Sky One vanishes next month, and that’s not the only thing changing for Sky TV viewers

Sky One will disappear from the TV Guide on your Sky Q, Sky+ HD, Virgin Media, BT and NOW set-top boxes next month. From September 1, the iconic channel, which has been the home of The Simpsons since it started 32 seasons ago, is the oldest non-terrestrial channel in the UK. Originally titled Sky Channel (as there only was one, so there was no need for the number), it has seen the likes of homegrown shows like A League Of Their Own and Rob and Romesh Vs as well as US imports like 24, Battlestar Galactica, and Prison Break. More recently in its 39-year tenure, Sky One is currently where you’ll find the latest episode of DC shows like The Flash, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, and Supergirl.

Sadly, Sky One won’t get a chance to blow out the candles on its 40th birthday cake. As confirmed by Sky executives last month, Sky One will vanish for all customers across the UK at the start of September. In its place, Sky will launch a new channel called Sky Showcase, which will occupy the same prime placement in the TV Guide.

This all-new channel is designed to present a mixture of the most talked-about and critically-acclaimed shows from across Sky’s portfolio of channels. Sky has increasingly moved to centre its channels around genres – like Sky Comedy and Sky Documentaries. As such, Sky Showcase will become a real blend of genres in the way you won’t find when tuning into Sky Crime, for example.

Meanwhile, the shows that currently air exclusively on Sky One will be divvied up into the rest of the satellite firm’s line-up of channels, including the likes of Sky Witness, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries, Sky Crime, Sky History, Sky Nature, Sky Arts, and Sky Kids. The broadcaster hopes this genre approach to its channels will make it easier to locate a show in the TV Guide – if you’re looking for a new David Attenborough, you’ll know that Sky Nature is your best bet, while Sky Crime has the latest grisly true-crime documentaries.

For those who are familiar with Sky Sports, Showcase will work in a similar fashion to Sky Main Event. The latter is a linear channel that presents some of the most hotly anticipated and discussed fixtures from the rest of the Sky Sports portfolio. Sky Main Event doesn’t have its own exclusive shows, something it will have in common with Sky Showcase.

There is one exception, of course.

While Sky Showcase will pick ‘n’ mix from the rest of the channels from the satellite broadcaster, you won’t find any exclusives shows from Sky Atlantic on the channel. Sky Atlantic is the home of the biggest US dramas, including Mare Of Easttown, Succession, Little Big Lies, I Hate Suzie, Chernobyl, WestWorld and Game Of Thrones, to name a few.

Sky Atlantic is only available on Sky Q, Sky+HD or NOW. While those on Virgin Media can access every other channel in the Sky portfolio, Sky Atlantic remains exclusive to set-top boxes built by Sky. As Sky Showcase will appear on Virgin Media TV 360, bringing shows from Sky Atlantic to the channel would be a backdoor for these titles to appear on this telly hardware.

With Sky One gone, Sky will take the opportunity to introduce another new change, dubbed Sky Max.

Sky Max’s launch schedule will include some of the biggest new shows coming to Sky, including the long-awaited revival of comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, as well as The Russell Howard Hour, and some of the biggest DC shows previously found on Sky One.

All of these changes will arrive on September 1, 2021. The new channels will be available to Sky customers at no extra charge, they will also be coming to viewers on streaming service NOW, as well as set-top boxes from Virgin and BT for free.