BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama,

light entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In Great Britain In the early days of the BBC virtually all broadcast entertainment w ...

, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regional versions to suit local demands and replaced

BBC Prime BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Asia Pacific from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment. Launch BBC Prime was launched at 19: ...

. It is wholly owned by

BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide ...

Launch dates

The channel was launched in October 2006, replacing

in Asian markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea. On 28 December 2006, it was launched on the

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

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". The channel was launched in Poland, on

Cyfrowy Polsat Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. (; English: ''Digital Polsat''), trading as Polsat Box is a Polish DTH satellite TV platform. It is the fifth-largest digital platform in Europe and the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. Polsat Box has 3.47 million subscr ...

, in December 2007, and replaced BBC Prime on

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, ...

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 The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sw ...

in November 2008, when it replaced BBC Prime on

Canal Digital Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications opera ...

Com Hem Com Hem was a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB which supplied Triple Play services that included cable television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone. Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Televerke ...

, 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 The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronom ...

digital satellite platform in August 2008 in a deal with

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

, and it has since extended to other Central and South American countries. The channel replaced BBC Prime in the rest of Europe and the Middle East & North Africa in November 2009. In Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, BBC Entertainment is carried alongside

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

on the Telenet,

Ziggo Ziggo Holding B.V. () is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers. History The company is the result of the merger between ...

, and

Naxoo Naxoo is a Swiss cable television company owned by 022 Télégenève. The Company also provides broadband internet and telephone services in Switzerland. Launched in Geneva in 1986, ''Naxoo'' offers a mixture of Swiss and foreign TV channels, bo ...

cable networks. On 1 December 2009, Astro dropped the channel and replaced it with

ITV Choice ITV Choice (formerly Granada UKTV, Granada TV and ITV Granada) was an international cable and satellite television channel owned and operated by ITV plc. History The channel was launched in 1997 by Granada Media under the name Granada UKTV, ...

. On 1 March 2010 in Italy

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agre ...

also dropped the channel. In 2010

Kabel Deutschland Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH is the largest cable television operator in Germany. Kabel Deutschland was subject to a hostile takeover bid by the British Vodafone Group in September 2013; the deal was approved in December 2013 and finalised on ...

(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 in December 2015. On 13 April 2017, BBC Entertainment ceased its transmissions in Latin American countries, along with

BBC Earth BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster. BBC Earth commercia ...

and

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

. Finally, BBC First was launched in some Asian regions on 19 March 2016. Singapore Via

Starhub TV StarHub TV is a pay television service provided by StarHub in Singapore. It has been a subsidiary of StarHub Limited since StarHub acquired Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) in 2001, and was the sole pay-TV operator in the country until 2007 when m ...

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

Programming

This table is not complete

References

External links

BBC Entertainment - Official website

BBC Nordic - Official website

BBC to launch global TV channels
''

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the ...

''
BBC Worldwide bows new channels
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''
BBC launches entertainment, kids channels

BBC Worldwide, Televisa to launch channels

BBC Prime to be rebranded as BBC Entertainment in Europe and Middle East
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Entertainment International BBC television channels Television channels and stations established in 2006 Television channels in the Netherlands Television channels in Belgium Television channels in Flanders English-language television stations in India Television stations in Singapore Television stations in Hong Kong BBC Worldwide Defunct television channels in India

Launch dates

Programming

See also

References

External links