Viacom18 to shift 10 channels from Intelsat 20 to GSAT 30

Viacom18 is going to shift 10 of its current on-air channels from Intelsat 20 to GSAT 30 effective 30th March. The channels have already been added to the new satellite.

Colors Gujarati Cinema, Colors Bangla Cinema, Comedy Central HD, Colors Infinity HD, Colors Infinity SD, VH1 HD, Nick HD, Colors Cineplex, MTV Beats SD and VH1 SD will be available only on GSAT 30 from 30th March.

The channels have a fortnight back already been added on the new satellite. All channels are currently available on Intelsat 20 as well. They will leave Intelsat 20 from 30th March.

The migration from foreign satellites to Indian satellites will come as a boost for DoT which has been advocating channels to move to Indian satellites. In 2018, DoT had allegedly denied all permission – whether it be for new launches or change in logo to channels that were not operating on Indian satellites.

GSAT 30 is ISRO’s new satellite that replaced the defunct INSAT 4A. It uses two frequencies – Ku and C band. With a mission life of 15 years, the satellite provides DTH [direct-to-home] television Services, television uplinking and teleport services, and Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) among others.