LFCTV HD moves from 421 to 419 on Glass/Stream only in the UK
Premier Sports 1 HD moves from 419 to 417 on Glass/Stream only in ROI
Premier Sports 2 HD moves from 420 to 418 on Glass/Stream only in ROI
GINX TV HD moves from 421 to 419 on Glass/Stream only in ROI
MUTV HD moves from 422 to 420 on Glass/Stream only in ROI
LFCTV HD moves from 423 to 421 on Glass/Stream only in ROI
Wednesday, April 2
TV Warehouse moves from 676 to 673 on satellite only
Cruise1st.tv moves from 681 to 675 on satellite only
Sky History 2 HD closes on satellite - the SD moves to 163 in the UK and 168 in ROI and NI - HD channel remains on Glass/Stream
Thursday, April 3
Sky Gangsters (Satellite 309 - Glass/Stream 309) changes name to renames to Sky Thriller HD (reverting from a temporary change)
Sky Books To Screen (Satellite 302 - Glass/Stream 302) renames to Sky Adventure/ SkyAdventureHD (temporary change)
Friday, April 4
Sky Family (Satellite 306/850 - Glass/Stream 306) renames to SkyHarryPotter / HarryPotterHD (Temp)
Sky Hits (Satellite 303 - Glass/Stream 303) changes name to The Hobbit HD (Temporary change)
Monday, April 7
Sky The Hobbit (Satellite 303 - Sky Glass/Stream 303) changes name to Sky Hits / Sky Hits HD (reverting from temporary change)
Thursday, April 10
Sky History+1 (Satellite 223 (224 Scotland)) closes permanently
Monday, April 14
MTV Hits (Satellite 351 - Glass/Stream 351) rebrands to Club MTV
Friday, April 18
Sky Hits (Satellite 303 - Glass/Stream 303) changes name to The Hobbit HD (Temporary change)
TRY THESE SKY TRICKS!
Got Sky Q? There are some handy tricks worth knowing about...
Find your lost TV remote
If you can't find your Sky Q remote, don't panic.
Just press the Sky Q logo on the front of your TV box.
It's actually a button that will trigger your TV remote's built-in ringer.
You'll get 30 seconds of beeping to find where you've dropped it. Hint: it's probably under the sofa cushion.
Search movies by quotes
You might have already used voice search for controlling TV playback – but your remote's microphone has another clever trick.
It turns out that you can say movie quotes into the remote and Sky will find the film for you.
This is handy if you can't remember the name of a top movie or show.
Here's a list of movie quotes to try on Sky.
Save lost recordings
Have you ever deleted something you'd recorded on Sky, only to regret it later?
Or maybe someone in your family removed something without telling you – sparking a massive row.
Don't panic: you can get them back.
Just go to Recordings > Manage > Deleted and then simply hit Undelete on the item that you want to resurrect.
If you do that, it'll return to your Recordings section as good as new.
Picture Credit: Sky
And there could still be more changes to come.
Sky typically only announces its TV channel plans for the week ahead.
So there could be a few stragglers due to appear at the end of the month that are yet to be announced.
WHY DOES SKY SWAP TV CHANNELS?
Sky makes changes to the TV guide every month, so the April changes aren't a big surprise.
Changing the TV guide keeps things feeling fresh for viewers.
For instance, Sky will often rebrand channels around specific events or bank holidays.
And sometimes Sky will permanently rebrand a channel because of changing interests.
TV channels can close down for a host of reasons.
It might be that Sky simply no longer thinks it's worth offering a channel.
Or the channel owners might have decided to close down operations, or revoke access for Sky specifically.
Sky usually publishes its upcoming TV guide changes every week, so keen telly fans can stay in the loop.
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