SKY has confirmed that a much-loved TV channel will be taken off-air in a matter of days – but it won’t be farewell forever.
Last week, it emerged that a favourite for the kids will disappear in May.
Sky has now told The Sun about its plans for the future of the channel, amid a wider shake-up of its portfolio in recent weeks.
Most TV customers now get HBO Max and Disney+ as standard included in their Sky subscription.
Existing HBO shows will continue to air on Sky Atlantic as normal.
And the deal with Disney+ actually means Sky Cinema subscribers now have a brand new channel, Disney+ Channel.
But in the latest change, viewers will have to wave goodbye to Sky Cinema Animation – at least in its current form.
The channel has been a permanent member of the Sky Cinema package for about six years now.
But from April 30 it’ll disappear from the TV guide.
Fortunately, Sky says viewers won’t miss out on any of the movies you would expect to see on Sky Cinema Animation.
It’s being merged with the Sky Cinema Family channel to create a “one-stop destination for family-favourite movies”.
This will include titles such as the Shrek franchise, Secret Life of Pets, Smurfs, How To Train Your Dragon, Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse, Wicked and more.
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And it won’t be the absolute end for Sky Cinema Animation either.
Sky Cinema regularly makes changes to the schedule around events or annual themes with pop-up channels.
So, Sky Cinema Animation will be back during the school holidays to serve up more cartoon content for the kids when they’ll want it most.
As such, you can expect to see Sky Cinema Animation back on your screens temporarily from July 24 to August 30, October 23 to November 1 and December 1 to January 5.
The revamped Sky Cinema Family channel will continue to be available at channel 304 from April 30.
In more pressing changes, Sky has also made some TV guide tweaks to Sky Cinema this week.
The Hobbit HD, on channel 303, is changing its name to Sky Biopics HD from today.
Then on Saturday it’ll switch again, converting to Sky Spy Kids HD.
