On Friday 25th February, the merger of shopping channels The Craft Store and Create & Craft completed. The combined service uses the Create & Craft name.
Create & Craft was sold to the owners of The Craft Store, Hochanda Global, in January.
As a result, the new owners have merged the two separate channels into one. The combined channel is now broadcasting from Oundle, down the road from Create & Craft’s original Peterborough home. Although the channel bears the ‘Create & Craft’ name, the on-screen look and feel, including graphics is inherited from The Craft Store.
It’s also resulted in changes to how the new Create & Craft service is received:
- The old Peterborough-based Create & Craft feed is controlled by Ideal World. If you’re tuning in to this, you’ll see an on-screen caption advertising Ideal World.
- The new Oundle-based Create & Craft feed is controlled by Hochanda Global. If you’re tuning in to this, you’ll see Create & Craft’s programmes.
Some platforms have already switched, others haven’t:
Freeview
- Create & Craft broadcasts on Freeview channel 85 between 0700 and 2200 every day. The old (Peterborough) feed on channel 95 is now closed.
If you could previously see The Craft Store on channel 85, then no retune is required, although some devices need updating to show the correct name.
If you haven’t retuned recently, or used the ‘add new channel’ option instead of ‘first time installation’ on older Freeview devices, the Create & Craft channel may appear at the bottom of the channel list, e.g. in the 800s.
Reception of Create & Craft on Freeview is subject to local Freeview coverage.
Sky
- On Sky, Create & Craft HD on channel 683 was changed from the Peterborough to the Oundle feed around 10am on Friday morning. In most cases, Sky boxes should update automatically.
In the meantime, the service still broadcasts on channel 673 for now. Sister channel Craft Extra, which was on channel 684, was removed at lunchtime on Friday. On Monday 7th March, channel 673 will be reallocated to Craft Extra, which returns to the platform.
Freesat
- On Freesat, Create & Craft HD on channel 813 is now being updated to the new feed. This was delayed. However, Freesat boxes should now update automatically.
The Create & Craft merger means the service (in standard definition) on channel 817 is due to close but continues for now.
Virgin Media
- Channel 748
Following a poll of its viewers on social media, Hochanda Global promised to revisit its decision to close on Virgin Media. The channel became temporarily unavailable after midnight 25th February while the transition took place.
Online
Online streaming will be available through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and the Create and Craft app.
But the broadcaster has warned of technical issues during the transition, as Create & Craft’s online services are migrated to The Craft Store/Hochanda’s systems.
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Last updated 14:22 04/03/2022 – We’re keeping you up to date with Create & Craft’s availability on all major platforms with regular updates on this page.