BBC Entertainment and Cbeebies slated to shut down in India

The Facebook page of BBC Entertainment India announced the news; to be discontinued by the end of this month.

BBC Worldwide has announced that it will stop the telecast of BBC Entertainment and Cbeebies in India by end of November. The announcement, made on the Facebook page of BBC Entertainment India, stated that its international news and current affairs channel, BBC World News, will continue to be telecast for the Indian audience. According to BBC Worldwide, both the channels were viewed by 20 million homes the country.

The reason given for shutting the two channels was the economic unviability due to delays in digitisation and the need for channel operators to pay cable platforms for carriage. The statement also mentioned that despite the shut down, many of the programmes would be available on other channels and on its digital outlet on YouTube (

BBC Worldwide thanked its channels' staff in India, Singapore and the UK and the viewers for their support and loyalty. However, leaving a scope for comeback, BBC Worldwide said, "We believe India is an exciting market and in the event of changes in the options available to us we would certainly consider re-launching our non-news channels in the market."

It urged the viewers to keep visiting BBC Entertainment's Facebook page for regular updates and for smooth withdrawal of the channel.

BBC Entertainment, which featured British drama and comedy programmes, and Cbeebies, which showed programmes for children, were launched together in May, 2007. Both shared one channel on Tata Sky. But they were released in India in June 2009, when both were opened up for pan-Asian feeds. In January 2011, there was a relaunch of BBC Entertainment channel, too.