Three channels were abruptly removed from the Sky channel list this morning, as Sky takes action against broadcasters who are unable to comply with channel listing requirements.
Channel 7, Sanskar and Ahlulbayt TV were taken off Sky’s satellite channel list with no warning. It’s a measure usually only reserved to broadcasters who are unable to comply with the technical requirements of broadcasting on Sky or who have not paid their carriage fees.
- Channel 7 (Sky channel 181) provides a link to Africa for viewers in the UK, with programmes from African broadcasters. The service was a result of a tie-up between the previously separately listed BEN, Channel 7 and YANGA! TV channels in 2021.
- Sanskar (Sky chnanel 725) Indian spiritual channel.
- Ahlulbayt TV (Sky channel 787). Islamic TV channel. Was fined £10,000 by regulator Ofcom in April for broadcasting hate speech.
The three channels join Arise Play, which fell off Sky on the 30th May.
However, both Arise Play and Channel 7 continue to be available via Freeview streaming portal Vision TV. This is available through Freeview channel 264 on connected Freeview TVs.
All affected channels may return to Sky if they are able to fulfil Sky’s technical and financial requirements. At the time of publication, none of the affected broadcasters had commented on their removal.
UPDATE 24/06/2023
Sky has now reinstated all three channels following the settlement of issues that resulted in the channels being temporarily delisted. Arise Play, also mentioned in this article, remains off air.
Marc Thornham