DStv Might Be Losing Another TV Channel As Virgin Media Announces The Closure Of NHK World-Japan

NHK World-Japan is a current affairs and cultural channel that broadcasts internationally via satellite and cable TV. Programming is produced in English only, it began as a news channel in February 2009 with shows like Begin Japanology, J-Melo, Biz Stream and NHK Newsline.

Virgin Media, a broadcaster based in the UK had announced the discontinuation of the feed by April 30, 2025. But this is not the first time the channel was taken off a platform as several affiliates in the US had reportedly removed the channel from the lineup.

Interesting to note, NHK World-Japan unlike BBC News and CNN doesn't have a localised feed for its offering within the regions it resides. It's likely more countries could join the lineup as the Japanese based news channel might be undergoing a potential restructure/streamlining.

My guess is NHK World-Japan is restricting its linear footprint to only Japan (or Asia) as seen with PBS KIDS when it halted it's operations in Australia and Africa. They'll continue to maintain its online presence with PBS KIDS and NHK World-Japan that offer YouTube channels.

Sky News which serves as a rival broadcaster has also emphasized an online first future which incorporates AI and reduces jobs so we might be seeing a lot more of this in future.

MultiChoice which serves as another one of its affiliates might be losing another TV channel later in the year as it continues bleeding DStv consumers and battling tough economic conditions. NHK World-Japan started out as online only service through DStv Stream before getting a linear network.

DStv Without E! Entertainment??? As NBCUniversal Looks To Close The Channel In The UK

During the week, it was reported that Peacock would be closing down in the UK by the end of 2023. But that's not the only thing NBCUniversal plans to scrap of their bucket list as E! Entertainment is also slated to go dark on Sky and Virgin Media with further content on Hayu.

Hayu serves as the digital counterpart of both E! Entertainment and Bravo which is also operated by NBCUniversal. From 2024, consumers wanting to watch shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Below Deck Mediterranean would need to view it on the streamer.

The news of its demise doesn't come as much of a shock following its closure in Germany by 2022. At the time, it was outlined that the feeds in the UK and Eastern Europe were anticipated to continue but from what we can see that was short lived.

If we had to guess why E! Entertainment was getting culled its probably similar to Disney's reasons for the terminating the FOX/Star general entertainment brand in parts of the world. The latter are putting more focus toward their direct to consumer business which has been making waves for a while now.

NBCUniversal has been cutting back on the original content slate for E! Entertainment which resulted in content from Bravo being added to the lineup. The idea of E! Entertainment becoming a thing of the past wouldn't seem far fetched or at least in regions where Hayu exists.

Hayu is available in United Kingdom, Ireland, Albania, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Philippines, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Poland. Although Hayu is not available in South Africa or anywhere in Africa the latter would form part of Showmax's existing offering.