Channels removed from Sky's EPG today

mackersdublin

Trace Xmas 364
Trace Vault 365
NOW 70s 368
NOW XMAS 371
NOW 80s 372
Clubland TV 373

CGTN HD 509
RT HD 511
RT 879
CGTN 891

JML Direct 661
Cruise1st.tv 688

AAJ TAK 710
British Muslim 752

Classic FM 0106
Absolute 0107
talkSPORT 0108
Capital 0109
Planet Rock 0110
Heart 0111
Heart 80s 0112
Radio X 0113
Capital XTRA 0114
Gold 0121
WRN Europe 0122
LBC 0124
Smooth 0128
TWR 0138
Heart Dance 0146
Sukh Sagar 0150
Desi Radio 0169
Kiss 0178
Magic 0180
Hits Radio 0188
Absolute 80s 0200
Absolute 90s 0201
Jazz FM 0202
Classic Rock 0203
Virgin Radio 0215
Scala Radio 0216
Heart 90s 0217
LBC News 0221

No doubt it's Brexit releated

And without doubt Sky will be rising their prices soon enough

Clonmel1000

What’s the story with sky music and sky radio channels? I seem to have lost a lot of the channels from sky Q package.

smurf492

Thought it might be temporary with all the updates added today... Hopefully they come back

deise08

Wow!! Only 5 music channels left.
That's a lot of radio gone too.

mackersdublin

Clonmel1000 wrote: »

What’s the story with sky music and sky radio channels? I seem to have lost a lot of the channels from sky Q package.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058141118

Clonmel1000

deise08 wrote: »

Wow!! Only 5 music channels left.
That's a lot of radio gone too.

Sorry started a thread on this also. Does anyone know what’s happened???

smurf492

Turns out it's due to licensing issues caused by brexit

Clonmel1000

smurf492 wrote: »

Turns out it's due to licensing issues caused by brexit

Jesus that’s really disappointing.

smurf492

Definitely should have been rolled out better... Adding amazon prime and a bunch of new hdr content was probably to soften the blow

Harry Palmr

Freesat for the win!

Atlantic Dawn

I take it they were only removed from the ROI EPG?

smurf492

Atlantic Dawn wrote:

I take it they were only removed from the ROI EPG?

Yes

Harry Palmr

Related, presumably Virgin media suffer likewise

mackersdublin

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Related, presumably Virgin media suffer likewise

None of the channels removed from Sky Ireland today are on the Virgin Media Ireland EPG, so no change to their service

mike2084

Confirmed by Sky here:

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/What-s-On/Changes-to-the-Sky-TV-guide-December-2020/m-p/3543472/emcs_t/S2h8ZW1haWx8dG9waWNfc3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ufEtJT1IyMk8xUlNaWFRPfDM1NDM0NzJ8U1VCU0NSSVBUSU9OU3xoSw#M112488

I had guessed this would happen - just glad it wasn't more channels. I presume that it had to be done today for Jan 1st as the EPG is locked down over Christmas.

Of course any FTA can be still added to Other Channels.

icdg

Merged.

Actually surprised it wasn’t more to be honest but it’s an extra regulatory burden for some channels operating on a small budget - before a U.K. license would have done for Ireland also thanks to the EU AV Directive and now it doesn’t, so every broadcaster on the Irish EPG has had to take out a license elsewhere in the EU (most have I understand gone to the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, or Bavaria - Ireland isn’t really an option due to our heavy touch regulatory regime).

And yes, nothing can block a FTA signal.

If you have a smart speaker as a growing number of people do these days you should be able to listen to most U.K. radio stations through that.

FRIENDO

I think those channels are all Free to Air.

All available on the Saorview Combo

Vic_08

I assume the notice about the reduced price of Irish subscriptions is in the post then.

JP Liz V1

deise08 wrote: »

Wow!! Only 5 music channels left.
That's a lot of radio gone too.

Yes many music channels gone

L1011

Talksport there is the only one that might ever come back I'd expect - there already is a Talksport Ireland with Irish opt-outs (Irish punditry for football) and Irish ad substitution online; so an Irish version on satellite is not out of the question.

