Timeline of UKTV

This is a timeline of UKTV, a television company that broadcasts seven television channels in the United Kingdom.

1990s
  • 1992
    • 1 November – UK Gold launches as a 50/50 joint venture between BBC Enterprises and Thames Television, showing programmes from both the BBC and Thames archives. Thames gets involved after it lost its ITV franchise the previous year.[1] Thames bid £32.5 million while Carlton Television placed a bid of £43.2 million,[2]
  • 1993
    • Tele-Communications Inc. takes a stake in UK Gold.
    • 1 September –
      • Sky Multichannels launches, resulting in UK Gold becoming encrypted.
      • UK Living launches, as a joint venture between Thames, Tele-Communications and Cox Enterprises.
    • 21 December - Flextech announces to purchase TCI's stake in UK Gold and UK Living.[3]
  • 1994
    • January – TCI acquires a 60.4% stake in Flextech.[4] This gives the company a 25% stake in UK Gold and UK Living.[5]
  • 1995
    • No events.
  • 1996
    • 14 August – Flextech announces its purchase of Cox and Pearson/Thames' stakes in UK Gold and UK Living, gaining full control over the latter and retaining BBC's 50% stake in the former.[6][7][8]
    • 1 October – Flextech and the BBC hold talks about a partnership to launch a new range of channels. Rival company BSkyB also holds talks with the corporation but the BBC is against BSkyB's involvement.[9]
  • 1997
    • 4 March – The BBC and Flextech agree on a deal to launch a series of BBC-branded channels – BBC Showcase, for entertainment; BBC Horizon, for documentaries; BBC Style, for lifestyle; BBC Learning, for schools, and BBC Arena, for the arts – plus three other channels: BBC Catch-Up, for repeats of popular programmes within days of their original transmission, a dedicated BBC Sport channel and a TV version of Radio 1.[10] After conflicts over advertising, the UKTV partnership was transitioned over to BBC Worldwide. BBC themselves kept the BBC Showcase/Catch-Up and BBC Learning concepts, and launched them the following year as BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge respectively, while the UKTV networks would be named after UK Gold, and named UK Horizons, UK Style and UK Arena respectively.
    • 27 October – UK Living is renamed as Living, after it was decided that the channel would not be part of the UKTV network.
    • 1 November – UK Horizons, UK Style and UK Arena launch on Astra satellite and analogue cable, on the fifth anniversary of UK Gold's launch. On Astra, the new networks initially shared a single transponder, with each channel broadcasting at certain times of the day.
  • 1998
    • 1 October –
      • Sky Digital launches, which allowed for UK Horizons and Style to broadcast full time, with Arena airing during the evenings, from 7pm-7am.
      • An off-shoot spin-off to UK Gold - UK Gold Classics, launches as the first digital-only UKTV channel, showcasing older programmes while UK Gold aired newer programmes. However, it only aired as a part-time service, broadcasting from Friday to Sunday between 6:00 pm to 2:00 am.
    • 10 October – UK Play launches to coincide with the launch of OnDigital, which launched a month later. This was the proposed TV version of Radio 1, although it has no direct ties.
    • 15 November – OnDigital launches with UK Play and UK Gold gaining their own slots, with UK Horizons and UK Style timesharing.
  • 1999
    • 2 April – UK Gold Classics relaunches as UK Gold 2, transitioning to becoming a secondary timeshift service of its parent network, airing the morning programmes during the evening.[11][12]
    • UK Play is added to Astra satellite as a filler network within UK Horizons' downtime. UK Style and UK Arena also move transponders.

2000s
  • 2000
    • 31 March – After low figure numbers, UK Arena is relaunched as UK Drama, transitioning to dramas full time, although it remains a part-time network.
    • November – UK Play is renamed as Play UK, to differentiate it from UKTV's other networks, and is the first to use the then-new UKTV logo in its branding.[13]
  • 2001
    • 30 March – The UKTV channels are removed from Astra satellite as part of Sky Analogue's closedown phase.
    • 8 May –
      • The new UKTV logo expands to the other networks, which gains new ident packages.
      • UK Horizons +1 launches on Sky, becoming the first timeshift service in the UKTV network.
    • 11 July – UK Style and UK Horizons split on OnDigital, no longer timesharing with each other.[14]
    • 5 November – UK Food launches on Sky Digital and Telewest Active Digital as the first offshoot network of UK Style, which was restructured to focus more on home programming.[15] The channel airs from 7:00am–7:00pm, timesharing with UK Drama.
