Sky 'Free'

Sky3 is giving up its schedule to showcase programmes broadcast by channels on Sky's subscription service this weekend. Yeah, I know, 'I wouldn't watch that guff even for free' but there does appear to be some genuinely decent offerings from a wide range of channels (including Sports and Movies).

You can watch the promos here.

I've also noticed something peculiar happening whenever Sky3 returns from an ad break. As the breakbumper or trail ends you can see a brief flash of another Sky channel (I'm unsure which). Examples of this can be seen in the above video here and here. Can anyone explain why this is occurring?

The flash is simply due to them showing different trailers on different platforms - looks like the timing is slightly out. Whilst on Sky they'll usually show trailers for other Sky channels, on Freeview they'll be plugs to join Sky.

As for the Free Pass weekend - it's a shame the channel can't be like that all the time, like it was originally meant to be.

Nice idea, but I hope there isn't a permanent DOG in each programme plugging the channel or indeed Sky.

Seems like a reasonable trade for a freebie weekend.

Quite keen on catching the Theatreland programme, so I'm glad I heard about this.

Free weekends used to be a common enough thing in the very early years of Sky Movies (up to about 1993-1994 or so) - the channels (back then Sky Movies and the Movie Channel) would decrypt at 6pm on the Saturday and Sunday nights of the appointed weekend and show the next three movies for free. This would be coupled by "Call now to subscribe!" adverts in between each film.

This used to occour maybe twice a year or thereabouts, but stopped in the mid-1990s. I don't recall Sky Sports ever doing anything similar though, and for most of the period in question Sky One was still free-to-air.

We've only had Cable since 1997, but from when we've had it Sky Premier had a free weekend in December 1998, but that was merely to show the films that were made for Sky Movies, I've got a bit of that on tape somewhere. They had a free weekend again in 2003 when the Sky Movies channels were rebranded, that was when Premier and MovieMax were scrapped in favour of 1-9. Disney Channel used to have about 2 or 3 free to view periods a year during the late 1990's, but they constantly reminded you at every chance how to subscribe.

I don't recall Sky Sports doing any free to view periods, but there were a few instances when usually Sky Sports 2 was unblocked on our Cable system for some unknown reason, not that I was complaining. I do recall one occasion in about 1999 when Sky showed a Robbie Williams concert Live, it was on Sky One and Sky Box Office 3, but again it was free to view, whether the latter was available to non-subscribers or people without viewing cards then I don't know. When Film Four was a subscription service, they used to have the odd free weekend aswell, but I do recall commercials being carried.

Sky Sports was free for a weekend back in 2007

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=547758

Didn't Setanta have a free period at one point?

I seem to remember a free Saturday starting with an Old Firm game just after Setanta launched.

And of course FA Cup final day was Free To Air just a few months back as well.

As well as FA Cup Final day recently.

They seem to be pushing this quite a bit - go to Sky Text on Freeview and the whole front page links to pages about the Free weekend, including full listings.