Hi there



We’ve noticed a bit of discussion from some former Sky customers about our viewing card swap-over project.



In particular, some people have questioned why they’ll lose access to FIVE and ITV1 if they don’t insert the new white Sky viewing card into their box.



We’re happy to clear this up.



Firstly, only viewers in certain regions will be affected by the loss of FIVE and ITV1. FIVE and ITV1 use different satellites to broadcast their regional versions and they’ve asked Sky to encrypt the broadcast of some of these regions so they’re only available to viewers with a valid viewing card. Usually, the request to encrypt is because the satellite signal of that region can be widely received outside the UK and Ireland and the broadcaster doesn’t own the rights to transmit some programmes to continental Europe. This decision to encrypt channels is down to the individual broadcaster - not Sky.



Here’s some more background:



. Once we switch off the old blue Sky viewing cards, anyone without a new white viewing card trying to access an encrypted channel will get a blue screen with a message stating that the program is unavailable. This will also happen for the regional channels affected as your Sky box box will not default to an alternative regional version.



· If you’re in one of the following ITV1 regions you will lose ITV1 at channel 103. The ITV regions affected include: ITV Anglia West (ITV1 Anglia W), ITV Central South West (ITV1 Central SW), ITV Meridian North (ITV1 Mer N), ITV Meridian S/E (ITV1 Mer SE), ITV Tyne Tees South (ITV1 TT S), ITV Yorkshire East (ITV1 Yorks E). The names in brackets are how they’re described in the channel name on your TV Guide.



· If you live in London, the North of England or Scotland you’ll lose FIVE at channel 105.



· You’ll also lose access Channel 4 HD, FIVE US, FIVE US+1, FIVER, FIVER+1 and Sky 3.



For more details and to find out how to obtain a new card, please visit our website:



www.sky.com/replacecard


Cheers

Sky Team

I tried www.sky.com/replacecard but I encountered the following problems:-

1. It would not accept my email address because it has too many characters.

2. I was unable to order more than one Freesat from Sky card. (I have 5 sky boxes at my home).

3. Is the cost truely £20 per card? Surely it should be £19.57 following the reduction of the VAT rate to 15%. Or has Sky increased the price and it will become £20.43 when the VAT rate returns to 17.5%?

Sky Team, can you help?

Sky team don't usually come back and reply

I should not think they can! Probably everything they post has to be pre-cleared at a high level!

So I went to 'Contact us' on the Sky web site to explain that I couldn't order on line because the form didn't accept my email address and to ask how to order more than one card. But their enquiry form would accept my email address because it has too many characters.

dont forget, channel5 can be added/viewed as an other channel and the FTA Regions of ITV can also be added/viewed so you are not restricted to the 'default channels. All the BBC Regions are on the epg.
so if you dont want to spend £20 and replace your card you would actually only lose fiver, fiveusa and sky3.

The Skyman

True, but other channels is a pain and the £20 is not a lot to get them on the full EPG especially when the card will work for years

I am *issed off about this.

I got a freesat from sky card, directly from Sky and paid £20odd quid for it... was happy...

Sky then mailed me a great offer for joining subsription... I then became a sky customer... but they used the same card...

I was a sky customer for 2006 - Until July 2009 I decided to leave sky in July... no "white" sky card had come...

Turned on the TV last night and every few mins "the reminder banner" pops up in the middle of the programme I am watching.

I put my details into the /replacecard website... and it's making me pay for a new card.

Is this a mistake? What can I do... I really don't want to have spent £20 and years of sky subscriptions... to have to pay again...

Not a Bunny.... and no carrot for donkey(!)

Anyone... any ideas?

[quote=


I put my details into the /replacecard website... and it's making me pay for a new card.

Is this a mistake? What can I do... I really don't want to have spent £20 and years of sky subscriptions... to have to pay again...

Not a Bunny.... and no carrot for donkey(!)

Anyone... any ideas?


[/QUOTE]

its definitely a pain in the rear end....but...
without any card at all, you will only lose:
Sky3, fiver and five usa....
and you would have to watch/view C5 as an other channel
otherwise i am afraid it is £20 for the Murdoch's coffers.
the Skyman

you have paid Sky a price to watch subscription TV. Of course the card would be the same.
If you cancel the subscription you are no longer a Sky customer. So why would you expect them to give you a new card when you are not a customer?
Basically you messed up. If you had reduced to 1 mix you could have paid less than £20 (what it will cost you for a new card) and watched an extra month Sky TV and saved a few quid and still had a new card.
Just phone them up and resuibscribe to the one mix option and cancel as soon as the card them (imminently) arrives. Why are you making it sound like it's not your own fault.