  • 2002
    • 11 February – UK Style + launches on Sky, broadcasting from 8:00am–6:00pm, timesharing with UK Gold 2.[16]
    • 15 February – UK Style + and UK Horizons +1 launch on Telewest.[17]
    • 1 May – ITV Digital stops broadcasting, resulting in UKTV's channels disappearing from terrestrial television.
    • 29 May - UK Food, UK Horizons +1 and UK Style + launch on NTL Home Digital.
    • 1 August – UK Gold +1 launches, airing from 7:00pm–7:00am.[18]
    • 30 September – Play UK closes due to low ratings following the closure of ITV Digital.[19]
    • 30 October – With the launch of Freeview, a new UKTV network using the vacated Play UK space - UK History - launches.
  • 2003
    • 10 January – UK Food extends broadcast hours, now airing from 5:00am–9:00pm, with UK Drama airing at 9:00pm-5:00am within the rest of the slot.[20]
    • 15 January – UK Bright Ideas launches as a lifestyle channel for Freeview. The channel shows content from UK Style and UK Food (and later UKTV Gardens) and is used as a showcase for UKTV's lifestyle channels on pay-TV platforms. It is also available on Sky Digital and Telewest Active Digital.
    • - 29 January - UK Bright Ideas launches on NTL.
    • 7 July – UK Style + extends its broadcast hours to end at 2:00am.[21]
    • 12 November –
      • UK Gold 2 is relaunched and rebranded as UK G2, becoming a more "edgier" alternative to UK Gold. Its broadcast hours are changed to 8:00pm–3:00am.
      • UK Gold +1 becomes a full time service.
      • UK Food +1 launches, airing from 7:00am–7:00pm.
  • 2004
    • 28 January - UK History +1 launches on Sky.[22]
    • 4 February - UK History +1 and UK Food +1 launch on Telewest.
    • 8 March –
      • The UKTV prefix is added to all channels, e.g. UK Gold becomes UKTV Gold.
      • UK Horizons closes and splits into two new channels, UKTV Documentary takes over the former slot and timeshift service.[23]
      • UKTV People, the other network formed as part of the split, launches, broadcasting from 7:00pm–4:00am, timesharing with UKTV Food +1.
      • Following a reduction the previous month in the length of its ad breaks in a bid to retain viewers and attract advertisers after results of its research show that shorter breaks produce higher advertising recall levels, UKTV limits its junctions from seven and a half minutes to a maximum of five minutes.[24][25]
    • 31st March – A new digital terrestrial pay service, Top Up TV, launches and three of UKTV's channels – UKTV Gold, UKTV Style and UKTV Food – form part of the service of ten channels, each broadcasting on a part-time basis.
    • 1 July – UKTV People extends its broadcast hours to 7:00am–3:00am.[26]
    • November 1 – UKTV G2 +1 launches on Sky[27] and Telewest,[28] broadcasting from 9:00pm to 4:00am.
  • 2005
    • 12 January – UKTV People +1 launches exclusively on Sky.[29]
    • 23 February – UKTV Style Gardens launches on Sky and Telewest Digital as the gardening off-shoot from UKTV Style.
    • 1st/30th May – UKTV Drama expands its hours.[30]
    • 7 October – UKTV announces a "UKTV Sport" strand to air on UKTV G2, which would also lead with the launch of a planned channel (that never came into fruition).[31]
    • 13 October - UKTV Style Gardens launches on NTL Digital.
  • 2006
    • 16 January – UKTV G2 expands its broadcast hours to the daytime to coincide with the launch of the UKTV Sport strand.[32][33]
    • 28 February – UKTV Food +1 extends its broadcast hours to include the evening.[34]
    • 30 March - UKTV G2 +1 launches on NTL.
    • 18 April – UKTV People +1 closes and is removed from the Sky EPG.[35]
    • 2 May – UKTV Drama +1 launches in the bandwidth formerly home to UKTV People +1. It broadcasts from 3:00pm to 2:00am.[36]
    • 2006 sees UKTV G2 show highlights of the RBS Six Nations rugby union championship, extensive coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a sub-licensing of the BBC's rights to the tournament, and basketball, including the quarter-finals of Euroleague. [37] and the 2006 FIBA World Championship.[38]
  • 2007
    • 5 February - UKTV Style Gardens is renamed UKTV Gardens.
    • 18 September - UKTV History +1, UKTV Documentary +1 and UKTV Food +1 launch on Virgin Media in the ex NTL areas.
    • 14 October – UKTV Bright Ideas closes due to low ratings.[39]
    • 15 October –
      • Dave launches as "the home of witty banter". It replaces UKTV G2.[40] The channel also launches on Freeview.
