BT TV Confirm Universal SD and HD Channels to Cease Next Month

Customers of BT’s broadband and Youview (IPTV) based pay TV packages are currently being informed that the popular Universal SD and HD channels will be removed from their TV platform on the 27th January 2020. Meanwhile any recordings that users have made will follow on Sunday 23rd February 2020.

In a brief letter to subscribers BT said that “this decision is out of our control and is driven by Universal’s decision to remove the channel and subscription platform from the market.” The decision ultimately stems from Comcast’s earlier takeover of Sky (Sky Broadband), which among other things included the merger of some Sky and NBCUniversal International operations.

As a result of the above Sky has largely taken operational control of NBCU’s UK channels (e.g. Universal TV, Syfy UK etc.) and thus you can find many related TV shows on Sky’s own channels, such as Sky Witness, although this in turn means that Universal is ceasing on other platforms.

In fairness the complexity of TV content licensing means that some related TV shows, such as Mr Robot, can still be found on other platforms like Amazon Prime etc.

Extract from BT’s Letter

You don’t have to do anything, the channel will automatically close on 27th January 2020 but you’ll be able to watch any recordings you have until 23rd February 2020.

Of course, we don’t want to see you go, but if this change means you want to end your TV service, you can do so in the next 30 days without having to pay a fee for leaving early. To discuss your options, please call us.

Many Thanks

The BT Team

End.