Sky will undertake the first tidy-up of its channel list of the year on Wednesday, when old services are removed and new services arrive.
- E! channel’s closure at New Year will leave gaps in the channel list.
- Sky Cinema moves three of its channels around.
- That’s TV takes Trace Vault’s slot.
At the stroke of midnight from 31st December into 1st January, E! channel ceased broadcasting in the UK and Ireland.
Sky would normally swiftly remove any inactive channel on the next working day. Due to the public holiday in the UK and Ireland on the 1st and the holiday in Scotland on the 2nd January, the closed down E! will remain on the channel list until mid to late morning on Wednesday 3rd January 2024.
Another anomaly is ‘Best Xmas Music’ on channel 366, which has already reverted back to 1980s music, but won’t switch back to That’s 80s until Wednesday, when it will also move to channel 360, taking Trace Vault’s former slot. Trace Vault closed last month, becoming the last of Trace Music’s channels to depart Sky.
Sky Satellite Changes | Wednesday 3rd January 2024
- Channel 159 | E! HD removed
- Channel 188 | That’s Christmas changes to That’s TV 2. (Not ROI)
- Channel 302 | Sky Cinema Fast & Furious replaces Sky Cinema Drama, which moves to channel 310.
- Channel 303 | At 06:00, Sky Cinema Wizarding World becomes Sky Cinema Fast & Furious. Later in the morning, Sky Cinema Hits replaces Sky Cinema Fast & Furious, which moves to channel 302.
- Channel 310 | Sky Cinema Drama replaces Sky Cinema Hits, which moves to channel 303.
- Channel 319 | GREAT! Christmas reverts back to GREAT! romance.
- Channel 320 | GREAT Christmas+1 reverts back to GREAT! romance+1.
- Channel 355 | BoXmas reverts back to The Box. (Not ROI)
- Channel 360 | That’s 80s moves from channel 366, having rebranded from ‘Best Xmas Music‘. (Not ROI)
- Channel 366 | That’s 90s moves from channel 367. (Not ROI)
Sky Glass/Stream UK changes | Wednesday 3rd January 2024
- Channel 117 | E! removed and replaced by BBC Three, which moves from 118. (Not Wales)
- Channel 118 | E! removed and replaced by BBC Three, which moves from 119. (Wales only)
- Channel 302 | Sky Cinema Fast & Furious replaces Sky Cinema Drama, which moves to channel 310.
- Channel 303 | At 06:00, Sky Cinema Wizarding World becomes Sky Cinema Fast & Furious. Later in the morning, Sky Cinema Hits replaces Sky Cinema Fast & Furious, which moves to channel 302.
- Channel 310 | Sky Cinema Drama replaces Sky Cinema Hits, which moves to channel 303.
- Channel 317 | GREAT! Christmas HD reverts back to GREAT! romance HD.
- Channel 355 | BoXmas reverts back to The Box.
Later in the week, a further four changes will take place.
On Thursday 4th January 2024, Sky Sports Darts reverts back to Sky Sports Arena.
On Friday 5th January 2024, Sky Cinema Hits turns into Sky Cinema Superman for a temporary period.
Then on Saturday 6th January 2024, the final Christmas channel comes to an end, when Christmas 24 and Christmas 24+ revert back to Movies 24 and Movies 24+ (Sky Q channel 326/Stream 314).
The changes continue next week too, for viewers using older receivers.
BBC SD channels close at breakfast time on Monday 8th January. A day later, there’s the closure of ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe in SD, plus the end of regional ITV1 SD services in the Border Scotland, Channel Islands, UTV and Wales TV regions. ITV will be broadcasting these channels in HD only going forward.