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BBC Worldwide has decided to shut down two of its non-news channels in India — BBC Entertainment and CBeebies by November-end. BBC World News will continue to be available.
This is the second instance of an international broadcasting company shutting down its channel in India this year after Turner Broadcasting System shut down its Hindi general entertainment channel Imagine TV in April.
In a statement on its Web site, BBC Worldwide said, “India is a dynamic and fast-growing media market but remains uniquely challenging for pay-TV channels. Specifically, delays in digitisation and the need for channel operators to pay cable platforms for carriage makes the economics of running channels challenging at this time.”
This comes at a time when television viewers in three metros of India have to mandatorily install set-top boxes to get digital television signals.
The broadcaster said its content is available in India through its programmes on other channels and its Youtube channel digitally.
It added that in the event of changes in the option available in India, the company could consider re-launching its non-news channels in the country.
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