JO
Quite surprised it's gone early with such short notice on all platforms, although I did think it would have been odd to close it down on Virgin Media yet leave it on Sky and Freeview.
The only programmes I watched were Scrubs and the John Ritter episodes of 8 Simple Rules but eventually they grew tiresome as they were repeated to death.
Ultimately the channel's downfall was due to too many repeats and the 12hr slot on Freeview (although if it had gone 24hr it would have just meant even more repeats).
My time spent viewing the channel has dwindled over recent months so I can't say I'm sad to see it go.
Roll on Dave!
The only programmes I watched were Scrubs and the John Ritter episodes of 8 Simple Rules but eventually they grew tiresome as they were repeated to death.
Ultimately the channel's downfall was due to too many repeats and the 12hr slot on Freeview (although if it had gone 24hr it would have just meant even more repeats).
My time spent viewing the channel has dwindled over recent months so I can't say I'm sad to see it go.
Roll on Dave!
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
Well first they said the closure was midnight on October 1st, and six hours earlier on Freeview due to normal 6pm closure on that platform.
Then there were programmes up until midnight tonight.
Now they've pulled the plug at 12pm.
However ABC1 did launch nearly three years ago to the day and apparently carriage deals are due to expire tomorrow so I suppose the decision was taken to pull the plug for commercial reasons, namely more chance of hell freezing over than getting an after 6pm slot on Freeview.
abc1tv.co.uk is still working though. All its old pages are still there though and working. The unofficial ABC1 UK site disappeared as soon as rumours of the channel's closure came out.
Digital Spy managed to cope when the masses were all over the forum after last Friday's EastEnders and none of the unofficial sites could cope. This time, a realistically little-watched Freeview daytime channel that essentially runs off nothing more than 8 Simple Rules, Scrubs and Home Improvement packs its bags and closes with no fanfare, and DS falls over. The internet is a strange place sometimes.
In some ways I will miss ABC1. I loved the idents (I loved the original daytime ident and still like the old nighttime idents), the music, the general presentation (never have I seen a channel cram its name into a 30 second ident as many times as ABC1 managed :p), but on the other hand, it suffocated itself by running the same episodes of the same programmes into the ground for days on end and when they went down the pure comedy route, it was clear they were out of ideas.
Then there were programmes up until midnight tonight.
Now they've pulled the plug at 12pm.
However ABC1 did launch nearly three years ago to the day and apparently carriage deals are due to expire tomorrow so I suppose the decision was taken to pull the plug for commercial reasons, namely more chance of hell freezing over than getting an after 6pm slot on Freeview.
abc1tv.co.uk is still working though. All its old pages are still there though and working. The unofficial ABC1 UK site disappeared as soon as rumours of the channel's closure came out.
Digital Spy managed to cope when the masses were all over the forum after last Friday's EastEnders and none of the unofficial sites could cope. This time, a realistically little-watched Freeview daytime channel that essentially runs off nothing more than 8 Simple Rules, Scrubs and Home Improvement packs its bags and closes with no fanfare, and DS falls over. The internet is a strange place sometimes.
In some ways I will miss ABC1. I loved the idents (I loved the original daytime ident and still like the old nighttime idents), the music, the general presentation (never have I seen a channel cram its name into a 30 second ident as many times as ABC1 managed :p), but on the other hand, it suffocated itself by running the same episodes of the same programmes into the ground for days on end and when they went down the pure comedy route, it was clear they were out of ideas.
MA
Matt
Founding member
Here's a cap if anyone's interested
ABC1 close (2.4MB WMV)
Obviously, there was roughly 13 mins of black, so it's been slightly edited.
ABC1 close (2.4MB WMV)
Obviously, there was roughly 13 mins of black, so it's been slightly edited.
JO
Thanks for that
What a poor way to finish off a channel, no "Thank you for watching" or anything like that, typical Disney attitude that is(expects last bit to be edited by a mod for legal reasons
)
Matt posted:
Here's a cap if anyone's interested
ABC1 close (2.4MB WMV)
Obviously, there was roughly 13 mins of black, so it's been slightly edited.
ABC1 close (2.4MB WMV)
Obviously, there was roughly 13 mins of black, so it's been slightly edited.
Thanks for that
What a poor way to finish off a channel, no "Thank you for watching" or anything like that, typical Disney attitude that is(expects last bit to be edited by a mod for legal reasons
)
NJ
They were still running all the normal promotions as if everything was normal. If you'd never been on the Internet and just tuned into ABC1, you would have had absolutely no clue that the channel was closing aside from when it disappeared with no warning.
