Animal Planet HD

So... According to the Sky EPG Animal Planet HD is no longer available on 162. It is still broadcasting as of 08:20 this morning when I checked and on 836 the SD version is clearly SD. I wonder what's going on there then?

Discovery recently signed a new deal with Sky, what that includes I don’t know, but I guess this is almost certainly an effect from the new deal. It’s also worth noting that the Travel Channel has closed down this week too.

Travel Channel has not 'closed down' - it has simply been removed from Sky. The channel continues on Virgin Media, just like Animal Planet HD does.

Yes, it's the first changes after the new deal was signed with Sky and I think it's always interesting to see how such deals impact individual channels, as this is the kind of thing that would never be mentioned in the PR accompanying such deals.

It also provides further evidence that Sky is not providing third party HD channels with the same perks as before (Animal Planet HD being on a Sky transponder).

I suppose Travel will continue as a zombie channel on Virgin until all contractual requirements there are completed.