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Sky Sports news to be replaced by Sky3+1 on Freeview

When Sky Sports News HD launches, the Freeview channel will close.

When Sky Sports News HD launches, the Freeview channel will cl
Published on by on UK Free TV
Update: changes happen on 23 August 2010

Today, the www.pressgazette.co.uk link icon Press Gazette reports that Sky Sports News is to be removed from Freeview.

The channel will be replaced with a one hour timeshift of the Sky3 channel.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "Sky Sports News has been a great success over the last 12 years and we have big ambitions to make it even better. As part of a subscription service, customers can look forward to expanded coverage and the launch of Europe's first HD sports news service."

Sky hopes that people will switch from Freeview to a pay service to watch the channel.

Update

Sky 3+1 is now on Freeview channel 44. If you can't see the channel (and you could see Sky Sports News before), you need to scan for channels. See below.





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Briantist
Thursday 22 July 2010 12:06PM
Des Collier: It's Sky's slot, so they can do with it as they please. I rather suspect they are not going to use it for one of (what is now) their basic subscription channels.
Nedbod
Thursday 22 July 2010 2:26PM
Of course not as all they are interested in is ££££ MONEY £££ !!!!
Nedbod
Thursday 22 July 2010 2:29PM
I doubt it Simon Richards and now you've given them the idea they are probably drawing up the plans as we speak. Nothing comes between the Murdochs and maximising income.
Briantist
Thursday 22 July 2010 3:14PM
Nedbod: Yes, that is the purpose of BSkyB.
Briantist
Thursday 22 July 2010 3:23PM
Nedbod: Perhaps not. If Sky moved the football to another channel then the several million Sky Sports customers on satellite would also be deprived of their chosen sport.

Also, the Competition Commission would have something unpleasant to say.
Simon Richards
Friday 23 July 2010 12:25PM
Nedbod - I was watching Sky Sports News last night. They were previewing Celtic V Inverness. Guess what it's on Sky Sports 4. Looks that it's not worth getting Sky Sports 1 and 2 if you follow the SPL!
Briantist
Friday 23 July 2010 12:29PM
Simon Richards: I thought the only way to get Sky Sports 3 and 4 was to subscribe to Sky Sports 1 and 2?
Or, as the website puts it "Take Sports 1 and Sport 2 and receive BONUS channels Sky Sport 3 and Sky Sport 4 at no extra cost".
jay
Friday 23 July 2010 2:03PM
I would suspect now that sky has some SPL matches, they will be using SSN to show some of them..

There advert says sports on 5 channels.. SSN isn't really a sports channel as such.

:)
Briantist
Friday 23 July 2010 2:04PM
jay: It is now, according to the big adverts I can see around town.
TIMH
Friday 23 July 2010 2:51PM Burry Port
I think Simon's point is a valid one. There is nothing stopping Murdoch from moving speedway, angling etc to SS1 and SS2 and shoving a lot more of the footie, cricket, rugby etc on to SS3 and SS4.
Briantist
Friday 23 July 2010 5:28PM
TIMH: But, again, what of Sky's DIRECT customers who can subscribe to Sports 1 OR Sports 2 OR Sports 1,2,3 and 4.

If the sports are moved around, they would have to deal with millions of their own customers who would be forced to change their subscriptions.
TIMH
Friday 23 July 2010 11:30PM Burry Port
Fair point Brian. On top of that I have just read what Top Up Tv are planning to charge for SS1 and SS2...... 32 quid! I reckon if you dont want a monthly sub payment and you have decent broadband speeds, you may as well pay for SkyPlayer - 35 quid a month, all Sky sportschannels, SkySports News and UK Gold thrown in.
Briantist
Saturday 24 July 2010 6:06AM
TIMH: Yes, but you don't have to subscribe to anything else AT ALL to get Sky Sports 1 and/or Sky Sport 2 with Top Up TV. www.topuptv.com link icon Top Up TV | Freeview + box, digital TV recorder plus digital TV on demand .

With Sky you have to pay £27 (£37 HD) a month to get Sky Sports 1 or 2, £36 (£46 HD) a month for both, because there is an "access charge" where you HAVE to pay for a £18 (£27 HD) "entertainment pack". www.sky.com link icon Packages .

