It's European Championships week!!!
And because it is Monday, the Sky EPG now has the TV listings for all of the week.
Thank goodness for the ISU YouTube channel, because the BBC are only showing half of the competitions.
Yes, I know that I am disappointed every season with the amount of coverage that the BBC provides of figure skating. But, I am especially disappointed with the amount of coverage they are giving us of the European Championships this year, considering that we are hosting the thing!
On the plus side, there is LIVE coverage of the Pairs FS, Ladies FS and both of the Ice Dance competitions. And for a change, they are showing the entire competitions, rather than joining after the first resurfacing like they normally do.
HOWEVER, there is no coverage at all of the Pairs SP, Ladies SP, or either of the Men’s competitions.
Why is the Men’s FS not being shown? Because the London Masters snooker tournament is also on this week. Or, rather, because the BBC have this weird obsession that whenever they show snooker tournaments, the Saturday afternoon sessions have to be shown on BBC1 rather than the channel that shows every other session of the tournament, BBC2.
This in turn means that the football magazine programme Final Score that normally gets shown on BBC1 on Saturday afternoons gets bumped down to Red Button 1. Which means that there is no room at the inn for the Men’s FS.
Except, there is room at the inn. BBC2 is showing a film from 1958 and a repeat of an episode of a documentary series from 2023. They could easily be shown some other time.
There is nothing to stop them keeping the snooker on BBC2, keeping the football on BBC1, and putting the Men’s FS on Red Button 1!
The weirdest bit of it all is that at 16:30, even if it is in the middle of a frame, the snooker switches over to BBC2 so that the last hour of Final Score can be shown on BBC1. Why not just have both of them on their regular channels to start with, and then there would be no need for both of them to switch channels at 16:30?!
Ach!
CaroLiza_fan
BBC Red Button 1 (i.e. Standard Definition) is available via:
Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 601 on Freeview
BBC Red Button 1 HD is available via:
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 991 on Virgin Media UK
Digital satellite (UK only): Ch. 970 on Freesat
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 970 on SkyDigital
Astra 28.2E, Transponder 46 (10.788V. DVB-S2 8PSK. MBaud 23,000. FEC 3/4)
BBC2 (i.e. Standard Definition) is available via:
Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 2 on Freeview
BBC2 HD is available via:
Digital terrestrial (UK only): Ch. 102 on Freeview
Digital cable (UK only): Ch. 102 on Virgin Media UK
Digital cable (Ireland only):
BBC2 NI HD – Ch. 109 or 140 on Virgin Media Ireland
Digital satellite (UK only): Ch. 102 on Freesat
BBC2 England HD – Ch. 949 on Freesat
BBC2 Wales HD – Ch. 971 on Freesat
BBC2 Northern Ireland HD – Ch. 969 on Freesat
Digital satellite (Europe): Ch. 102 (UK) / 142 (IRE) on SkyDigital
BBC2 England HD (Ch. 967 on SkyDigital) – Astra 28.2E, Transponder 50 (10.847V. DVB-S2 8PSK. MBaud 23,000. FEC 3/4).
BBC2 Wales HD (Ch. 968 on SkyDigital) – Astra 28.2E, Transponder 48 (10.818V. DVB-S2 8PSK. MBaud 23,000. FEC 3/4).
BBC2 Northern Ireland HD (Ch. 969 on SkyDigital) – Astra 28.2E, Transponder 45 (10.773H. DVB-S2 8PSK. MBaud 23,000. FEC 3/4).
BBC (All times GMT)
Thursday 15th January 2026
BBC RB1 18:55 – 22:10 Pairs Free LIVE
Friday 16th January 2026
BBC RB1 12:25 – 16:55 Short Dance LIVE
BBC RB1 17:55 – 22:15 Ladies Free LIVE
Saturday 17th January 2026
BBC RB1 18:25 – 22:15 Free Dance LIVE
Sunday 18th January 2026
BBC2 11:00 – 13:00 Highlights
BBC RB1 22:30 – 04:30 Highlights
Monday 19th January 2026
BBC RB1 04:30 – 06:00 Highlights
BBC RB1 06:00 – 06:25 Highlights