Egyptian news channel Al Jazeera English, a longstanding Freeview (terrestrial) channel is no longer available in the traditional sense, and has been removed from the COM6 commercial multipex. However, the channel remains available as a ‘streamed’ channel on channel number 251.
Streamed channels use a portal broadcast on terrestrial transmitters, but instead of broadcasting the video feed, the portal links to a stream broadcast over the internet. This is cheaper as the portal requires less bandwidth so costs less to transmit, and there is no limit on resolution (picture quality), enabling (high definition) HD broadcasts. However, the viewer needs to have a compatible TV or set top box connected to the internet, as well as still being within the broadcast area of the transmitters broadcasting the portal.
There have been no changrs to the availabilty of Al Jazeera English on other platforms.