BT Vision has a £15 "access charge" for a "value pack", so the ongoing charges for Sky Sports 1 or 2 is £27, and for both £32, as you again have to pay for a load of tosh you don't really want. www.btvision.bt.com link icon Prices | BT Vision .
TIMH
Saturday 24 July 2010 9:07PM Burry Port
But Brian, you dont have to have a contract for Sky Player - just pay each month or not, depending if you want it. Only Top Up TV seems to match this payment arrangement, but only with less than half the channels that using Sky Player would and at the same price. You do not have to have any other Sky service other than Sky Player. Contrast this with BT Vision and Sky Tv itself!
Briantist
Saturday 24 July 2010 10:07PM
TIMH: I don't think you can subscribe to sports without the "entertainment pack" though - Sky TV Programmes Online - View Packages Available to Watch Sky TV Programmes Online seems to suggest that.
Pete
Tuesday 27 July 2010 10:22PM
Or maybe you can make do with Freeview and have anice holiday on the West Coast of the USA with your mate with the money you have saved by not entering into the TV one-upmanship bragging game!!
phil
Sunday 1 August 2010 7:50PM
my hd tv has free veiw on it , how do i add skysports channels
Briantist
Sunday 1 August 2010 8:05PM
phil: You need either a BT Vision box (and contract) or a Top Up TV Anytime box (and contract) to get the channels, and also reception of multiplex B or COM6.
william barrett
Tuesday 3 August 2010 4:46PM
i what every saturday on sky sport news footall scores now after 23 august 2010 i will not get all the goals from sky sport news what i do i got freeview will i get sport on this sky 3 or not
Briantist
Tuesday 3 August 2010 7:46PM
william barrett: As it says above, you will get Sky3+1 on that date, not Sky Sports News.

Sky News will continue to broadcast too.
Simon Richards
Wednesday 4 August 2010 12:58PM
Note last season you got a similar service on BBC1 on Saturday afternoon by pressing the Red Button.
Briantist
Wednesday 4 August 2010 1:20PM
Simon Richards: Yes, the "Final Score" service is very similar to SSN.
william barrett
Saturday 7 August 2010 1:13AM
how can get goals on freeview when sky sport news is off can you take sky news off and put skysport news back on
Briantist
Saturday 7 August 2010 12:11PM
william barrett: The idea is you go and buy the channel from Sky.
Steven Oliver
Sunday 8 August 2010 3:36PM Duns
William - the decision to pull SSN off Freeview was taken by Sky themselves. I'm afraid the only way you will be able to see it after 23rd August will be to take out a Sky subscription. It will not be staying on Freeview, or returning to it at any point in the future.
Mark A.
Monday 9 August 2010 5:30PM
Just an update on my message above
"... Sky 1 and Sky 2 used to have different programmes, but not any more."

Sky two has now stoped being Sky 1+1
Sky 1 and Sky 2 are now showing different programs again.
Simon Richards
Tuesday 10 August 2010 11:36AM
I might be cynical - but the purpose of Sky is to make as much money as possible. The only reason why they can out bid any other organisations for sport is that they can get away with passing the costs on to their customers.

I'm sure they took the decision to remove SSN from Freeview by the following reasoning. They looked at the advertising revenue they got attributable to Freeview and compared it it to how much they would make if a small percentage of Freeview users bought a Sky package which would include TV, Broadband and Phone. The calculation obviously came out in favour of removing SSN.
Briantist
Tuesday 10 August 2010 1:43PM
Simon Richards: SSN was put on Freeview because it was expected to be a "barker" to Sky Sports subscription on Sky. However, most Freeview users are happy with their lot, so Sky didn't get the expected sales lift.
Steven Oliver
Tuesday 10 August 2010 11:01PM Duns
Brian: I suspect quite a few Freeview viewers might not be happy with their lot come August 23rd when they go to switch on Sky Sports News and find that it's gone!
Briantist
Wednesday 11 August 2010 6:35AM
Steven Oliver: That's Sky for you.
Dean Ensor
Wednesday 11 August 2010 12:49PM
I wont switch when sky Sports News channel comes off I think sky are scoring a big own goal as a they are not putting channel on Sky Sports 1 this season either as well as taking it off Freeview and who will pau subcription for a news service HD or not. It will be missed especially Soccer Saturday / Midweek Results service which is miles better than BBC One suggestion for future IF SSN does not come back to Freeview Put Soccer Saturday / Midweek specials on Sky 3 / News that would at least be something
Des Collier
Thursday 12 August 2010 6:30PM
Now's the time for the BBC to improve their game,of which i'm sure they are capable of!
Briantist
Thursday 12 August 2010 6:59PM
Des Collier: Yes, I agree, there is no room for complacency.
Matt
Thursday 12 August 2010 10:58PM
what a load of shit id rather ditch it a get freview than pay for something that should be free stuff that for a game of toy soilders

