BBC Worldwide shuts two channels in India

MUMBAI: After trying to get its channels off the ground for the past five years, BBC Worldwide Channels has decided to stop airing its two entertainment channels in the country - BBC Entertainment India and CBeebies.

The channels will stop airing by the end of the month. BBC World News will, however, continue to air.

The news has come as a surprise to some given that in 2010 the channel had appointed Deepak Shourie as its director for South Asia and refreshed BBC Entertainment in 2011 with a focus on entertainment, infotainment and factual content. BBC Worldwide Channels was trying to make a serious push on the distribution front.

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead said, "The decision to withdraw BBC Entertainment and CBeebies has not been an easy one; 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 very challenging at this time."

A rival broadcaster on condition of anonymity says that the numbers must not have added up. "It might make sense for them to return in 2015 if the digitisation process is complete. Right now placement costs are not going down. These costs will go down only by the end of next year when the second phase of digitisation is over. Also remember that Cbeebies does not carry ads. So to pay carriage fees on that is a losing proposition."

He adds that British content is more niche than American content. "A few shows had gotten traction like ?Sherlock?, ?Top Gear?. But when they did their annual review and looked at the markets that they operate in, the decision must have been that India for now does not make sense."

Whitehead adds that despite this, BBC Worldwide remains committed to India. "BBC World News ? the BBC?s international news and current affairs television channel ? continues to be available across the market, along with the bbc.com and bbchindi.com websites, BBC Hindi radio and Global India, a new primetime programme produced by BBC Hindi TV which will launch on five ETV channels later this week.

"In addition, BBC Worldwide operates a TV production business, a content syndication business and Lonely Planet in India. The company is also evaluating the potential for a number of digital initiatives which have been successfully developed in other markets. BBC programmes will also continue to be available on other channels in India, both terrestrial and cable, as well as digitally on our YouTube channel."

In the coming weeks, BBC Worldwide will be ensuring a smooth transition for its staff affected by this decision.