3 channels launch on Sky EPG

DIGITAL SPY -

Three new channels have joined the entertainment section of Sky's EPG this morning.

A new Discovery Real Time spinoff called Discovery Real Time Extra can be found on 135 in the EPG. The channel will focus on delivering an additional helping of Discovery Real Time programmes along with some new ones mixed in.

You TV 3 will feature a mix of quiz, dating and poker content. The channel can be located on EPG number 180 near the other two You TV branded stations.

Meanwhile, Passion TV - a new offering dedicated to African and Caribbean viewers - is available on 280 in the Sky EPG.

Do we really need yet another You TV channel? We already have a +1 service for Discovery Real Time, so would it not have been better if they ditched the +1 channel and just put Extra in its place. I'm getting fed up of the timeshift channels - they are engulfing the EPG.

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The +1 channels are alright, they serve a useful purpose - even having Sky+ I occasionally forget to set something up to record, and there's the odd clash of 3 shows I want to watch (not that I can see too many people getting excited about much on Discovery Real Time!)

But, yeah, You TV, they're just one of those channels that seem to exist just to be irritating. Hopefully the forthcoming EPG changes will do as promised and sweep all these deadwood channels up to the back end of the EPG along with the gaming channels which are confirmed as moving.

I personally think +1 channels should be some sort of interactive option on the main channel itself, ie. tuning into UKTV Gold would present you with an option somehow of watching the previous hour. This would declutter the EPG a hell of a lot.

But that wouldn't work with Sky+ and Sky has no way of telling you what was on an hour before, and so unless you already knew what was on then no-one would know that the program was on... if you catch my drift.

Not much use for Tivo users - or people with satellite control VCRs or Windows Media Center PCs

EPG entry is the only real option for the +1 channels. They're a Godsend for Tivo owners - as it intelligently schedules recordings on the normal or +1 channels to avoid recording clashes.