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Channel 6

It's coming... (September 2003)

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RO
rob Founding member
From BBC News Online:

Quote:
BSkyB has said it may launch a major entertainment and lifestyle channel to compete with ITV1 and Five.
Channel 6 would be a digital channel available free to viewers with Freeview, a BSkyB official said.

Growing out of Sky's travel channel, it would have a £200m budget and offer a mix of programmes including US imports.

The company said it was "a real possibility within the next few years", depending on the government's planned digital switchover.

BSkyB chief operating officer Richard Freudenstein announced the proposal on Friday at this year's Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge.

'Evolve'

He said: "I think if there was fast growth of Freeview, Sky Travel would evolve.

"It absolutely makes sense if there is that level of free-to-air viewing we could invest more in a channel."

The government hopes every home in Britain will have digital television by 2010.

But the convention also heard that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's hopes for analogue switch-off by 2010 were "unrealistic".

Media analyst Spectrum Strategy has prepared a model of what TV will be like in 2010, based on interviews with industry figures.

According to its study, just 80% of homes - 21 million households - will have digital TV by that date.
PE
Pete Founding member
hmmm - bit of an odd name taking into account Channel 6 is ITV2 and it'll be on Channel 11. Ah well.
CA
cat
Sky have been wanting to launch an HBO-style network for the past decade.

The fact is, they just can't be bothered. They come out with these grand statements every few years and tell us all how "it's the future", but have never pulled their fingers out and just got on with it.

At the end of the day, I think Sky would rather just sit back and let the money roll in than really put any effort into producing half-decent , home-grown programming.
CO
Corin
c@t posted:
than really put any effort into producing half-decent , home-grown programming.


Is it not more profitable, and therefore in the best interests of stockholders, for B$kyB to buy cheap US imports rather than spend money on expensive productions which have no guaranteed sales income?
NW
nwtv2003
c@t posted:
Sky have been wanting to launch an HBO-style network for the past decade.


That is quite true, from what I remember when Sky Premier launched they tried to make that the British HBO, but it never happened, as they managed to get Barry Norman and I believe that Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show and Time Gentlemen Please were going to be made for Sky Premier only, but instead went to Sky One.
NG
noggin Founding member
c@t posted:
Sky have been wanting to launch an HBO-style network for the past decade.

The fact is, they just can't be bothered. They come out with these grand statements every few years and tell us all how "it's the future", but have never pulled their fingers out and just got on with it.

At the end of the day, I think Sky would rather just sit back and let the money roll in than really put any effort into producing half-decent , home-grown programming.


Yeah - but isn't HBO a (premium?) subscription channel in the US - that is how it can afford to make reasonably innovative and less advertiser-governed (in US terms) programming that pushes the envelope a bit?

What BSkyB are proposing for Freeview is a subscription-free service isn't it? If that is the case it doesn't really have a direct US comparison?

I wouldn't be surprised if the BSkyB channel 6 weren't a Sky One + about 3 months?
BB
Big Brother Founding member
Similarly C4 have confirmed plans for 'More4' aimed at the over 30's and should be launched by early 2004 I think. Could this be Ch 14 or will it be another?
PE
Pete Founding member
Big Brother posted:
Similarly C4 have confirmed plans for 'More4' aimed at the over 30's and should be launched by early 2004 I think. Could this be Ch 14 or will it be another?


I'd expect so - C4 always used to have "4" in their channel numbers on ITV Digital and 14 is reserved by them.
BB
Big Brother Founding member
Checked again it's for launch by early 2005.

Isn't this a bit far since all the rumours regarding 14 seem to be aimed late this year early next.
MD
Mr D'Arcy
I wonder what was happening with Sky Travel. It's starting to air strange things like Baywatch and loads of lifestyle stuff. If Sky can pull it off, fair play to them. Freeview needs more entertainment channels and far less filler channels.

FTN is slowly improving. UK History and The Community Channel are a waste of space, as is TV Travel Shop and QVC.

I'd liked to keep Bid-up though, it's so camp and quite tacky, LOL! Cool Laughing
:-(
A former member
Hymagumba posted:
hmmm - bit of an odd name taking into account Channel 6 is ITV2 and it'll be on Channel 11. Ah well.


Don't take it literally, they wouldn't have named it at this early stage, Channel 6 will be a working title
BR
Brekkie
The obvious name would be Sky Six, but it could just be something like Sky TV.

If launching before the analogue switch off I think it could be called something like Sky Showcase - focusing on showing repeated programmes made for Sky and certain programming from Sky News/Sports/Movies.

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