A helpful guide on how to childlock Sky News on your parents’ TV this Easter

Sky has gone off the deep end. Even people who work there know and admit that. Somewhere between hiring a woman who literally ran the Liberal Party between 2013-2015 to be an ‘impartial’ news anchor, and going all-in on conspiracy news after learning it gets great views on YouTube – Sky transformed from one of the most reliable sources of right-leaning but robust journalism to, let’s be honest, a completely unhinged propaganda outlet aimed solely at tricking boomers into voting to give tax breaks to billionaires.

That’s always been the agenda of the Murdoch family. Everything else, from the culture wars, to the populism, to even the legitimate reporting, is just a smoke screen for Rupert and co. to hold sway over the political process by being able to steer voters towards parties that will offer them the best tax cut.

Unfortunately for Rupert, the public have finally got wise to this ruse – and overnight he has pivoted his former wide-reaching news organisation into a ever-shrinking cult of true believers, and your parents are his prime mark. Unfortunately, Americans were too late at catching on, and are now in the ‘how do we best stop a fascist uprising’ stage of the descent into Murdochracy, but we’re not so far gone here. Yet.

So to help you do your bit to fight the brain rot, here’s a guide on how to child-lock the Sky News channel on your parents TV this Easter.

What Channel Do I block?

In Victoria, Southern NSW and Queensland, you’ll want to block Channel 56. In Northern NSW, Griffith, and South Australia, you’ll want to block WIN Channel 53.

Sky does not currently broadcast free to air in capital cities – yet. BUT Sky also offers streaming online, so if you can also get access to their computers, you can install the ‘Bye Rupert’ plugin on Chrome or Firefox to remove News Corp from their lives. Smart TVs and devices may also come pre-installed with Sky News apps, so be sure to check for those too.

If you can get access to your parents laptops, phones or iPads (hey I just want to show you a funny video really quick!) and they’re already logged into YouTube, you can also remove Sky from their recommendations on YouTube by simply opening a Sky News video, then clicking the three small dots next to any Sky recommended video in the sidebar, and selecting ‘Don’t recommend channel’. Don’t try this if they’re not logged in though – you might end up just making the algorithm think they watch Sky!

All TVs

Generally you can go into settings and re-tune individual channels to temporarily remove them. However, the channels may get rescanned at a later date, so be sure to check every time you visit.

Samsung TVs

  1. Set your TV to a live free to air TV channel
  2. Click the Home button on your Samsung remote (house icon)
  3. Select ‘Settings’ (gear icon)
  4. Choose ‘Broadcasting’ then switch on Apply Channel Lock if it isn’t already on
  5. You might be prompted for a pin – the default is 0000
  6. Save and exit (probably just the home button again)
  7. Now’s the good part – Go back to the home screen using the home button
  8. Select ‘Live TV’ then ‘Channel List’
  9. Select ‘Edit Channels’
  10. Select the channel to lock (see above, it’s either Channel 56 or Channel 53)
  11. Save and exit!

A full visual guide is available here.

You may also want to block the Sky News app.

Panasonic TVs

Only some Panasonic TVs offer the ‘hide channel’ option – you might need to consult the specific TV’s manual for your parents specific TV.

  1. Select the ‘menu’ button on the remote
  2. Select the ‘setup’ menu item, using the round circle of arrows on your remote, and the central ‘okay’ button
  3. Then select ‘tuning menu’
  4. Select ‘channel list edit’
  5. From here, you can add or remove channels by moving down the menu items and clicking the ‘okay’ button on channels you want to untick the checkbox on the item. This will hide the channel.

A full visual guide is available here.

Sony TV

Instructions may vary per model. Have a Google around if this guide doesn’t work for you.

  1. Press the HOME button on your remote
  2. Select ‘Settings’ (briefcase icon)
  3. Select ‘Preferences’ (filing cabinet icon) then ‘Parental lock’
  4. Press the button in [Password], enter the password, then select [Channel Block]/[Analog Channel Block] → the channel to be blocked → [Blocked].
    (When using the Touchpad Remote Control, press the touchpad in [Password].)
  5. You can also select the channel by entering the channel number using the number buttons.

Sony’s guide can be found here.

Kogan TVs

  1. Press the MENU button on the remote control, the on-screen menu will appear on the screen.
  2. Use the left and right navigation keys to select the ‘Channel’ menu
  3. Select ‘Programme Edit’ from the menu
  4. To completely delete a channel, press the RED button on your remote. To only skip a channel when scrolling with the Channel +/- buttons, press the BLUE button on your remote.
  5. Press the ‘exit’ button to quit and save.

Download the full Kogan user manual.

Other TVs

To drop the quote of the week from the election campaign – “Google it mate!”

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