We're giving you more channels and revised numbers for some of your favourite channels. Find out what’s new, what will change and what will stay the same below.

Why our channel numbers are changing
More M-Net Movie channels
Soundtracks
Decoder information:
Single-view
Dual-view
HD PVR
SD PVR

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Why are the channels numbers changing?

We are moving DStv services to a new satellite, which will give us more space to offer you more channels and services in future. To do that, we need to move some channels around to make space for these future channels and services.
Whilst it may take some getting used to, we trust that the new channel numbering will make for an overall better navigation and viewing experience on DStv.

When is the change happening?
Early the morning of Monday, 1 October 2012 - most of the new channels will come into effect at 6am. The new M-Net Movie channels will launch from 10:30 on Monday, 1 October 2012.

Will I miss any of my shows when you change the channel numbers?
The changes will happen automatically and shouldn’t interrupt your viewing.

Do DStv customers need to do anything to get the new channel numbers and the new channels?
The changes will happen automatically in the early morning hours of Monday, 1 October. DStv customers are advised to access the information about their specific decoder on DStv.com or press OK on their DStv remote to see if any action is required on their part.
Customers who live in a complex or flat where they don’t have their own dish, will have to request their body corporate to upgrade their system before 1 October 2012. These customers can SMS their email address to DStv at 32444.

When will the TV Guides be updated?
The October Dish Magazine will reflect the updated channel numbers.
The online and mobile TV Guides will update within hours of the change on 1 October.
The TV Guides on the decoders will be updated within hours of the change on 1 October.

Now that the SD and HD channels sit on the same channel number (except for SuperSport channels), what’s the difference between the SD version of a channel and the HD version of the same channel?
The SD and HD channels which sit on the same channel number have exactly the same content. The only difference is the broadcast quality of the channel. The content including the soundtrack, the programme schedules and aspect ratio of the broadcasts will be identical.

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M-Net Movie Channels

M-Net Movies Premiere
The crème-de-la-crème of big budget, hit movies await on the M-Net Movies Premiere channel. This is where Hollywood royalty lives and where you can find the freshest movies appearing on TV for the first time. Movies will be screened first on this channel before moving to the relevant themed channel.

M-Net Movies Comedy
Relax, put your feet up and prepare to laugh till it hurts. Whether you like your comedies tinged with romance, drama, slapstick humour or a little on the naughty side, the comedy channel will leave you in stitches.

M-Net Movies Family
Wholesome entertainment for all ages awaits with the family channel. A fun and enjoyable lineup featuring animation, musicals, fantasy and feel-good family movies will keep both kids and the young at heart engrossed all day.

M-Net Movies Action+
Escape on an adventure, discover what lies in the far reaches of Space, fight the bad guys and save the world. M-Net Movies Action+ will take you there with a host of blockbuster movies from Action to Westerns, Horror and Sci-Fi.

M-Net Movies Drama & Romance
Get swept away by an enchanting love story, or lost in a heart wrenching drama. The drama and romance channel features a variety of new and entertaining content including biographies, thrillers, documentaries and war movies.

M-Net Movies Showcase
Revisit your most magical movie moments and discover new ones with the Showcase channel. M-Net Movies shines the spotlight on specific movies and directors with exciting festivals, themes and box sets. Plus you get to take control with viewers’ choices.

What about the other M-Net movie channels that are already on DStv?
MM1 and MM2 are changing into themed channels – MM1 is changing to M-Net Movies Premiere and MM2 is changing into M-Net Movies Drama & Romance.

M-Net Action
Do high speed car chases, massive explosions, hot woman, ripped action stars and giant bloodthirsty mutant animals make your world go round? With the M-Net Movies Action channel you’ll find everything to keep you glued to your lazy boy.

M-Net Stars
Your best loved actors and movies shine brightly on M-Net Movies Stars. Featuring cult classics and movie favourites from past and present across a variety of genres from comedy to drama and romance, it’s the channel for young and old alike.

How will movies be screened across these channels?
A new blockbuster movie will be screened on M Premiere first and will then move to the appropriate themed channel. Some new niche movies will also be screened first on some themed channels.  
The movies on M-Net Movies follow a cascading pattern of broadcast. This means that there are two movies starting every half hour.  M Premiere and M Movies Drama & Romance have a movie each at 18:30, M Comedy and M Showcase have a movie each at 19:00, M Family and M Action have a movie each at 19:30.