The rest are likely never to be seen again except if you add them to Other Channels.

icdg

Vic_08 wrote: »

I assume the notice about the reduced price of Irish subscriptions is in the post then.

None of the channels concerned were part of a Sky package, were they? (Clue: they wouldn’t have been removed if they were). In other words, you weren’t paying for them in the first place, so why would Sky compensate you for their removal. This is just as much a hit for Sky as for you; they are losing the payment for an EPG listing in Ireland that these channels were paying. They are no longer licensed here as of 1st January 2021 and Sky can no longer give them a listing on its EPG.

FanadMan

I noticed this mon morning when I tried Planet Rock. When I checked the Radio page there was only one page rather than the usual two/three.

It's always been strange with Planet Rock. Can't install their android app cos it's only available in the UK. Can't listen through website cos I'm not in the UK (just put in my old Derry postcode and it works). But Sky were always great that it just worked.

Is there any way to add radio channels to Other Channels? First gen Sky+ box here.

Rick_

Yes there is. See my sticky thread for the walk through and also tuning details for the most popular channels/radio stations - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055520627

Tuning details for Planet Rock are -

11.553
H
22000
5/6

GIMP

Just wondering how come all those shopping, religious or international channels haven't been pulled as well? All of them are aiming for specific UK audiences.

L1011

GIMP wrote: »

Just wondering how come all those shopping, religious or international channels haven't been pulled as well? All of them are aiming for specific UK audiences.

The international and religious channels often have European licences already as they're on multiple platforms. Shopping stuff could go yet.

NewClareman

I just checked and most/all of the radio channels are still available when using Enigma2 in radio mode. However, only those channels that are on Freesat appear to be getting an EPG. This is despite the OpenTV guide being active.

It might be worth checking that the missing channels of interest are available on Freesat, before buying a Freesat box. (I have a 'Freesat Radio Bouquet' on my Enigma2 box, but many of the missing radio channels are not on it.)

garrettod

Sky customers should be demanding a price reduction, if they are to receive a lesser service, going forward.

dulpit

garrettod wrote: »

Sky customers should be demanding a price reduction, if they are to receive a lesser service, going forward.

See ICDG's post 6 above yours...

garrettod

dulpit wrote: »

See ICDG's post 6 above yours...

Thanks.

I would have a different opinion to ICDG, regarding part of his / her post, above.

Services that are provided over time, become an implied part of the deal, even if not originally stated. Much as feature enhancements do.

ICDG is most likely correct about Sky loading some revenue, with these broadcasters being removed from the Irish EPG, I've no idea how much is involved, but given the level of profitability at Sky, it's not an issue.

I stand by my view that customers should be pushing back and pressing Sky for reduction - Sky are too quick to increase fees when they feel like it, and it shouldn't be all one way.

icdg

To repeat, Sky was not responsible for providing these channels to you. You weren’t paying for them, so why you should be compensated. Sky provided these channels - for a payment - a listing on their EPG. Sky has now introduced a condition that to be listed on the Irish EPG channels need to have an EU license. Now whether Sky actually needed to do that (remembering that the EPG is actually provided from and regulated in the U.K.) is debatable. To an extent it doesn’t actually matter because that was the decision they decided to take, it is their EPG. Channels come and go from the Sky EPG on a very frequent basis and if Sky had to compensate customers for each change then they would be out of business because we wouldn’t be paying anything.

On a more general point - even if these channels were part of a Sky package, Sky and all other pay TV providers have a clause stating that they can vary line ups. They need to have this clause. They cannot be responsible for any scenario where a third party channel decides to leave the platform for any reason. Channels come and go. No more than there being a price increase every time a new channel launches.

Vic_08

God, poor Sky, must be terrible for them to be at the whim of these broadcasters while all they have is a monopoly on the DTH satellite tv market. :rolleyes:

The totality of the channels provided on the Sky boxes is the service they sell (at very high prices) to their customers.

Sky went to great lengths to ensure their service was the only one available in the UK/IRL market, they purposely locked down the encryption standard and engineered the boxes so any non-sky EPG channels were only available through a side menu with poor functionality.

