Channel changes and Sky channel closedown news.
This page is no longer being updated - check the graveyard page for the latest news.
(28th March 2003)
Abu Dhabi ceased on Arabsat 3A 26E in the last couple of days :-(
(18th February 2003)
Algeria 3 ceased on Arabsat 26E 11897 V in the last couple of days.
(25th January 2003)
ERT Sat has disappeared on 12284H on Hotbird.
(27th November)
11516V on W2 has finally been vacated by ESC1
(20 November)
Nile TV has left 11471V on W2. ESC 1 has moved onto this frequency, although 11516V
is still going at the moment.
(7th November)
TV 5 has left 12585H on Atlantic Bird 3 at 5W.
(31st October)
Polsat 2 has left 11345H Hotbird.
(24th October)
TVN Siedem left 11489V Hotbird during September. TVN moved onto this frequency, and
vacated 11148H.
(4th October)
TVX The Fantasy Channel has left 11178V on W2 within the last couple of days. This
was the final videocrypt encoded channel transmitting to Europe. RIP Videocrypt
scrambling.
(21st September)
TVL and Juzny Vetar have left 11163H on W1 at 10E
(2nd September)
Tango TV closed 10847V and now digital only. TV Shop Germany has moved from 10921H to
10847V.
(10th July)
New satellite active! Atlantic Bird 2 has been activated at 8W. Canal+ is on 12606V
ATV left Turksat 42E a few days ago. 10966V is now silent.
(1st July)
TV Puls closed on Astra 1 10744H and moved to 11671H.
(16th June)
Bayern Alpha moved from 11686V to 11082H on Astra 1.
(3 June)
TVE International left Hotbird 11224H.
God Channel moved from 11538 V to 10921H round on Astra 1.
(14th May)
Al Mustakillah has left 11163H on W2. Libya moved from 11554V to 11328H.
(30th April)
Tango TV on Astra 1 is reported to be going digital only at the end of August. Tele 5
launched full service on April 28th. At least 3 more German stations are reported to be
joining Astra 1 by the end of the year.
(26th April)
Mid April, TVSH closed off Eutelsat 2F3, and went digital on W2.
On Astra 1, Tele 5 (Germany) has been testing on 11553H, and launches a full service 28th
April. Bloomberg/SFB1 are currently running dual transponders, 11568V closes 15th May,
their new home is 11171H.
On W2, Kurdistan TV closed at the end of March.
(24th March)
Round on Turksat at 42E, we have lost Star 2 and Kral TV from 11725 V
(6th March)
RTL 7 has disappeared off Hotbird, probably at the end of Feb, but Im not sure of the
exact date. A Polish service called TVN Siedem has replaced it
(5th March)
FTV has left W2. The transponder is now carrying a part time Bosnian service called
Intakt.
(20th February)
Tele 5 is reported to be joining Astra 1 fta at the beginning of April. Zeitouna TV is new
fta on Eutelsat W2. TeleOn has been replaced by Star 2 on EurasiaSat 1. Ive seen a report
which suggests Astra 1A may be reactivated in a few weeks.
(9th February)
Astra 1 - the Fox News Channel transponder was switched off as the clock reached midnight
on 31st January. Tango TV is new on 10847 V, sharing time with TV Shop.
(28th January)
Fox News Channel is closing off Astra 1 (11436 V) at the end of January.
(15th January)
A new station on Astra 1!! TV Shop has appeared on 10847 V.
(8th January)
Viva Zwei has changed into Viva Plus. This is due to poor viewing figures for the Zwei
service.
(1st January 2002)
Arabsat 3 suffered an electronics failure in early December, which caused many channel
changes. Channel 5 closed off Astra 1 at midnight last night.
(24th November)
A bad month for Hotbird - TVN 24 (11178 H) has gone and thats 3 channels gone in 3 weeks.
(21st November)
Canal + Bialy has gone from Hotbird (11516 H), and 11405 V has been lost to digital.
EuroTransMed left W1 over the summer. No chance of Via 1 joining Astra 1 now - the sevice
got into financial difficulties, and has ceased all transmissions.
(18th November)
TV Melos has disappeared from W1 after a couple of weeks back on air. Polsat has gone from
Hotbird, and TV4 has moved transponders onto the Polsat one. TV Squiptar has moved
transponders on Eutelsat 2F3
(4th November)
NHK has gone from 10773 H. The old BTV transponder is now silent, although they continue
on a new frequency after the best part of 2 months running in parallel. A Bosnian station
is reported as new on W2
(27th October)
Another bad month for channel closedowns. Kuwait has left Arabsat. Samanyolou TV and Hakk
TV have gone from Eutelsat W1 (although TV Melos has been reported to me as returning part
time to W1). Al Jazeera has left Eutelsat W2. NHK should be leaving Astra 1 at the end of
the month.
(29th September)
The 3 final Sky channels closed as expected on the 27th. Some of the Astra Vision channels
have gone off air again...
(2nd September)
TM 3 has disappeared from Astra 1, and has been replaced by 9 Live on analogue and
digital. B-TV has changed transponders, although the original channel is still running at
the moment. 8 channels have been running Astra Vision for several days, but we are still
waiting to find out what is coming on air.
