StarSat says the removed Fashion TV due to capacity problems will be back on StarSat - probably in the next 3 months.

StarSat says the Fashion TV (StarSat 282) channel which it yanked from its channel line-up with barely any advance notice to its subscribers due to "capacity problems" will be back - probably in the next three months.

StarSat, run by On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA, removed Fashion TV - still available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform on channel 178 - telling StarSat subscribers in an on-screen message over the weekend that "Fashion TV will be suspended for a brief period due to satellite capacity. It will be re-introduced once these issues are resolved".

Fashion TV is the first TV channel going dark on StarSat in 2015.

StarSat on Tuesday told TV with Thinus in response to a media enquiry that "satellite capacity problems apply to all satellite distributors, not just StarSat".

"As a pan-African distributor, StarSat faces demands for satellite capacity which do not always relate directly to South Africa. In balancing the interests of channel provision across such a complex territory, sometimes adjustments need to be made in the best interest of the overall space utilisation".

"In this case Fashion TV was chosen for temporary suspension since it is one of the few channels whose capacity would provide the required solution".

StarSat tells TV with Thinus that "this removal is not permanent - it is a temporary suspension for a brief period. Fashion lovers are still able to appreciate our other fashion programmes on Fashion One which features both local and international fashion events".

StarSat says it doesn't have a fixed date as to when the channel will be returned "but we expect it to be within the next three months".

Fashion One from Michael Gleissner can be found on channel 283 on StarSat.

BREAKING. Fashion TV on StarSat goes dark; StarSat says Fashion TV is suspended due to a lack of 'satellite capacity'.

Fashion TV (StarSat 282) is out of fashion on StarSat with the TV channel on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA's struggling satellite pay-TV platform going dark because StarSat says there's a problem with "satellite capacity".

There's been no announcement to the press, and StarSat and its PR agency Burson-Marsteller South Africa have not yet responded to a media enquiry about why Fashion TV is being removed, for how long, and what StarSat's sudden satellite capacity problem means.

StarSat subscribers were sent an on-screen message, simply saying "Fashion TV will be suspended for a brief period due to satellite capacity. It will be re-introduced once these issues are resolved".

StarSat didn't give a date, nor is explaining what the issues are and why there isn't sufficient satellite capacity. Fashion TV is the first TV channel going dark on StarSat in 2015.

Fashion TV (DStv 178), an international channel focusing on style and fashion founded by Michel Adam Lisowski, is still available on MultiChoice's DStv. StarSat continues to carry a second fashion channel, Fashion One (StarSat 283) created by Michael Gleissner.

StarSat, still in business rescue, has so far failed to add further high definition (HD) channels beyond its existing two, roll out a PVR to make digital recordings possible, or to significantly broaden its set of general entertainment channels in 2014 - a big driver of subscriber uptake in pay-TV services.

Meanwhile StarSat continues to devote resources to its court battle to keeps its controversial set of pornographic TV channels on the air.

StarSat subscribers complain and remain vocal about the operator's "bad" call centre, the lack of HD channels, sound and audio problems, TV channels that freeze up, and channels inexplicably switching to other languages without dubbing or subtitles.