and sky 3 + 1 dont take the piss!
Steven Oliver
Friday 13 August 2010 11:09PM Duns
Matt - Sky are not obliged to provide SSN for free. The Freeview slot belongs to them so they can do exactly what they want with it. If it means removing SSN and replacing it with Sky 3+1, so be it.
charlie
Monday 16 August 2010 11:55AM
Im a Virgin customer But watch ssn.on freeview every saturday afternoon.
I really enjoy it but the killjoys heve put an end to that
What will it cost to get it from Virgin?
Briantist
Monday 16 August 2010 12:06PM
charlie: Good question. Virgin don't seem to have updated their web pages yet - Sky Sports - Digital TV - Virgin Media .
Sharon
Thursday 19 August 2010 4:14PM
As an avid ssn viewer I am very dissappointed with Sky's decision to remove it from preview. I will not be switching to Sky as I simply cannot afford the £18 monthly fee they are demanding I pay.
Briantist
Thursday 19 August 2010 5:06PM
Sharon: Actually, I think it might even be part of the Sports pack, so you might have to pay out even more than that.
Steven Oliver
Thursday 19 August 2010 10:32PM Duns
Sharon/Brian

SSN is also part of the News pack on Sky.

A new placeholder has gone up today on Freeview (channel 44) for Sky3+1.
Briantist
Friday 20 August 2010 8:46AM
Steven Oliver: Will it remain part of that pack, or will Sky move it into their Sport subscription?

I guess we don't want Sky3+1 appearing in the news part of the EPG.
Simon Richards
Friday 20 August 2010 1:54PM
BT have been playing games as well. Last season on the BT Vision Sports Pack let watch all but one premier league matches(either the full game or 45 minutes highlights) at 10pm on the day of the game. Now they are selling Sky Sports 1 and 2 they have stopped that service!
Briantist
Friday 20 August 2010 4:49PM
Simon Richards: Two steps forward, one step back?
dan
Saturday 21 August 2010 11:18AM
looks like 405 is not going anywhere it be still available on ch 405 thats breaking news on ssn ...have a listen to when they mention it again later
Briantist
Monday 23 August 2010 6:08AM
dan: There will be no change for Sky subscribers as the channel stays in the EPG.
Steven Oliver
Monday 23 August 2010 7:34PM Duns
Sky Sports News came off Freeview at 0559:45 this morning. A MHEG display is now up telling viewers that SSN is no longer available on Freeview and to retune to receive Sky3+1 on channel 44.
Des Collier
Monday 23 August 2010 7:52PM
Just done a rescan,Sky 3 +1 is on 44.
les morrow
Tuesday 24 August 2010 5:48PM
what a scabby way to treat genuine football fans and other viewers,typical sky rip off
Steven Oliver
Tuesday 24 August 2010 11:39PM Duns
Les: How? Sky is in the business of making money. They are not a charity. The decision to pull SSN from Freeview was a purely commercial one.
CHRIS
Thursday 26 August 2010 2:57PM
MIGHT AS WELL LISTEN TO TALKSPORT,JUST AS GOOD BUT MORE FOOTBALL & BANTER
Briantist
Thursday 26 August 2010 6:21PM
CHRIS: Or Sky Sports News Radio! www.skysports.com link icon Sky Sports | Sky Sports News | Radio .
Simon Richards
Friday 27 August 2010 11:56AM
You can usually find SSN streamed free on the internet. I've used
Iraq Goals Sports Channels in the past. They usually start Soccer Saturday at about 1/4 3.



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