Channels disappearing

[K4yl2]

Is sky Q becoming discontinued or something? Is this something else i have not been told about? I pay £75 a month for my sky package, yet over the past 5yrs my channels have decreased rapidly. Surely you should be adding new channels, not removing them from customers who pay this sort of money for sky. I have hardly any music channels anymore, hardly any film channels yet i pay for sky cinema, alot of my documentary channels no longer appear. What exactly is going on Sky? Or am i best to look for alternative tv packages away from sky......This isnt the only issues im having with sky lately. My broadband/wifi connection is appauling tet says its all good on my account, i have multiple 'wifi extender' devices popping up on my lists of devices, i keep getting errors saying server cannot establish a connection yet ny account checker says its fine, my own mobile signal is stronger than my wifi. I get 1-2 bars on wifi, yet i can get 3 on my mobile data, 4 on some ocassions. Surely Wifi is suppose to be stronger and faster than my data.

[Daniel0210]

@K4yl2 
In case you aren’t aware we are mainly fellow customers on here trying to help other customers and you’re not contacting Sky Customer Services by posting on the forum.

Youd be better off posting your Broadband issue on the Broadband board. Sky Q is not ending anytime soon (at least 4+ years by our reckoning). Unfortunately some channels have gone to providers like Disney. By all means when your discounted period ends shop around but what you'll see advertised are new customer prices and for Sky you're not a new customer. 

[xenon81]

What movie and documentary channels have you lost?

A lot of music channels have closed as they're no longer viable in the age of YouTube and Spotify, but all the ones that have closed were free channels that aren't part of your Sky subscription. The only music channels you pay for are the MTV channels which are still available. 

[GD1]

@K4yl2  You also need to be aware that not all channels you see are even owned or run by Sky so they can't put on replacement for those that have closed.

Only channels bearing the name Sky (in the main) belong to Sky, the 100s of other channels are nothing to do with them and they cann't stop them from closing nor force new ones to launch.

[TimmyBGood]

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@K4yl2 wrote:

Is sky Q becoming discontinued or something? 

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Probably, yes, because it looks like the satellite owners won't be launching any replacements for the trio that Sky currently uses, which will expend the last of their positioning propellant sometime around the end of this decade.

However, this is different to individual channel owners choosing to cease broadcasting over satellite before then: as noted above, it's entirely their right to do so if they wish, typically on financial grounds.

The recent loss of music service (The Box, 4Music, Kiss, Magic and Kerrang) was because Channel 4 simply cannot afford to run them any more for a tiny audience.

[K4yl2]

I dont know ive lost, my movie lost is just shorter now. I know ive lost premiere+1 and sky family though, as i always used them, along with pretty much all the music channels i listened to except mtv hits.

Am i best getting rid of sky Q then, and just changing to streaming? I kept sky Q coz it enables me to record things while i was doing things.

[xenon81]

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@K4yl2 wrote:

I dont know ive lost, my movie lost is just shorter now. I know ive lost premiere+1 and sky family though, as i always used them, along with pretty much all the music channels i listened to except mtv hits.

Am i best getting rid of sky Q then, and just changing to streaming? I kept sky Q coz it enables me to record things while i was doing things.

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Sky Premiere +1 closed down a while ago as all the films are available on demand so if you miss the start of the film on Sky Premiere you can just use the "watch from start" option, no need to watch it in SD on a +1 channel.

The other film channels you might be thinking of were the Sky Cinema SD duplicates at the bottom of the movies section. These were exact copies of the HD movie channels, just in SD quality, so you haven't actually lost anything. All the same channels  are still available in HD. It's like how the BBC removed its SD channels earlier this year, and ITV are about to do the same next month. 

Sky Cinema Family occasionally renames like all Sky Cinema channels. It is currently Sky Cinema Kids Books, but returns to Family on Monday. 

[TimmyBGood]

@K4yl2 

The music channels have gone because their owners could not afford to provide them any more to a diminishing audience.

Channel 4’s spokesperson told RXTV:

" We will be closing our Box network of channels from 1st July across all platforms – as they are no longer of sufficient scale to deliver meaningful return on investment. Our strategy reflects the generational shift in TV viewing and involves reducing costs – particularly in linear activities – to allow us to invest in digital priorities and stay competitive in a world of global entertainment conglomerates and social media giants.”

https://rxtvinfo.com/2024/channel-4-confirms-sky-virgin-and-freesat-music-channel-closure-date/