Quiz Call has left the Sky Guide EPG, two months after Channel 4 sold its Ostrich Media subsidiary to premium rate telephony provider iTouch. The broadcaster began to distance itself from the participation TV genre after media regulator Ofcom and the premium rate regulatory body ICSTIS began investigating a series of complaints into the increasing number of channels that fill the off-peak hours on multichannel services. The concern is that the channels are operating more as a lottery than a game of skill. Quiz Call left the Freeview platform on November 15.
Also departing the Sky Guide is the basic sports channel All in Sport and Sky Box Office 45. The significance of the latter is that the PPV channel carried signing for the deaf and hard of hearing, though this service has been moved to another channel.
Two radio stations have also closed: The Word, which has subsequently developed into a TV channel, and the high profile Ministry of Sound. (JC)
