Tata Sky on Wednesday added DD Retro and CBeeBies to its platform, taking the total channel additions to five in two days. The company on Monday added three channels including Eurosport HD, Zee Biskope and 1Sports in over a month. With the addition of DD Retro, Tata Sky becomes the third private operator Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator to add the channel to its platform. DD Retro, a Doordarshan channel dedicated to nostalgic programs went live on DD Dish in the second week of April with Sun Direct and Airtel Digital TV quickly adding it to their roster. Meanwhile, CBeeBies, a channel dedicated to kids was initially shut down in 2012 as BBC said the “economics of running channels challenging at this time”. CBeeBies made its return to India recently with Tata Sky the first DTH operator to add the channel onto its platform.
Shaktimaan, Mahabharat, Chankya Among Those Telecasted on DD Retro
Doordarshan on Tuesday in a blog post highlighted that DD Retro was set-up following the rebroadcast of Ramayana and Mahabharat that helped Doordarshan to surpass its own viewership records. Further, it was noted that Doordarshan has maintained its top spot in India for two consecutive weeks.
“To relive the nostalgia of your favourite memorable serials of Doordarshan, watch DD Retro Channel,” the broadcaster said in its note.
The nostalgic programs part of DD Retro include Shaktimaan, Chankya, Sankat Mochan Hanuman, Upanishad Ganga and Mahabharat.
While it remains to be seen if DD Retro can create any viewership records, the demand has been high on social media with several viewers requesting DTH operators to add DD Retro.
Dish TV on Wednesday said in a tweet that the operator has been working with the broadcaster to bring the channel to its platform.
“We are already working with the broadcasters to bring DDRetro channel on our platform. Stay tuned to our website for updates,” Dish TV said in a tweet.
DD Retro is available on Tata Sky platform on channel 180 and is free to all subscribers.
CBeeBies Available on Tata Sky for Rs 5 per month
CBeeBies, the kids focused channel from the BBC stable can be accessed by Tata Sky viewers on channel 687. According to the data available on Tata Sky, the channel is priced at Rs 5 per month but has been enabled to all viewers and is potentially free for the first 15 days.
Additionally, the channel can also be accessed on the Tata Sky Web and the mobile app.
