[Neil Jones]

There is a similar problem to solve before 19th January 2038 - the "epochalypse" - when computers which calculate time in 16-bits will appear to rewind back to December 1901.

This is also why on Sky+HD at least, when you see an expiry date on content of 2038, it means it can't go any further, though the content will be be available after that time, in theory. Which suggests that platform will pretty be extinct by 2038 as I think is based on some flavour of Linux, which based on the age of that platform was always going to be susceptible to that problem.

I suspect Sky Q may be affected as well, though since the long term trend of Sky is get away from satellite dishes and further towards the likes of Sky Stream, the whole issue may solve itself in due course.