UPDATED / The arrival of Christmas music channel BoXmas was delayed, as technical issues persist at the Box Plus Network.
The Yuletide-themed music channel was due to appear at the beginning of the week, but finally made it on air on Wednesday 10th November. It’s available on Sky channel 355 and Virgin Media channel 335. A live stream is available at www.boxplus.com.
As a result of September’s incident at Red Bee Media, which plays out all five Box Plus Network channels, rock music channel Kerrang! TV is also showing BoXmas for the time being.
The Box Plus Network didn’t respond to requests for an update. However, RXTV understands recovery work has focused on restoring the main Channel 4 service, plus accessibility services across networks. This has left the music channels at the bottom of the pecking order.
Meanwhile, stablemate 4Music has resumed its non-music programmes on Tuesday: it’s current slot on Sky’s Electronic Programme Guide was under threat if it didn’t start showing non-music programmes. 4Music originally qualified for a slot in the first 100 channels on Sky by replacing music videos with other programmes.
Sky and Virgin Media viewers can also access seasonal music through MTV’s Christmas music channel. MTV Xmas took over from MTV Classic this week across Sky satellite and Sky Glass (both channel 353) and Virgin Media (channel 316).
- First published 05/11/2021. Updated 10/11/2021.