topic Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi! in TV

More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

El3a_x — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:07:18 GMT

Hi everyone,

I wanted to raise something I think a lot of us feel but hasn’t been said loudly enough. EE TV’s South Asian lineup is too heavily focused on Hindi content. There are millions of people in the UK from Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, and other South Asian backgrounds who are being completely overlooked.

Bengali alone is one of the most spoken languages in the world, and there’s a huge Bengali community here in the UK with basically nothing available on EE TV. That’s not good enough.

And here’s what makes this even harder to understand. BT Group, which owns EE, has major shareholders from both India (Bharti Enterprises) and Germany (Deutsche Telekom). So BT is literally part-owned by an Indian company, yet South Asian communities in the UK are stuck with a handful of Hindi channels and nothing else. No Bengali. No Tamil. No Gujarati. No Telugu.

If BT has business relationships and investment ties stretching into South Asia, the very least they could do is reflect that in what they offer customers here. This isn’t just about content. It’s about whether EE actually values the communities it’s taking money from.

Right now the only real alternatives are Sky, Virgin Media, or apps like ZEE5, SonyLIV, or YuppTV, which shouldn’t be the case when EE is positioning itself as a full TV provider.

We’re not asking for anything unusual. We’re asking for representation that should honestly already be there. Please EE, expand the lineup. South Asian culture is not monolithic, represent all of us.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

Chris_B — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:47:35 GMT

@El3a_x As it’s just youview box you get what’s available via the aerial. if you’re talking about content via an app EE can’t just go and install apps on the box, the content creators of such apps have a legal right to that content and a legal agreement has to be made with EE/Youview to have such content on the box, Plus that app has to be created for the box to start with.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

Weerab2024 — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:15:45 GMT

I think @El3a_x is talking about the Asian subscription channels that are available separately but do not reflect a mored varied selection of Asian cultural content within the current channels being offered.

Sony Liv is available as an add on under YouTube.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

zulu17 — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:59:56 GMT

@El3a_x

Only Observations

The Asian Mix that BT TV launched in 2022 was it seems an agreement with THEMA (Canal+) for a package rather that BT iyself selecting and negotiation with individual channels

https://www.advanced-television.com/2022/10/10/thema-launches-asian-mix-on-bt/

So it seems likely that a distributor (Canal+) put together a package of channels which they describe as an Indian bouquet comprising channels and VOD programs from Indian flagship content providers (Star, Sony, Zee and Indiacast). and an agreement made to package them on BTTV (now EETV).

another observation

If Sky have rights to linear Asian channels were they to include those within a Now Tv membership or Now Add on then it is probable that they would become available on EETV Now memberships.

another observation - Apps - on the EETV Box Pro would need to have an agreement with Youview and obviously need to be developed and supported by the App owner. That may not make financial sense. (An alternative is for the broadcaster to come to an agreement with an existing App for them to effectively to become an option with within that App). There is the option with EETV to have a loan Apple Tv Box - in which case the normal range of apps would be available to download on that box.

Youtube is another option for channels/VOD to widen their availability.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

El3a_x — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:28:12 GMT

@zulu17 Thanks for the background on THEMA. That’s actually really useful, and it makes the situation worse, not better.

If EE TV’s Asian content came via a single distributor deal rather than any deliberate curation, that means the heavily Hindi focused lineup isn’t the result of careful thinking about South Asian communities in the UK. It’s just whatever package was convenient at the time.

Which raises the obvious question: if EE can sign one bundled deal covering Star, Sony, Zee and Indiacast, why not push for a deal that also covers Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati or Telugu content? Distributors like THEMA exist precisely to put these packages together. The infrastructure is already there.

The Sky/Now TV point is interesting but it’s a workaround, not a solution. EE customers shouldn’t have to go to a competitor platform to access content in their own language.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

El3a_x — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:30:48 GMT

@Chris_B I understand there are legal and technical agreements involved, that’s not in dispute. But EE positions itself as a full TV provider, not just a YouView aerial box. That means the content deals they choose to pursue are a deliberate editorial decision. The question is why those decisions consistently result in a lineup that serves some South Asian communities and not others. “That’s how the system works” isn’t really an answer to that.

Re: More South Asian channels needed not just Hindi!

El3a_x — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:32:43 GMT

@Weerab2024 Thanks for clarifying, yes that’s exactly what I’m getting at. The subscription add-on route (Sony Liv via YouTube etc.) puts the burden on the customer to go and find it themselves. That’s fine as a stopgap but it shouldn’t be the only option. If EE is serious about serving South Asian audiences it needs to be reflected in what’s built into the platform, not just available somewhere on the side if you know where to look.