What is Happening to TopUpTV?

That's something thing I'm worried about after DSO... with the increase in transmission power, they could configure all of them like Mux A giving 54 channels in legovision

The final Top Up TV Line-up has been published, plus a couple of extra changes:

26 September 2006
UKTV Food closed.

28 September 2006
Cartoon Network closed due to technical reasons and will re-open by the 9th October.

Programmes from all Top Up TV’s 11 channels plus 7 new channels are available on Top Up TV Anytime.

The final Top Up TV Line-up is:

Discovery Real Time 6am - 12pm
UKTV Gold 4pm - 1am
UKTV Style 1pm - 4pm
Cartoon Network 9-11am (closed from 28th September and re-opens by 9th October)
British Eurosport 1pm - 6pm
Discovery Channel 6pm - 11pm
TCM 7pm - 1am

Also, Teacher's TV takes a massive drop in broadcasting hours: 11am-1pm, effective from September 27th.

So do Top Up TV Anytime subscribers get the new (even more) limited scheduled service then, or is this just tempoary till Anytime launches?


I think going for an even weaker scheduled line up isn't worth it really - they'd be better off getting a permanent channel like Setanta Sports available on subscription.

No chance of me spending nearly £200 for a box plus £10 a month for a subscription, but now I understand basically how the system works I would be more inclined to consider it - but it all depends on the programmes on offer!

From "deeteetee", via Broadcast - but I've not seen it elsewhere - Setanta Sports 1 will be available for £15 a month to DTT viewers from next year.

Setanta Sports to launch “early 2007”



Presume that will be via Top Up TV for an additional subscription rather than independent of it.

The Top Up TV Anytime download schedule for this week, via the deeteetee.co.uk forums and TUTV Yahoo Group! Nothing really stands out to make you want to subscribe IMO!


1st October

TUTV1:
00.00-00.30 Max and Ruby
00.30-06.00 Unfabulous
06.00-06-45 Great Food Live
06.45-07.30 Great Food Live
07.30-08.15 Great Food Live
08.15-09.00 Food Uncut

TUTV3:
05.00-06.00 Bloomberg Weekly Round-Up


2nd October

TUTV1
00.00-00.30 Dora
00.30-0100 SpongeBob
01.00-02.00 Charmed
02.00-03.00 The District
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 South Park
04.25-05.00 That 70s Show
05.00-05.30 Pimp My Ride
05.30-06.00 Pimp My Ride UK
06.00-07.00 American Chopper
07.00-07.30 Baby Whisperer
07.30-08.00 Food Source
08.00-09.00 Austin Stevens Most Dangerous

TUTV2
01.00-04.00 Sergeant York
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
04.30-05.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Megas XLR
05.30-06.00 Samurai Jack

TUTV3
04.00-04.30 Spirit of the Arts
04.30-05.00 Spirit of the Arts
05.00-18.00 Closedown
18.00-19.00 The A-Team


3rd October

TUTV1
00.00-00.30 Lazy Town
00.30-01.00 Drake and Josh
01.00-02.00 Most Haunted
02.00-03.00 Spooks
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 The World Stands Up
04.25-05.00 Sex and the City
05.00-05.30 Wildboyz
05.30-06.00 Viva la Bam
06.00-07.00 Dangerman
07.00-07.30 Tommy Walsh’s DIY Survival
07.30-08.00 Lake Escapes
08.00-09.00 Jeff Corwin Experience

TUTV2
01.00-04.00 Woman of the Year
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
04.30-05.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Megas XLR
05.30-06.00 Samurai Jack

TUTV3
04.00-05.00 Journey of a Lifetime
05.00-17.00 Closedown
17.00-18.00 Murder ,She Wrote


4th October

TUTV1
00.00-00.30 Backardigans
00.30-01.00 Zoey 101
01.00-02.00 Extreme: Celebrity Surgery
02.00-03.00 Spooks
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 The World Stands Up
04.25-05.00 South Park
05.00-05.30 My Super Sweet 16
05.30-06.00 Tiara Girls
06.00-07.00 Dirty Jobs
07.00-07.30 Wheeler Dealers
07.30-08.00 Silicone Chicks
08.00-08.30 Meerkat Manor
08.30-09.00 Monkey Business

TUTV2:
01.00-04.00 The Asphalt Jungle
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
04.30-05.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Scooby-Doo
05.30-06.00 Camp Lazlo


TUTV3:
04.00-05.00 Richard Gere – The Biography
05.00-19.00 Closedown
19.00-20.00 Only Fools and Horses


5th October

TUTV1
00.00-00.30 Go, Diego, Go
00.30-01.00 Avatar
01.00-02.00 Veronica
02.00-03.00 Spooks
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 Stacked
04.25-05.00 Stacked
05.00-05.30 Date My Mom
05.30-06.00 Room Raiders
06.00-07.00 Air jaws
07.00-07.30 Wheeler Dealers
07.00-08.00 Sex Change
08.00-08.30 Horsetails
08.30-09.00 Monkey Business


TUTV2
01.00-04.00 Anchors Aweigh
04.00 05.00 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
05.00-05.30 Scooby Doo
05.30-6.00 Camp lazlo


