HOUSEHOLDS with Sky and Freesat TV have been warned that 14 popular channels may disappear from their boxes.
But fear not, they’re not shutting down.
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The change forms part of a satellite signal upgrade. Here’s how you can get them back.
UKTV has become the latest in a string of broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, to switch its satellite signal to DVB-S2 – a new, second-gen broadcast system.
It’s supposed to have a higher capacity for satellite television on the backend – though there’s no tangible difference for viewers sat at home at the moment.
While in theory it means UKTV will have more capacity for additional channels, the broadcaster has not said what it will use the extra space for.
For now, the switch only affects how the standard definition (SD) versions of U&Alibi, U&Dave, U&Drama, U&Eden, U&Gold, U&W, U&Yesterday are broadcast to Sky and Freesat receivers.
UKTV is home to shows such as Taskmaster, Call the Midwife, Doctor Foster, Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over and David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities.
Most viewers won’t be impacted by the change directly.
But those with Sky+HD, Sky Q or Freesat HD/4K may lose access to UKTV’s channels – including UKTV’s +1 channels – following the switch and will have to rescan their boxes.
The affected channels include:
- U&Alibi (Sky only)
- U&Alibi+1 (Sky only)
- U&Dave
- U&Dave Ja Vu
- U&Drama
- U&Drama+1
- U&Eden
- U&Eden+1
- U&Gold (Sky only)
- U&Gold+1(Sky only)
- U&W
- U&W+1
- U&Yesterday
- U&Yesterday+1
How to reboot Sky boxes
- Turn off your Sky box directly at the mains.
- Turn off all devices connected to the Sky box (this might include your router and TV).
- Check that all the lights on the Sky box have completely disappeared.
- Leave the box and connected devices off for a few minutes.
- Switch your devices back on.
How to reboot Freesat boxes
- Unplug the Freesat receiver’s power cord from the back of the set-top box or from the wall outlet.
- Leave unplugged for 30 seconds and plug back in.
- The set-top box should boot up properly in less than 90 seconds.
The satellite switch is nationwide. Although several large broadcasters are yet to make the change.
That includes Paramount, which owns Channel 5, and Narrative Entertainment, which airs channels GREAT! movies and POP!.
A UKTV spokesperson told The Sun: “In line with industry-wide standards, we have recently upgraded all UKTV linear channels’ broadcast satellite signal to DVB-S2.
“In the majority of cases, the update will happen automatically and viewers will not need to take any action but in case of any loss of channels, rescanning should restore them.
“In very few cases, where viewers are still using an older first-generation satellite set-top box, they will need to upgrade to a High Definition (HD) device to continue watching our Standard Definition (SD) channels on Freesat.”
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