Locked channels?

[Karla1]

I recorded some shows a couple of years ago from what was then the SYFY channel, and I believe the channel was changed a while back to Sky sci-fi HD. Now when I try to place those recordings they don’t play. A message comes up saying “this show is from a locked channel (135 SYFY). Enter your pin to watch this show.” I put in my pin and it says “No longer available we’re sorry, but this recording can’t be viewed because SYFY is longer available from Virgin Media.” But when I scan over any of the shows it does show the “Sky sci-fi “ channel, it doesn’t show the SYFY channel. I’ve given mixed messages from Virgin media with one person saying it doesn't work because the channel was changed or something and another person said to wait and see they’re doing some work. Does anyone know what the problem may be and how to continue to watch these recordings? 

[Karla1]

Just to add, I’ve tried restarting the box, this hasn’t fixed it and I’ve gone to settings and turned off the requirement to ask for a pin and set it so there are no locked channels, this hasn’t helped. 

[japitts]

Were these recordings in SD or HD? The SD variant of SyFy/Sky SciFi was closed a while back, the hidden EPG data which allows access to recordings is usually retained for (in the case of most pay channels) 3 months but then removed - rendering the recordings inaccessible.

VM TV boxes are intended for short-term timeshift viewing, and although in the vast majority of cases there is no time limit on recording, they're not meant for long-term storage.

If you can still watch and view recordings from, Sky SciFi HD, then there is no fault here and the software is operating as designed.

[Karla1]

Thanks for your reply. I’m pretty sure given the number of episodes that I’ve saved that they were saved on SD not HD. So there is no chance of retrieving these recordings then? Is there any way to assure that recordings can be kept long term on some other form of storage that can be connected?

[japitts]

If these are in SD, then no is the short answer. In the case of most pay-TV channels, 3 months is generally considered a reasonable time to view recordings that shouldn't be long-term. VM's agreements with the broadcasters allow for short-term timeshift viewing as per my previous post. If you want definitive long-term storage of programmes, you should be looking for DVD or Bluray copies.