If channels drop off their service for whatever reason that's a drop in value to their paying customers and definitely a legitimate reason to expect a reassessment of the subscription they are paying, no matter what Sky or their shills think.

bronkobilly

more may follow in the coming weeks/months after brexit

JP Liz V1

icdg wrote: »

None of the channels concerned were part of a Sky package, were they? (Clue: they wouldn’t have been removed if they were). In other words, you weren’t paying for them in the first place, so why would Sky compensate you for their removal. This is just as much a hit for Sky as for you; they are losing the payment for an EPG listing in Ireland that these channels were paying. They are no longer licensed here as of 1st January 2021 and Sky can no longer give them a listing on its EPG.

Were they not part of the music and kids package or general package?

icdg

Vic_08 take a 48 hour ban, straight without warning, for accusing me of being a shill for Sky. I’ve been a mod on this forum for 19 years long before there was a “Sky Ireland”, when their entire operation here was run directly from the U.K. and it cost IR£450 just for the equipment for a service which didn’t include any terrestrial channels and the EPG started at 106. I don’t work in the pay TV industry at all. Any reading of my past posts will show I’m well able to criticise Sky and heavily when they deserve it.

Johnboy1951

Just wondering ....... is there a published list of the Sky exclusive channels for their most basic subscription?

I am not a Sky customer so this is just out of interest.

BrennyJPM

When querying this with Sky Ireland Help on Twitter, they responded by say that I could still manually tune in missing stations, is it OK to ask where to find a list of the frequencies of radio channels, particularly looking for Talksport Radio, Google search showed up nothing. Thanks in advance.

Gerry Wicklow

https://en.kingofsat.net/radio-28.2E.php

taylor3

My elderly neighbour rang me two days ago asking if I could still get the radio channels on Sky. She was raging as she was never informed of such changes. I actually cancelled mine in Sept as I was moving house, but did use this service up until then. Bad form not even to alert consumers imho.

twinklerunner

A very helpful change that Sky could make to its service is to allow us to record non-epg channels, ie: those we save in ‘other channels’.

billbond4

If your in subscription they should allow that alright

AutoTuning

If they ever encrypt Freesat, it'll be a tad annoying.
Some of the continental equivalent "FTA" packages have been encrypted for years.

Dave_Dublin

twinklerunner wrote: »

A very helpful change that Sky could make to its service is to allow us to record non-epg channels, ie: those we save in ‘other channels’.

I don't think they'll ever allow us to RECORD them but allowing us to save them as "Favourites" on the Sky Q boxes would be SO much handier.

twinklerunner

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

I don't think they'll ever allow us to RECORD them but allowing us to save them as "Favourites" on the Sky Q boxes would be SO much handier.

I don’t see why not. If we can watch them, we should be able to record them.

decor58

AutoTuning wrote: »

If they ever encrypt Freesat, it'll be a tad annoying.
Some of the continental equivalent "FTA" packages have been encrypted for years.

Been using FTA for about 18 years, at the time BBC was the only one of the main channels that was unencrypted, as the contracts with Sky came up for renewal the others choose the FTA option and then came Freesat.

LenWoods

I have four sky drx595 box's with unsubscribed UK sky cards and still got the channels

dulpit

LenWoods wrote: »

I have four sky drx595 box's with unsubscribed UK sky cards and still got the channels

They were removed from Irish EPG only...

Johnboy1951

LenWoods wrote: »

I have four sky drx595 box's with unsubscribed UK sky cards and still got the channels

All the channels are still broadcasting.
None have been removed.

Sky has removed them from its Irish EPG listing, and thus they are not (easily) available on a Sky box.

LenWoods

https://youtu.be/wTP2RUD_cL0

If it ain't working, that's the way you do it,
Log on to eBay UK and purchase an unsubscribed card for the UK sky TV .

Restore all lost channels for nothing including clubland TV.

Also available from adverts and sat planet
http://sat-planet.ie/FREESAT-VIEWING-CARD?search=Viewing card

twinklerunner

My newly extended list on 'Other Channels' on my Sky Box.

EdmondShiels3

I will have to remove channels as I am running out of space in other channels. I might add the music channels but it is a lot of work to change the channel when a song I don't like comes on. I don't watch the box channels now because it is just work to switch between them. Will we loose any more channels?

LenWoods

EdmondShiels3 wrote: »

Will we loose any more channels?

Tune in next week to find out lol