BBC and ITV will shutter Standard Definition (SD) broadcasts for Sky TV and Freesat viewers within hours.
The shake-up is designed to improve the viewing experience for millions nationwide, with High Definition (HD) offering a dramatic step-up in picture quality.
But the move away from Standard Definition will leave some viewers with ageing Sky TV and Freesat kit without access to live channels from ITV and BBC. If you're one of the unlucky few, you'll need to upgrade to newer hardware before you're able to continue watching these channels.
“To avoid losing channels, we strongly recommend that any impacted viewers upgrade as soon as possible," the BBC has warned TV Licence Fee payers in an online support document.
Freesat viewers with incompatible kit will need to buy a new set-top box, which starts around £50 and maxes out at £300 for a flagship model with 4K Ultra HD support and a spacious hard drive for hours of recordings.
If you're still using an ageing non-HD Sky TV box, you will be left without access to all BBC channels and radio stations this week, and a number of popular ITV channels too
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If you’re a current Sky subscriber, contact customer support to arrange an upgrade to a newer set-top box at no cost. However, if you’re still using an SD-only Sky TV box without a subscription, you’ll need to resubscribe before you can be upgraded to the latest hardware.
That could carry a much higher cost, with Sky TV monthly plans starting from £26 per month for Sky Stream andrising to £40 for the all-in-one Sky Glass 4K TV.
The move away from SD-quality broadcasts has been a long time coming. The biggest hurdle was local news bulletins, which were often broadband in a lower quality. However, ITV finished upgrading its news studios nationwide in December 2023, a few months after the BBC.
OK, so when do you need to take action?
BBC will shut-off all SD broadcasts from January 8 onwards, leaving those with a Sky TV or Freesat box that doesn’t support HD unable to tune-in to BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, and BBC Four.
From January 8 onwards, trying to watch will summon a warning message that says “channel closed”. There will also be a link to direct any remaining viewers to the available support.
And it’s not just TV channels that will be impacted by the switchover too — BBC radio stations will also stop working for those with SD-only boxes. Although the BBC will continue to broadcast radio via satellite across the UK in the same audio quality, changes to a number of technical parameters means the services won’t work on ageing hardware either.
The following day, January 9, 2024 will see ITV cease its SD-quality broadcasts nationwide. Starting from 12.01am, those with SD-only Sky TV and Freesat boxes will lose access to ITV3, ITV4, and ITVBe.
Like the BBC switch-off the previous day, the only way to tune into these channels will be to switch from your current kit to an HD-compatible receiver.
ITV1 will remain available after this deadline on SD-only set-top boxes. However, whenever the channels cuts to regional news — you'll lose all picture and sound from the broadcast, since these will be HD-only.
ITV has yet to confirm when SD-only ITV1 will be shutdown, but it's likely to follow later this year.
In a blog post about the switchover, ITV wrote: "Here at ITV, we are making some major improvements to complete our upgrade to all-HD on satellite for ITV1 bringing all the ITV regions and sub-regions which haven’t yet upgraded into HD."
Adding: "For anyone reading this who may still be watching us on satellite on standard definition — SD — you will soon need to upgrade to a high definition HD satellite receiver if you don't already have one. The HD-only change will happen in January 2024, and you can upgrade your box by contacting your provider. It is easy to do and should take no more than two weeks.
"Around 98% of digital satellite homes across Sky and Freesat are already receiving HD channels, but if you are unsure if you have an SD-only box your provider will also be able to help."
When the BBC and ITV close SD broadcasts via satellite, the only place to continue watching its channels in the lower-quality format will be Freeview, which remains unaffected by the changes this month.
However, with a new broadband-powered alternative to Freeview and Freesat scheduled to launch this year, we wouldn’t be surprised if all broadcasters switched to a minimum broadcast quality of HD across all platforms sometime this year.
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How to check if your Sky TV or Freesat box supports HD
If you rely on a Freesat box, the easiest way to check whether your kit is compatible with High Definition (HD) broadcasts is to head to Channel 799. This is a test channel created by the BBC to help viewers navigate their similar switch to HD-only broadcasts.
The only purpose of the channel is to indicate whether your TV hardware is compatible with HD broadcasts. If your box is incompatible, you'll see a message about the upcoming transition to HD.
If you're watching telly on an older Sky TV box, the best way to find out whether you'll need to upgrade is to press the Services button on your remote control, followed by 4 and 5. Then you'll need to check the version number of your set-top box.
Sky has provided the following version numbers for ageing hardware that will need to be upgraded to continue watching BBC channels and radio...
Sky Digibox
- 4F01 to 4F06 (Amstrad)
- 4E01 to 4E05 (Grundig)
- 9F01 to 9F08 and 9F0A (Pace)
- 0F01 to 0F05 (Panasonic)
- 4E06 to 4E08 (Thomson)
Sky+
- 4F2001 to 4F2006 (Amstrad)
- 4F2101 to 4F2118 and 9F2101 to 9F2137 (Amstrad or Pace)
- 9F2001 to 9F2024, PVR2, 9F2201 to 9F2235, 9F2301 to 9F2339 (Pace)
- 4E2101 to 4E2141 (Thomson)
Both Freesat and Sky have helplines for those who are concerned about the switch to HD coming next month from ITV and BBC. Sky customers with older, incompatible boxes should call 03337591018, while Freesat viewers in the same situation should dial 03453130051 for guidance.
