Q. Hey, we lost the El Rey Network channel on Spectrum. Where is it? They haven’t told us anything, but it’s gone all of sudden when I looked in the guide. We want it back immediately. — Beryl, Rochester, New York.

For those unfamiliar with the channel, the El Rey Network, which was founded by film director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids), offers a variety of shows targeted to Hispanic Americans such as The Director’s Chair, United Tacos of America, Vampiro Unleashed and iMaria. The channel also plays movies, usually action-oriented with an Hispanic theme such as Rodriguez’s Desperado (pictured above.)

And, yes, El Rey was removed from the Charter Spectrum lineup earlier this month. The cable operator has not revealed why, but it notified subscribers in a programming notice last July that it would be removed in September. That’s usually a sign that a pay TV service no longer wants to carry the channel due to low ratings and/or high carriage fees. If it was taken down because of a last-minute failure to sign a new carriage deal, subscribers wouldn’t get a removal notice so far in advance.

Update: El Rey Network closes its doors.

Charter’s Twitter customer service page says it has no information on when the channel will return, or if it will return.

And a Charter moderator on its subscriber forum will only acknowledge that it’s gone.

“Apologies for the disappointment,” the moderator told one complaining subscriber. “Notification of the removal of the El Rey network was provided via your billing statement messages in the beginning of July, 2020.”

However, the channel’s disappearance has upset some Charter Spectrum subscribers who are particularly incensed that the cable operator won’t divulge any details regarding the removal.

“No matter what you say I never received any notice of this channel going away,” says ‘Tek360.’ “No email. No letter. Nothing. I don’t understand how you think everyone got a notice of some sort. I went today to watch a show and that’s how I found out El Rey was no longer available.

The TV Answer Man has asked Charter’s corporate press team for an explanation on the removal and will report back here if we get more information.

Update: Charter spokesman released this statement to the TV Answer Man on Sunday:

“We regularly review and refresh our network offerings to ensure we are optimizing value for our customers, and this decision was part of that process.”

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— Phillip Swann