Sky News, Pick TV and Challenge TV are launching onto free-to-air platform Freesat.
The three Sky-owned channels are already available on the terrestrial Freeview platform and will appear on the Freesat EPG on Monday afternoon. Significantly, and given its status as the first UK 24-hour news channel, Sky News has been parachuted into 202 on the Freesat EPG. However, it is the standard definition version of the channel, HD still being reserved for Sky subscribers.
As a managed platform Sky News was still not available on Freesat, even though the channel is broadcast in-the-clear, and available on non-Freesat receivers.
Emma Scott, Freesat’s Managing Director commented: “We’re delighted that Sky News is joining Freesat. It’s an award-winning news service that strengthens and complements Freesat’s existing line-up of 11 news channels. With Challenge TV and Pick TV joining today too, the breadth of choice for our viewers, for free, has never been better.”
Pick TV (144) provides a second outing to content original debuted on Sky 1 and Sky Arts, while Challenge TV (145) runs popular UK-originated game shows.