Only the website now displays any messages of thanks. Apparently there's a closedown message on Virgin Media where the channel used to be, but its surely a record for the quickest time for a channel to be dropped off the EPG after the last broadcast. According to Wiki, just four minutes after close the channel left the Sky EPG.
Neil Jones
Founding member
Johnny83 posted:
What a poor way to finish off a channel, no "Thank you for watching" or anything like that, typical Disney attitude that is(expects last bit to be edited by a mod for legal reasons )
)
They were still running all the normal promotions as if everything was normal. If you'd never been on the Internet and just tuned into ABC1, you would have had absolutely no clue that the channel was closing aside from when it disappeared with no warning.
Only the website now displays any messages of thanks. Apparently there's a closedown message on Virgin Media where the channel used to be, but its surely a record for the quickest time for a channel to be dropped off the EPG after the last broadcast. According to Wiki, just four minutes after close the channel left the Sky EPG.
NM
They were still running all the normal promotions as if everything was normal. If you'd never been on the Internet and just tuned into ABC1, you would have had absolutely no clue that the channel was closing aside from when it disappeared with no warning.
Only the website now displays any messages of thanks. Apparently there's a closedown message on Virgin Media where the channel used to be, but its surely a record for the quickest time for a channel to be dropped off the EPG after the last broadcast. According to Wiki, just four minutes after close the channel left the Sky EPG.
Exactly! Not every viewer was going to go on that website, my mum who's an ABC1 addict (or was) was a bit confused the other day to find the couldn't find anything on it.
Neil Jones posted:
Johnny83 posted:
What a poor way to finish off a channel, no "Thank you for watching" or anything like that, typical Disney attitude that is(expects last bit to be edited by a mod for legal reasons )
)
They were still running all the normal promotions as if everything was normal. If you'd never been on the Internet and just tuned into ABC1, you would have had absolutely no clue that the channel was closing aside from when it disappeared with no warning.
Only the website now displays any messages of thanks. Apparently there's a closedown message on Virgin Media where the channel used to be, but its surely a record for the quickest time for a channel to be dropped off the EPG after the last broadcast. According to Wiki, just four minutes after close the channel left the Sky EPG.
Exactly! Not every viewer was going to go on that website, my mum who's an ABC1 addict (or was) was a bit confused the other day to find the couldn't find anything on it.
RU
Well when the NBC Superchannel ended in 1998, they just pulled the channel off midway through a Jay Leno trailer!
russnet
Founding member
Johnny83 posted:
What a poor way to finish off a channel, no "Thank you for watching" or anything like that, typical Disney attitude that is(expects last bit to be edited by a mod for legal reasons )
)
Well when the NBC Superchannel ended in 1998, they just pulled the channel off midway through a Jay Leno trailer!
LW
The Wikipedia article mentions speculation that when UKTV History changes its Freeview broadcasting hours in mid-October, it
might
be taking the old ABC1 slot 
Speaking of UKTV History... Does it still broadcast in 4:3? It seems silly to me that it screens so much programming that was originally on BBC One/Two in 16:9, yet isn't a 16:9 channel itself, so we get 14:9-picture-in-a-4:3-signal (therefore with thin horizontal black bars). Will the channel ever go widescreen, I wonder?
Speaking of UKTV History... Does it still broadcast in 4:3? It seems silly to me that it screens so much programming that was originally on BBC One/Two in 16:9, yet isn't a 16:9 channel itself, so we get 14:9-picture-in-a-4:3-signal (therefore with thin horizontal black bars). Will the channel ever go widescreen, I wonder?
IS
Apparently UKTV is going 16:9 in January.
little white dot posted:
The Wikipedia article mentions speculation that when UKTV History changes its Freeview broadcasting hours in mid-October, it
might
be taking the old ABC1 slot
Speaking of UKTV History... Does it still broadcast in 4:3? It seems silly to me that it screens so much programming that was originally on BBC One/Two in 16:9, yet isn't a 16:9 channel itself, so we get 14:9-picture-in-a-4:3-signal (therefore with thin horizontal black bars). Will the channel ever go widescreen, I wonder?
Speaking of UKTV History... Does it still broadcast in 4:3? It seems silly to me that it screens so much programming that was originally on BBC One/Two in 16:9, yet isn't a 16:9 channel itself, so we get 14:9-picture-in-a-4:3-signal (therefore with thin horizontal black bars). Will the channel ever go widescreen, I wonder?
Apparently UKTV is going 16:9 in January.