DAZN has not officially announced it, but by modifying some pages on the official website it has clarified that from 1 August 2024 the ZONA DAZN channel will no longer be available on Digital Terrestrial.
This channel was initially created as a backup channel for TIMVISION customers and for those who had purchased the version of the TIMVision box branded by DAZN: if the connection was poor, the box automatically switched to digital terrestrial.
When DAZN signed the agreement with Sky the channel has become an additional (paid) option for Sky customers which instead of the classic satellite decoder have equipped themselves with the small streaming box, Sky Q via the Internet.
There are two DAZN channels on digital terrestrial today, there is ZONA DAZN and there is ZONA DAZN 2 which is activated only in the case of simultaneous matches, and Both will stop broadcasting at the end of the month.
A choice that is not surprising: the transmission costs for the two channels, one positioned on the Cairo Due multiplex and the other on the DFree multiplex are certainly not low and DAZN is certainly not rolling in gold. Considering that they are paid separately, 5 euros per month, it is the number of subscribers is likely to be very low.
The channel, it is worth remembering, was also part of a package of solutions that DAZN had implemented to meet the needs of Agcom and consumer associations in the face of the inefficiencies of a service which, despite continuous improvements, continued to be unstable . Today, at least from the point of view of transmission, DAZN has achieved some stability. There is no 4K, the quality is certainly not excellent but the risk of missing a match entirely is averted, and it is difficult to think that anyone could still need a backup or digital terrestrial. For those who have problems, there are still satellite solutions, via Sky or Tivusat.
The suspension of broadcasts on the channel concerns not only Sky but also TIM, which has sent emails to customers who use the TIMVISION Box decoder explaining that the ZONA DAZN channel on Digital Terrestrial will only be available until 31 July 2024.
