Sky Ireland: Radio and Music channels disappeared?

[Gedge808]

@kierancork  By that logic will we will also lose BBC TV, will BBC radio have to stop their airwaves crossing into the south.

Brexit is not in place as of yet so you're saying all the channels and radio stations have preemptively come to their own decision on any Brexit deal . Absolute Radio is gone from Sky, how come I can still get Absolute Radio on their own app and on my Amazon show. Surely that first block they would have put on is on their own app.

I'd say it's more a case of Sky not wanting to offer these channels anymore and have cut them. This is a saving for and nothing more.

[Annie+UK]

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@Gedge808 wrote:

@kierancork  By that logic will we will also lose BBC TV, will BBC radio have to stop their airwaves crossing into the south.

Brexit is not in place as of yet so you're saying all the channels and radio stations have preemptively come to their own decision on any Brexit deal . Absolute Radio is gone from Sky, how come I can still get Absolute Radio on their own app and on my Amazon show. Surely that first block they would have put on is on their own app.

I'd say it's more a case of Sky not wanting to offer these channels anymore and have cut them. This is a saving for and nothing more.

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You obviously have no clue how sky works!

Sky provide the TV Guide, broadcasters pay sky for a slot (channel number) and as long as the channel follows ofcom rules sky have zero control of the other broadcasters channels and cannot just throw them off of the guide 🙄

[Gedge808]

@Chloe-W22 

No Brexit trade deal has been completed as of yet, so Sky has preemptively removed these channels, are you telling us other channels maybe removed from sky Ireland depending on the out come of a Brexit deal?  Or is this just a financial decision by Sky?
I still has access to Absolute Radio across my Amazon platform and through the Absolute Radio App so why has this been removed from Sky, surely it would be blocked on all platforms if it was due to licensing issues.

[Gedge808]

@amelialeah57 

Absoultley correct, no Brexit deals have or have not been completed as of yet so Sky are using Brexit as a reason to remove these channels and save money for their own profit, I enjoyed the music television channels and some of the radio stations on offer as I'm guessing many people did. 
I listen to Absolute Radio this has been removed from Sky  but is still available on Amazon and through the App so hopefully yours is there online too.

[Annie+UK]

Sky can only control their own sky branded channels, they have no say in the decisions of other broadcasters and their channels

Even if sky could (which they cannot), why would sky remove channels as sky makes money off of channels hosted on its platform

[Gedge808]

@Annie+UK  What? Sky has to pay these Tv companies, Sky also sells advertising space on these channels.

If they can make saving by deleting them, then they will.
Are you telling me the 40+ channels are all part of the same company and decided to leave today??

[nolte]

@Gedge808

It had ppreviously been reported that bbc were in talks with both bai in Ireland and the Dutch regulators having licenses for broadcasting in the EU. (they also broadcast in the Netherlands too) 

In the cases of these stations that ceased, I expect that irish listenership/viewership is too small to mean that they would see that it would be worthwhile to take a second license on cost benefit analysus undertaken by them.

If they thought it would be profitable to do so, they would do so.

A Google search may give the codes to add these stations manually to the Sky box

[Annie+UK]

I don't think you understand how sky's platform works

Out of these channels how many were sky branded because only those could have been shut down by sky, for all others it would be the decision of the owners of the channels

[Mikelistowel]

AFAIK the Sky EPG is not updated for channel launches or closes over the Christmas and New Year, so they would probably be no-one available to remove them on January 1st in the event of no deal. Whether we can take this mean that all the other channels have sorted their regulatory obligations for 1st Januaru onwards remains to be seen. 

[plymouthbloke]

Ok ok, just to clarify a few things here...

1) These channels have been removed prior to Jan 1st as Sky (in line with most companies) have an "IT change freeze" over the Christmas period. This means adjustments such as EPG additions/removals etc aren't done during this freeze and I believe the change freeze period is looming in the next day or so and will continue until the end of the first week in January, so they need to remove them now if they don't have the requisite licence for broadcast in ROI.

2) For those asking/demanding a reduction in your Sky subscription, I think you'll find ALL of those TV/radio channels were "Free to Air" and not part of your subscription pack anyway. These channels have clearly weighed up the cost of additional licensing etc for Ireland and decided at this time not to spend the money in making this happen.

PS: As they are free-to-air, there is nothing stopping you from tuning these services in manually via "Other Channels" to continue watching/listening. Lyngsat is a good place to start. (However you'd be unable to record these channels)

Hope this clarifies.

[kellissi]

I was very surprised and disappointed that Sky did not inform us of the removal of these music and radio channels. I enjoy my music channels and they are part of the reason I subscribe. Will there be any return of these channels to us listeners here in Ireland and will there be more of our channels removed because if so I would not be inclined to keep my Sky subscription? . I only have the basic subscription and even at that I find it difficult to choose a channel to watch at times as the choices are getting increasingly worse. 

[Pugwash1969]

Morning all Irish SKY viewers. Just to let you know that all the stations that were taken off our beloved SKY Q Box yesterday are all still there if you know where to look. 😉

Happy Christmas. 

[Captain+Planet]

Why has RT News been removed from the news selection in Ireland??

[plymouthbloke]

For all the reasons highlighted previously. They don't have a licence to broadcast in Ireland after Brexit.

[KatIRL]

Also RTE Gold radio channel !