September 20, 2023, 8:57 am | Read time: 3 minutes
This year, the pay-TV provider Sky has already shut down several channels. At the end of September, another one will be affected.
The selection of available TV channels on Sky is constantly changing. Some are added, while others are removed. At the end of last year, the children’s channel “Junior” and “E! Entertainment” were affected. This year, the provider has also removed channels from its lineup, including “NatGeo” and “NatGeo Wild.” A popular comedy channel is now the fifth on Sky’s list to be cut.
Also interesting: Sky must make cancellations easier in the future
Channel “Sky Comedy” Disappears at the End of September
The departure of “Sky Comedy” was announced by the provider in the spring. However, a specific date for the shutdown was missing at that time. Now it is set: On the night of September 26 to 27, Sky will permanently take its comedy channel off the air.
The channel is an exclusive offering that has been available through the pay-TV provider since April 2021. The launch of “Sky Comedy” was part of a major entertainment initiative that also included the start of “Sky Crime”—TECHBOOK reported.
Sky explained the shutdown to TECHBOOK by citing a lack of viewer interest. “Our viewers’ media consumption habits have changed significantly, and they primarily watch comedy content flexibly on demand via Sky Q or WOW. As a result, we are discontinuing the linear comedy channel,” a Sky spokesperson said.
Sky directs fans of comedy content to alternative linear offerings like “Sky 1” and “Sky Atlantic” or to streaming options. Popular series such as “Ghosts,” “Young Rock,” “Superstore,” “The Goldbergs,” “The Conners,” as well as German-language productions like “Tschugger” and “Pastewka” are available there. Original productions like “Quatsch Comedy Club” and HBO titles like “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Silicon Valley,” and “Entourage” can also be streamed there in the future.
Already the Fifth Channel Shutdown in 2023
“Sky Comedy” is, as mentioned, the fifth channel that Sky is shutting down this year. After “NatGeo” and “NatGeo Wild” in January, the pay-TV provider also parted ways with the two documentary channels “Spiegel Geschichte” and “Curiosity TV” at the end of June. The latter was formerly known as “Spiegel TV Geschichte” but was renamed in the summer of 2021 when the American company Curiosity acquired shares in Spiegel TV Geschichte und Wissen GmbH & Co. KG.
Read also: Does Sky still have a future in Germany?
Sky explained to TECHBOOK at the time that the decision was strongly oriented toward customer preferences, and the selection of channels is regularly adjusted accordingly. In both cases, Sky referred customers to alternatives. This included the existing documentary offerings, especially the in-house channel “Sky Documentaries,” and the partner channel “History Channel.”