Channels removed from basic package

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Niel

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#106320 22-Jul-2012 09:30

Has anyone noticed some channels got removed? It might be old news, but wondering if there was any sort of announcement or reasons given. I can see only 3 PPV movie channels and Day Star (112) is also gone. The French news channel is now in French only, the English channel (100) is gone. Does anyone have a link to an announcement? I would have thought that the removal of services should at least be announced to people paying for the services.

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itxtme

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#659808 22-Jul-2012 10:11

I got a letter - no two in fact (identical a week apart) saying that some channels were going to be removed for the olympics. Maybe I got your letter?

johnr

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#659818 22-Jul-2012 10:43

itxtme: I got a letter - no two in fact (identical a week apart) saying that some channels were going to be removed for the olympics. Maybe I got your letter?

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youngs

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#659852 22-Jul-2012 11:53

Didn't get that letter too.

System

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#659872 22-Jul-2012 12:37

Not to mention ESPN being removed from the basic package when it went HD

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Elpie

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#659881 22-Jul-2012 12:57

Niel: Has anyone noticed some channels got removed? It might be old news, but wondering if there was any sort of announcement or reasons given. I can see only 3 PPV movie channels and Day Star (112) is also gone. The French news channel is now in French only, the English channel (100) is gone. Does anyone have a link to an announcement? I would have thought that the removal of services should at least be announced to people paying for the services.

Most of what you are seeing went when Stratos went. Stratos was an independently-owned public broadcaster and had a whole heap of channels on Sky (including Al Jazeera news, DW-TV, France 24, Euro News in Europe, Voice of America, Bloomberg, Australia Network and CCTV, CQTV, NHK and YTN in Asia.

They never managed to get enough advertising revenue and this, combined with exorbitant charges from state transmission company Kordia resulted in them going off air at the end of last year.

I really miss those channels but, despite fans of Stratos getting a couple of petitions going, there was just not enough groundswell of support to make the government take notice.

Sky never sent a notice about Stratos closing down but the news of it was all over the media at the time.

Niel

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#659886 22-Jul-2012 13:17

A channel like Stratos closing I can understand. Or what happened with TVNZ 7 => Heartland. Both were publicised. An I do not expect Sky to consult with customers regarding change in offering, but surely they have to inform customers regarding change with maybe 30 days notice or else they are not offering what you signed up for. I'll have a read through the T&C when I get a chance, or if someone here knows the answer that would be great. The channels I am talking about were still on last month except for the PPV channels which I might not have noticed as we very seldom do PPV.

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Elpie

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#659908 22-Jul-2012 14:13

The French channels changed at the end of last year. Stratos had the rights then. The Stratos channels were one of the key reasons I joined Sky :-(

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#659937 22-Jul-2012 16:23

My letter only stated that SS3 was changing to SD for they olympics and that some other channels were moving for it. No mention of channels missing

Hmmmm

openmedia

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#659962 22-Jul-2012 17:06

Elpie: The French channels changed at the end of last year. Stratos had the rights then. The Stratos channels were one of the key reasons I joined Sky :-(

Stratos had nothing to do with the Sky broadcasts of France 24.

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hypnotoad

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#660155 22-Jul-2012 23:18

https://skytv.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1395/kw/france%2024

As for the other channels that have been removed for the duration of the Olympics, as well as letters being sent out it was also printed on page 5 of the July Skywatch mag that should have arrived around a month ago.

Elpie

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#660166 23-Jul-2012 00:06

openmedia:
Elpie: The French channels changed at the end of last year. Stratos had the rights then. The Stratos channels were one of the key reasons I joined Sky :-(

Stratos had nothing to do with the Sky broadcasts of France 24.

No? Then why did the free-to-air & Sky basic broadcasts stop the same day that Stratos stopped broadcasting? I called Sky to query the move of France 24 (French) away from inclusion in the basic plan into a subscription channel and was told that it was because of the Stratos decision to stop broadcasting.

Stratos/Triangle had a contract with France 24 so either the Sky broadcasts of France 24 in English and French was down to Stratos/Triangle or Sky chose to include them in the basic plan to match Stratos "free-to-air". As soon as Stratos went, France 24 French version became a subscription channel. Is this just coincidence?

In June, the English broadcast ceased. According to Sky, France 24 pulled the plug on that one.

Niel

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#660183 23-Jul-2012 06:25

letters being sent out it was also printed on page 5 of the July Skywatch mag

No letter received, not mentioned in my bill which is e-mailed, and I do not subscribe to the optional Sky Watch.

The English version of Franch 24 stopped only in the last couple of weeks (as per above link), I was still watching it from time to time. If it was tied with Stratos then perhaps there was a contract waiting to expire. I think the French version was subscription only for a while.

Found the following regarding Daystar (ch 112) in the Sky on-line help:
SKY, anticipating the capacity constraints we would experience with the Olympics had some time ago agreed with Daystar that the channel would be taken down around the Olympics.We apologise for any inconvenience to your viewing around the Olympic Games 2012 but do hope you will have the opportunity to enjoy this magnificent event on SKY Sport or PRIME. Daystar will resume transmission on Wednesday 15th August.

Still looking for a statement that Sky can change the package without any notice.

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Kyanar

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#660218 23-Jul-2012 08:38

Niel:
Still looking for a statement that Sky can change the package without any notice.

In that case, I bring you (drumroll) Sky's Domestic Terms and Conditions! Namely,

We are entitled, at any time without prior notice or any liability to you, to:
cancel or suspend the whole or any part of the Selected Service and/or substitute in place of the Selected Service or any part of it alternative programming, products or services;

Niel

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#660516 23-Jul-2012 17:27

Thanks Kyanar, that is what I was looking for (and was going to search tonight). The T&C makes for an interesting read. I did read it when I signed up about 5 years ago, but surely they were supposed to inform me when it got updated (last year and every other time). Oh well, if it was not for the documentaries I would ditch them.

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