Dubai: You turn on the television and all the channels are scrambled chances are you would find it irritating.
With the merger of Showtime and Orbit to form Orbit Showtime Network (OSN), many subscribers say they are orbiting in confusion when surfing for their favourite channels.
Gulf News reader Shamma Bu Hazza, an Emirati student, failed to see any advertisements about the change.
She said: "One day I turned the television on and saw the OSN logo. I thought that it was strange that the names had changed."
Although Shamma, an Abu Dhabi resident, did not mind the change of names, it irked her that the channels have been rearranged.
She said: "I have memorised all the programmes and now that everything has changed, I just do not bother watching television."
Yousuf Shalabi, a Canadian director in business development, has not encountered any problems as a result of the merger.
He said: "I do not see the reason behind any confusion, as it is only a merger between two companies."
He added that OSN had been heavily advertising on their channels the new merger and instructing subscribers on how to rescan their decoders to be able to get the updated system.
He said: "I believe they made things very clear for everyone and I have not experienced any problems so far."
Shalabi, a Dubai resident, subscribed to Showtime and Orbit through E-Vision so there was no major change in the system except for the names of some television channels.
Shalabi's wife, however, had noticed that some of the comedy channels' positions were moved.
Tony Martin, a Scottish facilities manager, had also noticed that the channels have been scattered, as the ones he watches are not in the same order.
He said: "I watch Show Series Plus often but ever since the merge took place, I have not been able to find it."
He added that it is an inconvenience because all the channels were programmed and now it needs to be done all over again.
However, Martin had noticed that a few problems, such as wrong show timings, were fixed once the new system was in place.
Martin, a Dubai resident, said there were not many advertisements informing the public about the change.
He added: "OSN should have promoted this change at a wider scale, so that subscribers would know what to do."
