Sky revamps EPG line up

by Sarah Griffiths on 18 January 2011, 15:17

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Blue sky thinking?

Sky has overhauled its electronic programme guide (EPG) to make it easier for customers to find pay TV picks and HD channels.

The changes will take effect from 1 February and be one of the biggest updates to the channel line-up for over a decade, according to the firm.

Sky said the changes include an HD ‘channel swap' for Sky+HD subscribers, the relocation of pay TV channels and the launch of a new channel, Sky Atlantic.

Sky+HD customers will see 40 HD channels swap places with their standard definition counterparts, while non HD customers will remain unaffected.

A number of channels (and their HD simulcast channels) will move to higher profile channel slots, including: MTV, Comedy Central, Universal, Syfy and FX.

Sky Atlantic, which will also be available in HD, will also make its debut on Sky. It will host HBO shows such as Mad Men and will appear on channel #108. Meanwhile, Living will rebrand as Sky Living and will move to #107.

Handily, customers' scheduled Sky+ recordings including Series Link and Favourites settings will not be affected by the EPG changes.

It is also worth noting that some channels ahve opted out of the HD channel swap, including the main terrestrial networks, as they said they they do not always carry identical content on their SD and HD channels. 

Rob Webster, Sky's commercial director, said: "We've worked with a range of partner channels to ensure that customers can find their favourite pay TV channels and programming  as easily as possible.  And with high definition viewing now demanded as standard, this has also meant swapping HD channels into the EPG numbers that our customers know best." 

Here is a list of revised Sky EPG (top 30 channels) from Sky.

 

101

BBC1

116

BBC FOUR

102

BBC2

117

Channel 4 (Wales only)

103

ITV1

118

ITV2 HD*

104

Channel 4  / S4C (Wales)

119

ITV3 HD*

105

Five

120

ITV4 HD*

106

Sky 1 HD*

121

Sky Living+1

107

Sky Living HD*

122

Sky Livingit

108

Sky Atlantic  HD*

123

Sky Livingit+1

109

Watch

124

FX HD*

110

GOLD

125

Challenge

111

Dave

126

MTV

112

ComedyCentral HD*

127

ComedyCentral+1

113

Universal HD*

128

ComedyCentralX

114

Syfy HD*

129

Sky2

115

BBC THREE

130

Sky Living Loves

 

*HD simulcasts

 



HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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It is also worth noting that some channels ahve opted out of the HD channel swap
No spell check? ;)
It's a shame that the terrestrial channels have opted out, as that would have been the main benefit really, the only other one that is a real benefit is sky1HD.

The others I have on my favourites anyway or can get to from the EPG..so it's not that big a deal.
I'll be interested to see what shows end up appearing on Sky Atlantic though..mostly really bad US drama from what I can gather but there are occasional gems that appear on HBO/CBS so who knows..:)
Boardwalk empire is going to be shown on sky atlantic spud.

It is supposed to be awesome and it stars steve buscemi!!!!!