Channel 4 has confirmed the exact date it will no longer be available on some Sky and Freesat TV boxes.The firm is following in the footsteps of BBC and ITV, which have already made huge changes to how they broadcast on satellite.Many are moving away from old SD (standard definition) and converting to HD (high definition) only.Most viewers are unaffected but those with older set-top boxes will have to upgrade to continue receiving Channel 4.These boxes rely on soon-to-be-obsolete broadcasting technology unable to deal with HD.Across November, regional variants of C4+1, E4 Extra, 4Seven, E4 (SD), More4 (SD), Film 4 (SD) become unavailable to users of these legacy Freesat devices.But the SD version of Channel 4 will be no more on satellite this month.And the company has confirmed the exact date to The Sun that viewers need to be aware of - November 28th.It's important to note that the changes only affect satellite, so an SD version of Channel 4 will continue to exist on Freeview / YouView.There are also no changes to Virgin Media.The number of affected households is very small, Channel 4 says.We are changing the technology we use to broadcast our channels to Sky and Freesat households – ensuring we are delivering the highest quality HD viewing experience to all, and, opening up the potential for new services in the future," a spokesperson told The Sun.''With Sky customers being encouraged to move to HD boxes, this will affect only a very small number of viewers."This follows similar moves by ITV and Sky earlier this year."All our channels, along with a wide range of on-demand content, are also available on Channel 4 streaming via smart TVs, mobile, tablets and PC’s."There are no changes on Freeview and Virgin Media, plus, satellite viewers with HD boxes are unaffected."
©News Group Newspapers Limited.