History
The channel was launched in October 2006, replacing BBC Prime in Asian markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea. On 28 December 2006, it was launched on the Astro platform in Malaysia. The channel was launched in India in May 2007 on the Tata Sky platform and on India online Broadband Public Limited, but ceased broadcasting at the end of November 2012 due to "commercial considerations". [1]
The channel was launched in Poland, on Cyfrowy Polsat, in December 2007, and replaced BBC Prime on DStv in South Africa on 1 September 2008. It was launched together with its sister channels (BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and BBC HD) in the Nordic countries in November 2008, when it replaced BBC Prime on Canal Digital, Com Hem, Telia Digital-TV and FastTV. The Nordic countries get a separate feed of the channel which differs from that in the rest of Europe. It was also launched in Mexico on the SKY México digital satellite platform in August 2008 in a two-channel deal with Televisa that also included a localized CBeebies, before later extending to other Central and South American countries. [2]
The channel replaced BBC Prime in the rest of Europe and the Middle East & North Africa in November 2009, a move announced in August 2009 that enabled the completion of the rollout of the new brand. [3] In Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, BBC Entertainment is carried alongside BBC One and BBC Two on the Telenet, Ziggo, and Naxoo cable networks.
On 1 December 2009, Astro dropped the channel and replaced it with ITV Choice. On 1 March 2010 in Italy Sky Italia also dropped the channel. In 2010 Kabel Deutschland (Germany) made it a pay-TV channel.
In August 2012, Unifi picked up the channel, thus making the channel available in Malaysia once more after a 3-year hiatus. However Unifi dropped the channel on 1 October 2015 and was replaced by BBC First after 1 year. It ceased broadcasting on 1 January 2016 in CEE, and it was replaced by BBC Earth.
In January 2017, BBC Worldwide announced BBC Entertainment would cease its transmissions in Latin American countries, along with BBC Earth and CBeebies, in April 2017. The shutdown was motivated by a push towards content sales to other linear and OTT platforms. [4]
Finally, BBC First was launched in some Asian regions on 19 March 2016. Singapore Via Starhub TV broadcasts ceased on 29 April 2015, while in Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, broadcasts ceased on 1 January 2017. In Myanmar and Mongolia, broadcasts ceased on 1 March 2018. In Taiwan, broadcasts ceased on 10 March 2017 and were replaced by CBeebies.
The channel shut down its last feed on 31 March 2024, with similar motivations to the decision taken in Latin America. [5]
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