Older Freesat boxes lose two more channels

Satellite platform prepares for migration of more channels to the newer DVB-S2 broadcast standard that isn’t supported by older boxes

Blaze and Gems TV delisted from older Freesat boxes

Expected to be removed from older Sky satellite boxes shortly.

Satellite TV industry is converting transponders to newer broadcast standard in order to make more efficient use of the available bandwidth.

Older Freesat boxes lost access to entertainment channel Blaze (channel 162) and shopping network Gems TV (channel 805) on Tuesday in preparation for another change in the way satellite services are delivered.

Freesat SD boxes, which were widely on sale between 2008 and 2013, have already largely become redundant after the BBC and ITV began switching off SD channels at the beginning of the year, in favour of HD-only broadcasting.

But a growing number of SD (standard definition) channels are also affected, as broadcasters switch to the newer and more bandwidth efficient DVB-S2 standard. However, now that Freesat and Sky have dropped support for their old SD-only boxes, broadcasters and platform operators are now switching SD services to DVB-S2.

Satdude