Four Sky Cinema channels are on the move across Sky satellite and Sky Stream, with a further additional change on satellite only.
- Sky Cinema Animation, Action, Family and Greats will move to new channel numbers
- Movies 24 moves to new slot on satellite
- Reshuffle ahead of Disney+ Cinema channel launch later this month
Several of Sky’s movie channels will move to new slots on the channel list from Thursday 12th March.
The channel list update, which exclusively affects channels in the movies section from channel 300, will be automatically pushed out to Sky receivers during Thursday morning.
On satellite (Sky Q and Sky+HD), Movies 24 will move on satellite down to channel 315, its sister channel Movies 24+ moves down to 329, behind Talking Pictures.
The demotion creates room for Sky Cinema Animation to move to channel 312. Sky Cinema Action, Family and Greats all move to new channel numbers (full list below).
Channel 305 is vacated as part of the reshuffle.
On Sky Stream and Sky Glass, Sky Cinema Animation moves to channel 315. Movies 24 and Movies 24+ will remain in their current slots. Sky Cinema Action, Family and Greats move to new channel numbers, mirroring the satellite channel line-up.
Overview: Sky movie channel changes – Thursday 12th March
Changes apply to Sky subscribers on all of its TV platforms, unless stated in the comments. TV Guide updates normally complete during the morning.
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| Channel name | Old channel number | New channel number from 12/03/2026 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Cinema Family | 306 | 304 | |
| Sky Cinema Action | 307 | 306 | |
| Sky Cinema Greats | 304 | 307 | |
| Sky Cinema Animation | 305 | 312 315 | Satellite Stream/Glass. |
| Movies 24 | 312 | 315 | Satellite only. |
| Movies 24+ | 315 | 329 | Satellite only. |
Making room for Disney+ Cinema
The movie channel changes on Sky prepares the ground for the arrival of Disney+ Cinema linear channel later this month. Disney+ Cinema will be second linear channel from Disney to launch in the past 12 months following the relaunch of Disney Jr.
Disney previously closed down linear channels after launching Disney+. However, the movie channel was part of a new agreement between Sky and Disney, which sees Disney+ bundled into most Sky TV subscriptions (excluding Sky Essential TV).
In February, Sky said the Disney+ Cinema channel would be available on Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass, but not older Sky+HD receivers. However, the channel is now completing pre-launch tests on satellite, meaning the channel could technically be made available on older Sky+HD boxes.
Disney+ Cinema will be bundled within the Sky Cinema add-on for Sky TV subscribers.
Other Sky Cinema changes
In addition to the major change on Thursday 12th March, Sky will be launching further pop-up cinema channels during the week commencing 9th March. On Monday, Sky will hand over channel 303 to Action Heroes. Then on Saturday 14th March, channel 303 switches to a Beverly Hills Cop theme channel.
By: Marc Thornham