Have recently cancelled Sky tv after many years .I am watching the free sky with original card .I remember in the past a reference to a £20 card. Does anyone know which if any extra programmes come with that.Ive tried Googling but without success The thought of spending an hour on the phone to, Sky @premium rates is a no goer
To the best of my knowledge there are currently no additional channels available by using a 'Freesat from Sky card'. To check, see the full listing here:
The £20 is the cost of a Sky "Freesat" viewing card from Sky. This unlocks the few licensed channels on the line-up, like Channel5. Will not provide any extra channels. Effectively, these few are "soft-encrypted"
The old sky card (blue one with a house icon on it) will work ok.
That's the second time that AlBags has referred to 'soft encryption' in relation to Channel 5 but 'soft encryption' is what differentiates 'free to view' channels from 'free to air' ones. C5 has now switched off that encryption and is 'free to air' anyway.
Rubbish ... It is soft encrypted in such a way as one needs a viewing card of any sorts (sky) to watch it.
This is all to do with the licensing agreements between the original broadcaster, sky, and the freeview group.
Plug a Freesat Sky box in, and you will not receive about 5 channels (incl one timeshift) until you put a card in.