When did you actually buy the freesatfromskycard ?

I can see your point

You paid £20 for a freesat card , sky then used your FS card to give you subs , it saved them money in not sending out another card

When you cancelled your Sky subs freesat card was deemed as a lapsed sub card even though you forked out £20 for it and get out of the free replacement

I was supplied the sub card for free when I subscribed as I didn't have a FS card they could rack up to a sub card

Sounds like Sky took advantage to save them a few £

No doubt they will argue it speeded up your access to pay Tv.

That caught my eye ... I've just removed the viewing card , the blue one, from the Sky digibox and Five still works in position 105. The cards here were originally sent to a Midlands address.

So if this is true then what part of freesat means free? Sky, it's all a bit fat con, the whole lot of it! The sooner freeview digital tv is rolled out over the whole of the uk the better!!

Oh and stop saying "you only loose five us etc." because the ONLY thing I use my sky box for is five us and sky3!

There is no subscription, simple as. That's why it's free.

With Freeview you have to buy a box and a TV and a TV licence and you have to own a property to watch the TV in and you need electricity.

Is that therefore not "free"?

I have a blue sky card and i have not paid any subscrptions for years. If you remove the card it stops the irritating banner.
I live near Leeds and five is now blank. Not a problem for me as i never want to watch it. So i will just go on without spending a penny.
(I am no fan of Sky but i get plenty of Tv and Radio at a good quality of picture and sound. I am in a bad area for terrestrial freeview despite a big aerial on a high mast. Overall i feel i have had a good deal. We all have the right to say no to Sky. If millions of people say yes then there is no way they will change their practices. Such is life.

you can add watch Channel 5 and Ch. 4+1 as other channels.
full details on my website www.british-tv-in-france.co.uk
the Skyman

i saw the message last night for the first time asking me to get a new card. I went to the Sky website and could see that i'd have to pay £20. Then i noticed the regions affected and mine wasnt on there - I live in South Wales.

I currently can view Ch5. Will it disappear eventually? does anyone know if they are changing all regions eventually?

I couldnt find any further info on the Sky website so didnt want to buy a new card until i was sure that I had to.

All info appreciated.
Thanks

Thanks for that

Very useful information

That's me sorted

Take out your sky card. If you can still view Ch5 without the card you do not need a new one. I think ch5 in wales is free to air on sky.. You will loose sky3 five usa and fiver.

Plus Viva, LFC TV and parental controls.

I thought that when you take the Sky card out the Digibox loses its regional settings. Therefore surely everybody who doesn't have a new Sky card will lose channel 5 from the EPG and not just certain regions. Have I misunderstood?

If you take the card out of the box it just loses the FTV channels ( channels that require the card )

If you power down the box and back up again without the card it will then show the default BBC London etc and not your regions programmes

Now pop the card back in the box and your regions are back again

I think the significant issue is that if you take out the Sky card and cycle the power it doesn't show Channel 5 on the EPG at all. You have to manually add the FTA version of Channel 5 as an 'other channel' in order to view it.

I note from another thread that the blue Sky card will still provide regional settings for the digibox after the blue cards have been turned off. Is that correct? If so then I think the 'penny has just dropped' in my understanding of this:

If you are currently able to briefly remove your Sky card but still see the channels that you want to watch from the EPG then you won't need a new Sky card (but you will need to keep your blue Sky card in the digibox). However, if you can't see a channel that you want to watch then you need to experiment with adding it as another channel (possibly after removing the Sky card and cycling the power) and if you can't find a combination that you are happy with then you have to put up with not viewing that channel or to fork out the 20 quid for a new freesatfromsky card. Channels that you certainly won't be able to get without a new Sky card include Sky3, Fiver and Five US. Is that correct?

thats true ........

I lost Channel 5 on 105 a couple of months ago. The TV in question is a secondary one so I didn't worry too much & only got around to looking into the issue yesterday. I discovered the info contained in this thread so I added Channel 5 as an 'Other Channel' & it worked.

However, I did also read somewhere that if you leave the box off for any length of time then this might cause the issue, so try removing the card & re-booting with it replaced, OR try leaving it switched on for 24 hours. Re-booting didn't work but after being left plugged in in standby for 24 hours Channel 5 is back on 105 this morning!!

These are the tuning details to add it to Other Channels: 10.773 H 22000 5/6