      • UKTV History moves into the vacated UKTV Bright Ideas space on Freeview to allow Dave to take the 24-hour slot.
    • 23 October - UKTV Drama +1 launches on Virgin Media.
    • 14 December – UKTV Style 2 launches on Sky, this was essentially used as a filler network for UKTV to keep the slot for future use.
  • 2008
    • 31 January – UKTV begins transmitting its channels in the 16:9 widescreen ratio, though some content initially remains in the older 4:3 format.[41]
    • 11 June – UKTV announces that, following the successful launch of Dave, it will rebrand all of its channels from generic, UKTV-prefixed names to individual and separate brands.[42][43]
    • 15 September – UKTV Style 2 closes to make way for Watch.
    • 7 October –
      • Watch launches as UKTV's flagship entertainment channel. It replaces UKTV Style +2.[44]
      • UKTV Drama rebrands as the crime-oriented Alibi.
      • UKTV Gold rebrands as the comedy-oriented G.O.L.D., standing for "Go On Laugh Daily".
      • Virgin Media stops broadcasting UKTV History +1 and UKTV Documentary +1 and replaces them with Watch and Watch +1.
  • 2009
    • 22 January - Dave +1 launches On Freeview.
    • 26 January – UKTV Documentary rebrands as the natural-history focused Eden.
    • 17 February – UKTV People rebrands as the UK-focused Blighty.[45]
    • 24 February – Dave +1 Becomes Dave ja vu on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media
    • 2 March – UKTV History rebrands as Yesterday.
    • 30 April – UKTV Style rebrands as Home, and reinstates gardening programmes.[46]
    • 19 May – UKTV Gardens relaunches as the female-orientated lifestyle medical real-life and crime channel Really. The gardening programmes move to Home.[46]
    • 22 June – UKTV Food rebrands as Good Food.[47]

2010s
  • 2010
    • 31 August – UKTV launches its first high definition channel – Good Food HD, exclusively to Sky.[48]
    • 4 October – UKTV launches Eden HD, also as a Sky exclusive.
  • 2011
    • 2 August – Really becomes a free-to-air network as it launches on Freeview.[49]
    • 15 August – Virgin Media agrees to sell its 50% stake in UKTV to Scripps Networks Interactive in a deal worth £339m.[50]
    • 7 October –
      • High definition versions of Dave and Watch launch.
      • Good Food HD and Eden HD are added to Virgin Media in addition to the other two networks as part of a deal concerning the UKTV sale.
  • 2012
    • 3 July – Alibi HD launches.
  • 2013
    • March 26 – To coincide with its 21st birthday, UKTV rebrands with a new logo and reinstates their brand on-screen.[51]
    • 8 July – A new free-to-air network, Drama, launches on Freeview, and replaces Blighty on Sky and Virgin Media, although it was not launched on the latter until August 14.
  • 2015
    • No events.
  • 2017
    • 2 October – Gold HD launches on Sky. It appears on Virgin Media in September 2018 and on BT TV in March 2019.
  • 2018
    • 22 July – The UKTV channels stop broadcasting on Virgin Media following a breakdown of discussions in which Virgin Media had demanded a huge drop in the amount of money it pays UKTV for its channels due to the lack of UKTV's ability to offer on-demand BBC programming.[56] The dispute receives considerable media attention.[57]
    • 11 August – The UKTV channels return to Virgin Media with the addition of Gold HD.[58]

2020s
  • 2020
    • October – UKTV Media Ltd takes control of Craft Channel Host Ltd, the company behind Freeview channel CCXTV.
  • 2021
    • 1 February – CCXTV closes and its Freeview slot is allocated to Drama +1.[61]
  • 2022
    • March – W becomes a free-to-air channel, initially launching on Freesat prior to its launch on Freeview on 28 March.[62]
  • 2023
    • 23 and 24 August – UKTV launches its first four FAST channels - UKTV Play Heroes, UKTV Play Laughs, UKTV Play Full Throttle and UKTV Play Uncovered.[63][64]

References
  1. Wittstock, Melinda (17 October 1991). "Legal threats follow biggest ITV shake-up". The Times.
  2. "Winners and Losers". The Times. 17 October 1991.
