Republic Bharat begins tests on Sky ahead of launch this month in UK

India’s popular Hindi news channel, Republic Bharat has officially begun testing in the UK market ahead of its launch on Sky this month.

BizAsiaLive.com reported first last week that Republic would be foraying into the UK market. We can now reveal that Republic Bharat, which is the broadcaster’s Hindi news channel will broadcast free-to-air on Sky channel.

It will also air some programming from its flagship English news service, Republic. Lead anchor, Arnab Goswami’s ‘The Debate’ will air weeknights on the hybrid service. However, majority of the UK service will be in Hindi.

The channel has been broadcasting in India since May 2017. Goswami was previously the Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, who resigned from the channel in November 2016.

Republic Bharat will be available on Sky channel 708, an EPG slot, which previously belonged to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited for the now defunct channel, Zing UK. Republic Bharat is expected to launch mid-August to coincide with India’s Independence Day.

Republic Bharat will be handled in the UK by World Media Connect – the same team behind channels PTC Punjabi, Foodxp and Travelxp.

Tests of Republic Bharat on Sky can be seen here:
-> Using your Sky Digi remote, go to Services Menu
-> Select System Setup
-> Select Add Channels
-> Enter frequency: 11.568 (V), FEC: 5/6, SR: 22000 / DVB-S / QPSK
-> Find Channels and Press SELECT
-> Highlight “54146” service and press Yellow button
-> Return to Services Menu
-> Other Channels (6) on STB / (8) on Sky+
-> Click on “54146” to view the channel