How do the movies on M-Net Movies Premiere work?
Every Friday, there are four new first-to-television movies from 18:30 until 00:30 with the biggest movie of the week on Fridays at 20:30.
In addition to this, the M-Net Sunday night blockbuster movie will still be screened at 20:00 on M-Net. This movie will also be broadcast at 20:30 that same evening on M Premiere.

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Soundtracks

What kind of soundtracks will be available on the movie channels?
The family and original soundtrack will always be available. When available for a particular movie, the surround sound option will be included. Please take note of the slide at the start of each movie and also on the EPG itself.

Will Dolby 5.1 be available on all HD channels?
Where the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is made available by the studios it will be played out. In all other cases, HD channels will carry Dolby 2. Please take note of the EPG on the specific programme or movie.

What about Hearing Impaired subtitles on the new M-Net movie channels – both HD and SD?
Where it is available, the HI subtitles will be played out. There will be a slide at the start of each movie, as well as an indication on the EPG.
M-Net has undertaken to provide all new content with HI subtitles.
We are working with all channels on the DStv platform to provide HI subtitles for our hearing impaired subscribers on all channels. Unfortunately HI subtitles are not readily available on all content, especially older content.

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DECODERS

I use a single view decoder. How will the channel renumbering impact me?
• Making the changes – the decoder should automatically update to the new channel numbers. If the channel numbers on your decoder are incorrect, we recommend a simple reboot (switch power off at the wall, wait 20 seconds and then power up again). This will initiate a rescan. Do not interrupt the process and wait for normal video & audio to resume.
• Reminders – reminders set prior to the channel renumbering will be listed on the reminders screen with the OLD channel information. These reminders will however work correctly. All reminders set after the renumbering has taken place, will display the correct channel information.
• Favourite Channels* – the impact will depend on which channels you have selected as your favourites. As we are also adding new channels, we recommend that you check and make any required changes to Favourite Channels once the channel changes have taken place.  You can edit your Favourite Channels using the Channel Grid. While watching TV, press the UP arrow to display the Channel Grid. Those channels marked with a “tick” are your favourites. You can edit your Favourite Channels using the YELLOW button on your remote control.
• Parental Control – if you have used the Parental Control feature to block channels, we recommend that you check that the correct channels remain blocked. To check these - press MENU, select Parental Control, enter the PG PIN and then select Channel Blocking. Follow the onscreen instructions to block the required channels.

*The Favourite Channels feature is only available on selected single view decoders

I use a dual view decoder. How will the channel renumbering impact me?
• Making the changes – the decoder should automatically update to the new channel numbers. If the channel numbers on your decoder are incorrect, we recommend a simple reboot (switch power off at the wall, wait 20 seconds and then power up again). This will initiate a rescan. Do not interrupt the process and wait for normal video & audio to resume.
• Reminders – reminders set prior to the channel renumbering will be listed on the reminders screen with the OLD channel information. These reminders will however work correctly. All reminders set after the renumbering has taken place, will display the correct channel information.
• Parental Control – if you have used the Parental Control feature to block channels, we recommend that you check that the correct channels remain blocked. To check these - press MENU, select Parental Control, enter the PG PIN and then select Channel Blocking. Follow the onscreen instructions to block the required channels.

I use the SD PVR. How will the channel renumbering impact me?
• Making the changes – the SD PVR should automatically update to the new channel numbers. If the channel numbers on your SD PVR are incorrect, we recommend a simple reboot (switch power off at the wall, wait 20 seconds and then power up again). This will initiate a rescan. Do not interrupt the process and wait for normal video & audio to resume.
• Reminders – reminders set prior to the channel renumbering will be listed on the reminders screen with the OLD channel information. These reminders will however work correctly. All reminders set after the renumbering has taken place, will display the correct channel information.
• Favourite Channels – the impact will depend on which channels you have selected as your favourites. As we are also adding new channels, we recommend that you check and make any required changes to Favourite Channels once the channel changes have taken place.  You can edit your Favourite Channels using the Channel Grid. While watching TV, press the UP arrow to display the Channel Grid. Those channels marked with a “tick” are your favourites. You can edit your Favourite Channels using the WHITE button on your remote control.
• Scheduled Recordings – Where channel names and numbers have changed, the scheduled recordings will still display the old information. These scheduled recordings will however work and all recordings will take place as expected.
• Playlist – there will be no impact to recordings that have already taken place. The information will reflect the original channel number and not the new one.
• DStv On Demand and BoxOffice – the channel changes will have no impact on these features.
• Parental Control – if you have used the Parental Control feature to block channels, we recommend that you check that the correct channels remain blocked. To check these - press MENU, select Parental Control, enter the PG PIN and then select Channel Blocking. Follow the onscreen instructions to block the required channels.