  3. "Flextech Set To Acquire TCI Programming". Telecompaper. 21 December 1993. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  4. "Merger Plans For Flextech". The New York Times. 3 January 1994. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  5. "Flextech Set To Acquire TCI Programming". Telecompaper. 21 December 1993. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  6. Williams, Martyn (14 August 1996). "TS News – Flextech Reveals BBC, UK Gold Talks". Sat-net.com. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  7. Horsman, Mathew (30 October 1996). "Flextech ties up pay-TV deal". The Independent. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  8. "Flextech Set To Agree Channels Deal With BBC". Telecompaper. 16 August 1996. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  9. Horsman, Mathew (1 October 1996). "Sky aims for stake in BBC pay-TV". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  10. Willcock, John (4 March 1997). "Flextech to inject £20m into BBC deal". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  11. "UK Gold Classics Renamed". Digital Spy. 29 March 1999.
  12. "UK Gold 2 Update". Digital Spy. 31 March 1999.
  13. "UK Play becomes Play UK". Digital Spy. 5 November 2000.
  14. "What channel numbers".
  15. "UKTV announces UK Food launch". Digital Spy. 11 July 2001.
  16. "New services, channels launch on DSat". Digital Spy. 11 February 2002.
  17. "Telewest adds more channels to lineup". Digital Spy. 15 February 2002.
  18. "UK Gold timeshift channel launches". Digital Spy. August 2002.
  19. "PlayUK to be axed". The Guardian. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  20. "UK Food extends programming hours".
  21. "UK Style + now available evenings".
  22. https://www.digitalspy.com/tech/satellite/a13200/uk-history-1-launches-on-sky/
  23. "UK Horizons to close". Digital Spy. 3 February 2004.
  24. "UKTV chief announces plans for TV ad breaks". Marketing Week. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  25. Brown, Maggie; Lawson, Annie (28 August 2003). "We'll be back after this shorter break, UKTV tells viewers". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  26. "UKTV People to extend hours from July 1st? - TV Forum".
  27. "EPG debut for two new +1s, Wine TV". Digital Spy. November 2004.
  28. "UKTV G2 +1 joins Telewest lineup". Digital Spy. November 2004.
  29. "UKTV People +1 joins Sky EPG". Digital Spy. 12 January 2005.
  30. "UKTV Drama to expand hours". Digital Spy. 9 April 2005.
  31. Conlan, Tara (7 October 2005). "UKTV to launch sport channel | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  32. "UKTV G2 expands hours, ups sport". Digital Spy. 10 December 2005.
  33. "More hours means sport on UKTV G2".
  34. "UKTV to extend hours of Food timeshift". Digital Spy. 23 February 2006.
  35. "UKTV People timeshift closes". Digital Spy. 18 April 2006.
  36. "Three additions to Sky EPG". Digital Spy. 2 May 2006.
  37. "UKTV slam dunks Euroleague rights". C21 Media. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  38. "UKTV slam-dunks new basketball deal". C21 Media. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  39. UKTV considers G2 Freeview launch Digital Spy, August 8th 2007
  40. "UKTV to launch a channel called Dave". The Guardian. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  41. Welsh, James, "UKTV confirms widescreen lineup", Digital Spy, 2008-01-25
  42. "UKTV to rebrand channels". Broadcast. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
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  44. "UKTV rolls out new channel Watch". The Guardian. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  45. "UKTV flies the flag with Blighty channel". The Guardian. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  46. "UKTV unveils next stage in channel rebrands". The Guardian. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
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  48. "UKTV announces Good Food and Eden HD channel rollout". UKTV. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010.
  49. "UKTV secures free to air slot for Really, its cutting edge lifestyle channel". UKTV. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011.
  50. "Virgin Media sells £239m stake in UKTV". Financial Times. 15 August 2011.
  51. "UKTV evolves company brand on and off-air to celebrate 21st birthday". UKTV. 18 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013.
  52. Finbow, Katy (31 March 2015). "Drama channel launches on UKTV Play on-demand service". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  53. Whaling, James. "When is the David Haye vs Mark De Mori fight? TV channel information here". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  54. "UKTV snaps up EastEnders re-runs from BBC3 as part of Watch relaunch". The Guardian. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  55. Mozafari, Laurence (10 April 2018). "EastEnders repeats axed from UKTV's W Channel after two years". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  56. Butler, Sarah (22 July 2018). "Four million Virgin Media customers lose UKTV channels". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  57. BhamUrbanNewsUK (22 July 2018). "Virgin Media loses UKTV channels". Retrieved 14 June 2019 – via YouTube.
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  59. "BBC to take control of UKTV in £180m deal with Discovery". The Guardian. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
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  61. "Plug pulled on CCXTV Freeview channel". 25 January 2021.
  62. "UKTV take W free-to-air with channel rebrand". TVZoneUK. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  63. Broadband TV News, 2023-08-23
  64. UKTV TO LAUNCH FOUR NEW FAST CHANNELS ON UKTV PLAY
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