Available channels on Swisscom

Benniotu34

First, I am very happy with Swisscom! My question concerns the choices for English language viewers. I notice a lot of advertisements for special channels on my t.v. that I can not get. I'm wondering if as part of the Blue t.v. packages there can't be one that includes Britbox which is not currently available in Switzerland. I would be happy to purchase that as an extra. As it stands, there really isn't very much that interests me in the special packages being offered. Just a suggestion, not a complaint!

LeylaG

Hello @Benniotu34

Thank you for your message and welcome in the Swisscom Community 😀

Swisscom adds regularly new content to offer the Switzerland's best TV experience possible.

We don't communicate new addition in advance. You can check our channel lists and newest additions on this link https://bit.ly/37wOM0m

It is true that having Britbox on Swisscom blue TV would add an exciting and wide range of British content.

As far as I know it is only available in the UK, USA and Canada.

I however, passed your feedback on, in case the TV Team is looking for new ideas.

Benniotu34

Dear LeylaG.

Thank you very much for your reply to my question! I think this Is perhaps even more relevant in the pandemic times in which we live. New shows are of course going be less, as I'm certain production at the moment is close to a standstill. With more options such as Britbox there would be a multitude of options to fill the gap! Again, thank you for investigating the possibility. I would think this would profit all the stakeholders concerned!

thankyou!!

Black Mamba

@Benniotu34

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please accept the post from @LeylaG as an approved solution
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Meilleures salutations de la Communauté francophone

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Benniotu34

LeylaG answered my query most efficiently. The question I asked was taken seriously, and there is no quick fix. The problem isn't solved, it's still on the table and being investigated. Sometimes there are no "quick fixes" to a problem. I appreciate her honesty in dealing with the question.

Gaeilgeoir

@Benniotu34 I know your last message in this thread was couple of month ago. But earlier this week I had a chat with a British colleague about British TV and Britbox. He told me (he is not SC client but he is living in Switzerland), that he contacted the Britbox provider directly in the beginning of this year and asked if there is any possibility to have this app in Switzerland, too. The answer was that due to licencing reason, currently it is not possible to get Britbox for the moment and the nearer future.

Thus, Swisscom can't offer this app in their app store, as it doesn't make sense because it would be geoblocked, even if you would pay. He learned that Britbox tries to extend their services to countries, others than the Uk, US, Canada and Australia (last month Britbox was launched in South Africa). But for the moment in Switzerland -> no chance. I confess that's a pity. SC has a good number of english speaking TV stations, although some of the free-to-air channels are missing. For that reason, I will open a new thread with a kind of wish-list for english speaking (mainly British) channels in the english speaking part of this forum knowing that SC sometime fullfils such wishes 😀.

stewart

Hey, not sure if this is quite the best place to ask but...

Any chance of getting BBC Scotland onto the channel list? It's FTA on ASTRA 2E, and carries different content from BBC One Scotland.

(And if there's any chance of the Horror Channel and/or Talking Pictures, that would be neat too!)

Benniotu34

I'm all in favor of adding any British channels that might be possible. Britbox and Acorn are high on my list, but there are many others. I also know that the licensing agreements are complicated, probably even more so since Brexit. I have a feeling we're just going to have to be patient. Given the present pandemic situation, I'd welcome any new programing in English for some diversion!

Gaeilgeoir

@Benniotu34 As long as the British provider does not allow that Britbox is used abroad there is no chance for Swisscom to add it. You should contact the British provider to ask them if there is any possibility in the nearer future to have this outside of the UK.

stewart

I didn't think there was licensing on (e.g. the BBC) channels carried, they're public broadcasts unencrypted over the air and can be watched by anyone with a suitable satellite dish and box, Swisscom rebroadcasts some of these. Maybe there are some general agreements about the scope of content as the public broadcasters of neighbouring countries seem to be well represented.

Britbox (and presumably Acorn) are quite different though as commercial prospects, the content will need to be licensed for use in the destination country. I'm not sure there's going to be a significant demand in Switzerland for repeats of 3-2-1 or Knightmare, so it's probably some ways off.

Benniotu34

I understand that the situation is complicated and in no way am I placing any blame on Swisscom! I'm sure they are wanting and trying to add additional English channels and I totally recognize it is complicated.

Gaeilgeoir

@stewart Yes, of course the situation with FTA channels is another one. I also would like to have BBC Scotland, although as Irish Gaelic speaker I'd prefer BBC Alba, as both languages are quite similar. But we will see what will happen in the future, Swisscom adds permanently new channels. But even if a channel is FTA it produces costs. So, the more clients want to have a specific channel the better it is 😀.

stewart

I'd be happy to see BBC Alba too, just thought that BBC Scotland might be a more reasonable request as it's (arguably) in English and might have some more appeal. Good point about costs/storage though, appreciate it.