Challenge TV launched on Freeview!

Challenge launched today on Freeview, after the axe fell on Channel One!! I think it will be one of those channels that you either love, or hate! Certainly, it will be chance for some people without Sky to watch gameshows/quizes they've never seen before - from the age before Emmerdale pretty much cancelled most of ITV's gameshow output, to when LWT was a force to be reckoned with, to when Channel 4 pumped out The Crystal Maze every Spring/Summer for 6 years!

Watched the Maze tonight after seeing it last on FTN 4 yrs or so ago and it was good to see it again! Will also be good to see You Bet at the weekend and other upcoming shows on the channel soon! Maybe re-runs of Knightmare and Fort Boyard also?

Rumours speculate that it may only be on for a few months and that Sky are just going to use it promote their flagship Sky Atlantic HD channel and others before whipping it away. Certainly, this seemed to be the case tonight with many promotions for their new channels. Also, the resolution of the channel is nothing special at 578x560 or summat like that - looking a bit naff on new LCD TV's but certainly looked crystal clear on my CRT TV!! Also, I note that the Challenge TV website tonight just redirects to Sky's website now, unsure why the old website has been taken down, whether it is having a revamp or something. Sky subscribers must also be wodering why they have to pay to receive this channel whereas we can get it free.

But, much to discuss here in terms of old programmes, presentation, editing of old shows cutting out old competitions, forthcoming programmes, picture quality, endboards, fillers etc etc.

Definitely a welcome addition to Freeview though!

Check in again in 6 months to see if you're not bored of the very small loops of stuff they have - only a small handful of the series of Catchphrase and Family Fortunes, plus a very limited poole of programming alltogether.

Unless the situation has changed, the only series of Fort Boyard they have access to is the one they commissioned themselves (with Tom Baker as the Captain) - this was also heavily repeated on F tn.

Sky customers also had to pay for Channel One, and we have to pay for Yesterday also (well, I don't sub to that package).

You should change the Topic Description as Challenge (which should be called Sky Challenge) rarely broadcast any programmes from the 1980s.

It's not the Challenge TV we had of the 1990's and the early 2000's, they seemed to put an effort into it a few years ago when they got rights to old gameshows and made some of their own, but in the last few years they seem to have given up and left the channel on loop, and with Sky now running it, things appear to be the same, albeit the addition of TNA to the channel.

Believe me when I say you eventually tire of the 1994-98 episodes of Catchphrase, as you've pretty much watched all of them.

It's a good addition for Freeview instead of Channel One, but who knows what Sky will do with the station in the long term, even now it's odd watching it as it's just promos for Sky1, Sky Living and Sky Atlantic.

I expect it'll mirror what happened with the GSB channels after ITV took over - not a lot until they can think of something to do with the capacity! Men and Motors plodded on for a very long time showing much the same thing...

Challenge has tried to get older game shows again but problems keep arising, TVS catchphrase is in a legal rango will with lost paper work and disney not caring, this goes for All Clued up aswell. Chain letter took over 6 months to get sorted, no idea why that was held up

Budget for the challenge has been cut in the past 2 years which has also not help.

You would think they would give the channel a new logo at the very least.

Why has Challenge been showing the same two episodes of "Dale's Supermarket Sweep" on their Freeview platform yesterday and today?

Yesterdays 9am one was today's 9.30am and vice versa.

I've no idea why people watch game shows when they are first broadcast. To watch a channel full of repeats of the damned things seems like a sign of madness to me!

Don't tell me you sit there and shout out the answers!

My 81 year old grandfather loves the channel thank you very much.

I thought you were a member of DOND.co.uk.