(14th August)
Astra 1 changes: Premiere will probably disappear at the end of September. TVX The Fantasy
Channel has left Astra and wandered off to Eutelsat W2. The God Squad channel has moved
transponders. Several of the empty transponders are now carrying Astra test cards.
TVN 24 is a new channel on Hotbird, but RAI Med was short lived on analogue and the transponder is now off air.
Isik TV has gone from Eurasiasat at 42E
(20th July)
Hotbird changes - TV5 on 11405 is off air. Canal 24 Horas on 11785 H has disappeared.
(13th July)
TV 5 Europe is new on 11405 V on Hotbird.
(4th July)
All the Astra "service closed" info cards have disappeared and the transponders
have been switched off.
(1st July)
The expected Sky closures happened around midnight uk time last night. QVC cut carrier,
Sky Sports 2 moved to the Sports 1 frequency (11509), and was replaced by a "we have
moved" caption. Sports 1 closed. Sports 3, Cartoon Network, TCM, and Sky News were
replaced by "service closed" cards. Private Blue disappeared as it shared time
with SS3.
Moviemax cut out at 0000, but the signal is still scrambled with the sky digital caption. Disney went sometime during the evening, but we havent got a definite time for it yet. Chris Wathen saw the closed card just after midnight though.
(25th June)
Via 1 may be going onto the old UK Gold frequency.
11538V has gone off air again.
(17th June)
Palestine Satellite Channel is on Arabsat (11977 V)
11538 V on Astra 1 carried the launch of Astra 2C live yesterday. The channel is still active with a test card on it.
(12th June)
Arabic News Network appeared on Arabsat last week (11977 V). Its disappeared again!
(9th June)
A new test card has appeared on 11553 H on Astra 1.
Rai News 24 on Hotbird has been replaced by Rai Med on 11390 H.
(5th June)
German TV station Via 1 has been reported as joining Astra 1. No starting date yet. Ive
had a look at the stations web site and as far as I can tell its another holiday shopping
channel :-(
Kanal 7 International has disappeared from Turksat.
(2nd June)
This has been sent to the remaining Sky Analogue customers over the last couple of days
(taken from one of the newsgroups)
We have decided to discontinue analogue
services of the following channels on the 30th June 2001:
* Sky Moviemax
* Sky Sports 1
* Sky News
* Sky Sports 3
In addition to these channels, The Disney Channel, QVC, Midnight Blue, and Cartoon Network have also decided to close their analogue services on the same date. These channels are closing due to the continued rapid take-up of Sky digital. In fact over 95% of Sky's customers now have Sky digital and thousands more are making the move each week.
Channels remaining on Sky analogue.
The channels remaining on Sky analogue after 30th June will be:
* Sky One
* Sky Sports 2
* CNBC
* Sky Premier
Please also note that from 1st July the Sky Sports 2 channel will move from the frequency 11171 H to the frequency previously used by Sky Sports 1. Therefore from 1st July the analogue Sky Sports 2 service can be found on 11509 V.
(1st June)
Discussion on one of the newsgroups has speculated that the Astra 1 analogue services will
continue until at least 2005.
(28th May)
Thanks to Johnathan Brooks for the following info on the Channel 5 plans:
"Dear Jonathan
Thank you for your recent e-mail. Please accept our apologies for the delay in our
response.
We regret to tell you that our contract to transmit an analogue signal from the Astra
satellite runs out at the end of the year and will not be renewed.
E-mail: dutyoffice@channel5.co.uk"
(22nd May)
Eurosport News on Hotbird has gone. Rai News 24 seems to have extended its hours.
Canal + Polska is reported to be leaving Hotbird at the end of June.
QVC UK is leaving Astra at the end of June.
Hooray a new station! - TV Puls (Poland) is joining Astra 1 on 1st June.
(19th May)
CNBC and The Cartoon Channel are leaving Astra 1 at the end of June. TV Travel Shop
appears to have already gone, as whenever I check the channel, the German promo is on.
(15th May)
TV Travel Shop is closing off Astra 1 by the end of May. It will be replaced by TV Travel
Shop Germany on 1st June.
(1st May)
The French channels on the Telecom birds at 5W are expected to remain in analogue for at
least 5 years yet.
(29th April)
Nickelodeon will be leaving Astra 1 at the end of April, as
will MTV UK, VH1 UK, and Paramount.
(21st April)
TV4 - the Swedish channel which has recently appeared in clear analogue on Thor 2 - should stay in analogue until at least the end of 2002
(15th April)
JSTV has closed its analogue service on Astra 1, although
the channel is being kept active until the end of October 2001 only for NHK (Japan) news
broadcasts. At other times, an information card is showing.
(27th March)
A reply from TCM.Help@turner.com (The TCM
channel)
"Nothing has been confirmed as to when the analogue service will be stopped."
(14th March)
News on one of the satellite newsgroups now suggests that Sky 1, Sky Sports 1, and Sky Premier will be continuing
until September on the Astra 1 satellites. Sky News is definitely closing at the end of
June.
(12th March)
I emailed Eurosport to enquire what was happening to their Astra service. This is the
reply I received from Caroline Roberston at Eurosport today:
"There is no timetable for cut off of
the Astra analogue signal. We will maintain this service.
Best Regards
Network Department"
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