I use the HD PVR. How will the channel renumbering impact me?

Updated software will be released for the HD PVRs prior to the renumbering of channels which takes place on 1 October. It is vital that your HD PVR has this software by 30 September. This software will automatically be “pushed” to your HD PVR, however we recommend that you check for this software from 20 September. It’s easy to do – just press TV GUIDE and look for “My Channels” on the main menu of the TV Guide. If your HD PVR has the menu item, it has the updated software. If not, please follow the steps below:

    -    Reboot the decoder. Wait for full video & audio to resume.
    -    Press MENU to go to the Decoder Menu
    -    Select "Advanced Options"
    -    Enter 9949
    -    Select "DSD Upgrade"
    -    Wait for the RED button to appear, then press RED and follow the onscreen instructions.

• Making the changes – the HD PVR should automatically update to the new channel numbers. If the channel numbers on your HD PVR are incorrect AND you have confirmed that it has the updated software, we recommend a simple reboot (switch power off at the wall, wait 20 seconds and then power up again). This will initiate a rescan. Do not interrupt the process and wait for normal video & audio to resume.
• Reminders – reminders set prior to the channel renumbering will be listed on the reminders screen with the OLD channel information. These reminders will however work correctly. All reminders set after the renumbering has taken place, will display the correct channel information.
• Favourite Channels – the impact will depend on which channels you have selected as your favourites. As we are also adding new channels, we recommend that you check and make any required changes to Favourite Channels once the channel changes have taken place.  You can edit your Favourite Channels using the TV Guide. While watching TV, press TV GUIDE and select Favourite Channels. If you have not used Favourite Channels before, follow the onscreen instructions to select these. If you have already selected Favourite Channels, press the WHITE button to edit your selection.
• “Duplicate” channels – Previously, if a channel was available in both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD), these two versions would have been on separate channel numbers.
As an example : M-Net in standard definition (SD) has been on channel 101, while M-Net in high definition (HD) has been on channel 170.
Now, M-Net will only have one channel number (101) and the HD PVR will use your subscription to determine whether you get access to the SD or HD version.   
• Scheduled Recordings (excluding series recordings) – Where channel names and numbers have changed, the scheduled recordings will still display the old information. These scheduled recordings will however work and all recordings will take place as expected.
• Series Recordings - Series recordings on channels which have NOT moved, will work correctly. However, series recording on channels where changes have been made, will need to be deleted and rescheduled.  So get your pen and paper and follow the steps below :
    -    Press RED, then LEFT or RIGHT arrow to the Scheduled Recordings screen and press YELLOW for series recordings.
    -    This screen has the programme title on the left of the screen and the original channel number & name on the right of the screen. Check on the right hand side for any series on the following channel numbers 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 119, 123, 125, 126, 134, 170, 171, 172, 174, 175, 176, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186, 187, 208, 250, 251, 252, 254, 255, 260, 261, 264, 321. Write down the names of these series, as well as the channel names and then delete them one by one (highlight each one and press RED to delete).
    -    Then go to the TV Guide, find these programmes on their new channel numbers and schedule the series recordings again (highlight the programme, press REC and select to “record all episodes in this series”.) Our apologies for the inconvenience.
• Playlist – there will be no impact to recordings that have already taken place. The information for the channels will reflect the original channel number and not the new one
• DStv On Demand and BoxOffice – the channel changes will have no impact on these features.
• Parental Control – if you have used the Parental Control feature to block channels, we recommend that you check that the correct channels remain blocked. To check these - press MENU, select Parental Control, enter the PG PIN and then select Channel Blocking. Follow the onscreen instructions to block the required channels.