A WHOPPING eight channels are leaving Sky and Virgin Media services today as traditional TV grapples with streaming.
Six will cease broadcasting entirely at midnight while two others will live on as digital streams only.
The changes mark a tough year for the humble TV channel, especially on premium subscription packages, which have seen a number of channels depart.
Big names like Eurosport and Sky Replay have left UK screens entirely this year, with their shows either moved onto other channels or on-demand.
But the end of 2025 brings an overhaul for two major brands.
The first was exclusively revealed by The Sun as MTV.
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After 38 years, the “music” element of MTV will be no more.
Four MTV music channels – MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s and Club MTV – are all closing down.
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This will only leave the flagship MTV channel, but that only shows reality TV programmes.
The move also significantly reduces the number of music channels available on Sky and Virgin Media.
It comes as The Box, Kiss, 4Music, Magic and Kerrang all closed in June 2024.
The other big brand leaving Sky and Virgin Media is Pop.
Pop is one of the last free-to-air children’s channel names on TV, with Pop, Tiny Pop, Pop+1 and Tiny Pop+1.
The four will no longer broadcast as linear channels – but this doesn’t mean they’re going completely.
Instead, Pop and Tiny Pop are going digital-only, so you can still access them with a smart TV and internet-enabled Freeview.
But they won’t appear on the TV guide for Sky or Virgin Media products anymore.
“Consumer behaviour has changed so much and we should see it change further with the shift towards streaming over the internet,” Paolo Pescatore, a tech industry expert with PP Foresight previously told The Sun.
“With so many options now available including ‘watch from the start’ the death of +1 is around the corner.
“This makes perfect sense and would argue why this has not happened sooner.
“In part I guess down to existing carriage deals.
“In this day and age where all focus is on costs, there is no point supporting channels that generate a cost but don’t move the needle.”
MORE CHANNEL CLOSURES TO COME?
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
It’s almost certain we’ll see more channel changes to come in 2026.
Surely the +1 channels will start to disappear.
In the age of streaming, catching up an hour later seems extremely redundant.
There will probably be some standard definition (SD) channels scraped to make way for HD only too.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some changes to Sky’s own channels as well with the launch of HBO Max in the UK next year.
Image credit: Getty