TUTV3
04.00-05.00 Museum Mysteries
05.00-15.00 Closedown
15.00-16.00 Bank of Mum and Dad
16.00-19.40 Closedown
19.40-20.40 Open All Hours


6th October

TUTV1
00.00-00.30 Dora the Explorer
00.30-01.00 SpongeBob SquarePants
01.00-01.30 Four Kings
01.30-02.00 Out of Practice
02.00-03.00 Spooks
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 Frasier
04.25-05.00 Frasier
05.00-06.00 MTV Live: Kasabian
06.00-06.30 Conspiracies on Trial
06.30-07.00 Conspiracies on Trial
07.00-07.30 Yummy Mummy
07.30-08.00 Food Source: Neil Perry
08.00-09.00 Lyndal’s Lifeline: Elephant Alert

TUTV2:
01.00-04.00 Slither
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
04.30-5.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Scooby Doo
05.30-06.00 Camp Lezlo

TUTV3:
04.00-05.00 The Colour of War
05.00-15.00 Closedown
15.00-16.00 Who Rules The Roost
16.00-21.00 Closedown
21.00-22.20 My Family
22.20-23.20 The Catherine Tate Show


7th October
00.00-00.30 Blue’s Clues
00.30-01.00 Genie in the House
01.00-02.00 The L Word
02.00-03.00 Hustle
03.00-03.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 King of Queens
04.25-05.00 Everybody Loves Raymond
05.00-06.00 The Best Chart Show

TUTV2:
01.00-04.00 Dodge City
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
04.30-05.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Scooby-Doo
05.30-06.00 Camp Lazlo

TUTV3:
04.00-05.00 Century
05.00-13.00 Closedown
13.00-14.00 The Wow Factor
14.00-16.45 Closedown
16.45-17.45 dinnerladies


8th October

TUTV1:
00.00-00.30 Max and Ruby
00.30-01.00 Unfabulous
01.00-02.00 Chubby Children
02.00-03.00 Hustle
03.00-04.00 Closedown
04.00-04.25 Badly Dubbed Porn
04.25-05.00 Naked and Funny
05.00-06.00 NME Chart Show
06.00-06.45 Great Food Live
06.45-07.30 Great Food Live
07.30-08.15 Great Food Live
08.15-08.45 Food Uncut

TUTV2:
01.00-04.00 High Society
04.00-04.30 Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
04.30-05.00 Ben 10
05.00-05.30 Scooby-Doo
05.30-06.00 Camp Lazlo


TUTV3:
04.00-04.30 Celebrities Uncut
04.30-05.00 Mark Cullen Gardening
05.00-06.00 Bloomberg Weekly Round-Up
06.00-18.45 Closedown
18.45-19.45 Columbo

What an absolutely sh*te line up! Anyone willing to pay a tenner a month for that, seriously needs help!

The line up is a real shame - I was unsure of the concept at first but as I'd learnt more about how it all worked, I though it had some potential (though I'm nowhere near considering subscribing!).


They are spreading themselves too thinly and boosting their "channel" line-up with second rate programming. They'd be better off concentrating on around 6-8 channels and taking more programming from them.


Just a point I wanted to make - at some times there are programmes on TUTV1, 2 and 3 - but can't the recorders only tape two channels at once!

I've just done a rescan on Freeview and noticed...
38: Topup Anytime 1
39: Topup Anytime 2
40: Topup Anytime 3
41: Topup TV Promo

Currently left are also...
17: UKTV Gold
25: TCM
26: UKTV Style
27: Discovery
33: Eurosport UK (can't remember if this is TOPUP)
34: Setanta Sport (diito)
42: Discovery Real Time

I see channels 28 and 29 are now vacant, so I'm guessing these will contain Five US and Five Life.

I think you'll find that the programme line up on the three TOPUPTV channels are temporary. The new box will not restrict you to watching the programmes in specified time slots and the programmes are going to be increased significantly.

The Top Up Anytime channels have been there for the best part of 2 weeks or so now, but I've noticed that the Promo channel has stopped, well it has on my box anyway.

And Setanta Sports on 34 isn't Top Up, it uses the same system as Television X for encryption. TVX is also available on Freeview now rather than Top Up, but as said you still need to pay for it.

Forgive me if I'm not following this properly.

Are we now in the position where TUTV are simply broadcasting a series of programmes from a selection of channels which your box automatically records overnight?

See, I thought the downloads would be in MP4 format, thereby allowing more programmes to be downloaded to the boxes than real time would allow. Am I wrong?

If I'm right then I'd say it has even less of a chance of being a success.

To be fair, the customer service department don't give you an accurate description or analysis of what's going on. They say we can expect 5 or six programmes each per day from 18 channels plus an additional movie service which would suggest mp4 technology. They don' t give you any assurances when you ask them. They also seem vague as to when the boxes will be sent out. I was told when I paid my twenty pound deposit that the boxes would be despatched at the end of September/beginning of October. yesterday I was told that they would be despatched towards the middle/end of October. I would suggest if anyone from TopupTv reads this to get the customer service adviseres to be a little more definate on questions that are naturally going to be asked. If the system fails, I assume we would be in the piosition to keep the boxes anyway, especially if we buying them!