The English language news channel from India’s Essel Group will shortly join Sky’s line up of channels. It follows a soft-launch last November on mobile and tablet devices in the UK.
First launched in 2015, WION has set a mission to differentiate itself from rivals by promising no shouting, no sensationalism and no fake news. Its owner, Essel Group incorporates Zee Media, one of India’s largest media organisations. It’s a long established provider of South Asian entertainment channels in the UK.
Under the slogan “India’s Global Voice”, WION is already available in 190 countries worldwide via streaming apps and mobile platforms. It is gradually ramping up its global reach through deals with a number of traditional TV operators around the world.
WION HD is currently testing on the Astra 2G satellite, using part of the bandwidth previously occupied by Smithsonian before it moved to a new transponder earlier this month. A full EPG test is still required before it can be confirmed as joining Sky’s channel list.
You can manually tune in to WION HD’s free-to-air test transmissions using the following parameters. During a test transmission period, broadcast parameters may change without notice.
Satellite Astra 2G (28.2E)
Frequency 11265
Polarisation Vertical
Mode DVB-S2
Symbol Rate 27500 (27.5Mbaud)
FEC 2/3
SID 52119 (WION HD)
A live stream of the channel is available at https://www.wionews.com/live-tv
Update 15/03/2021: WION HD has now launched on Sky channel 523.