HGTV’s linear channel will shut down just six years after launching. Its Freeview slot will be taken over by TLC, which will relaunch with less reality and more comedy.
- HGTV shows will switch to Really
- TLC will be revamped with new shows as it comes to Freeview and Freesat.
- Changes come ahead of planned split of Warner Bros Discovery in 2026.
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is revamping its free-to-air channel line up in the UK, in a move that see TLC re-launch with a greater focus on comedy.
WBD has confirmed plans to close HGTV (Home & Garden TV) in January 2026, just six years after the brand arrived in the UK. For Sky and Virgin viewers, this means one fewer channel in the channel list. But for Freeview and Freesat users, the end of HGTV creates space for TLC to switch from pay TV to free-to-air.
What this means for viewers from 2026
Following January’s changes, there will be a more clear cut difference between WBD’s free-to-air channels. Notably, TLC relaunches with a focus on comedy and the closure of HGTV enables Really to take over some of its programmes, which have overlapped in the past.
WBD’s free-to-air line up
- Really will absorb some HGTV property shows. WBD says Really’s new line-up will include Celebrity IOU with the Property Brothers, Home Town and My Lottery Dream Home. It’s unclear what will happen with the range of UK-made shows currently on HGTV, but WBD says all HGTV favourites will be available on discovery+.
- TLC will be revamped as it goes free-to-air TV with an array of comedy shows joining the channel. TLC is currently best known for its US reality shows, including Dr Pimple Popper and My 600 Lb life, plus 90 Day Fiancé. WBD says those shows will continue to be available, but TLC’s schedule will soon feature The Big Bang Theory and spin-offs Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, plus Mike & Molly. TLC will also debut a new-look Mock The Week, reinvented with a new format.
- Quest Red, which in the beginning used to feature a selection of TLC’s reality shows for free-to-air audiences, is the home of crime reality programmes with shows like Judge Rinder’s Crime Stories and Murder on CCTV.
- Quest retains its factual focus, gaining new episodes of The Yorkshire Auction House and its spin-offs (which are currently also showing on Really), plus all new Guz Khan’s Custom Cars and a new series featuring Francis Bourgeois & Chris Harris restoring a diesel locomotive.
- Food Network retains its focus on great food shows from the UK and USA. New shows for 2026 includes Adam Richman Eats Italy.
- DMAX continues with a current range of factual shows.
WBD’s current UK and Ireland linear television channel offering will continue to be in place for remainder of 2025.
How will the launch of TLC affect Freeview and Freesat?
Once an exact date in January is confirmed, details about any technical changes will emerge. This may include details about any channel number changes that take place at the same time as the channel update.
If you have Freeview, you may need to retune to ensure you can continue to receive all available channels in your area, including TLC. If you have Freesat, your device should automatically add TLC when it launches. Until then, nothing changes.
How will this affect Freely users?
WBD’s channels are currently only available on Freely if your device is plugged into an aerial. They are not currently part of Freely’s internet-only line-up of channels.
When plugged into an aerial, a Freely TV will pick up all available Freeview channels in your area. Ensure your device is stays connected to an aerial and look out for a channel update during January when WBD makes changes.
Context: all change at WBD
WBD is currently in the process of splitting into two different companies (unless a potential takeover by Paramount Skydance changes things).
TNT Sports and HBO Max will sit on one side of the division which will carry the Warner Bros brand. WBD’s remaining linear channels will be spun off into a separate unit that also includes CNN. This business unit will take forward the Discovery brand.
All the attention so far has been about the Warner Bros side of the business: its streaming service HBO Max launches in the UK in 2026. HBO Max becomes the streaming home of TNT Sports and HBO original drama, previously shown on Sky Atlantic.
This week’s announcement now puts the focus on the remaining part of WBD, which will become Discovery Global, after the split. The confirmed changes to its UK free-to-air channels beefs up Discovery Global’s presence in the UK with TLC’s comedy pivot adding extra content to Discovery+.
The free-to-air switch for TLC coincides with the end of WBD’s current carriage deal with Sky. The deal was extended in December 2024 to run until early 2026. It is replaced by a new arrangement, also agreed last December, that enables Sky to bundle HBO Max. Carriage deal renewals have historically paved the way for channels to go free-to-air. Notably, Discovery’s 2017 deal with Sky was followed by Quest joining Freesat (it had been on Freeview since launch). Back then, Discovery said the deal gave it “more opportunities” to launch channels. Just six weeks later, Quest Red launched. In 2019, DMAX went free-to-air.
By: Marc Thornham