WP
It isn't becoming Sky Challenge, at least not at launch. The link I posted earlier up suggests that on February 1st it'll carry exactly the same identity, whilst on the same day the Living channels show as using their Sky brands.
I think Challenge could become a major hit on Freeview, but that'll be quickly eroded if Sky choose not to invest in new content (just as Virgin Media didn't for the last 18 months-or-so of its life).
Don't forget In It To Win It was originally a lottery programme -- thus by cutting out the various amounts of time used prevaricating around pushing a button to choose some numbers, you could have anything between 45 and 55 minute length programmes.
I'm sure the adverts on Challenge more than make up for the lottery draws when shown on the BBC. I haven't seen much of In It To Win It on Challenge because I wasn't a fan of it originally but if it is like most recent accusations than it is likely to be butchered almost to death and will actually be shorter than the BBC version (once the commercial messages are removed from both versions).
BTW, one of the episodes of Catchphrase on Challenge today was the Snake Charmer one. Always nice to see.
To be completely fair to Challenge - the Lottery shows HAVE to be butchered because they contain constant references to the Lottery draws!
I guess whether Challenge becomes Sky Challenge will tell us a lot about the future of the channel and whether Sky are interested in re-inventing it and then keeping it on Freeview - or are just putting it on Freeview until they work out what to do with the slot (or sell it, don't renew contract) and then axe it altogether.
A bit of catch 22 for Sky really - not that Challenge will be a massive asset to Freeview, especially once the novelty wares off, but at least in keeping it on Freeview Sky prevent another channel from launching.
A bit of catch 22 for Sky really - not that Challenge will be a massive asset to Freeview, especially once the novelty wares off, but at least in keeping it on Freeview Sky prevent another channel from launching.
I think Challenge could become a major hit on Freeview, but that'll be quickly eroded if Sky choose not to invest in new content (just as Virgin Media didn't for the last 18 months-or-so of its life).
I love the fact that they show 'FILLER' for ten minutes at 21:30 every day.
Don't forget In It To Win It was originally a lottery programme -- thus by cutting out the various amounts of time used prevaricating around pushing a button to choose some numbers, you could have anything between 45 and 55 minute length programmes.
I'm sure the adverts on Challenge more than make up for the lottery draws when shown on the BBC. I haven't seen much of In It To Win It on Challenge because I wasn't a fan of it originally but if it is like most recent accusations than it is likely to be butchered almost to death and will actually be shorter than the BBC version (once the commercial messages are removed from both versions).
BTW, one of the episodes of Catchphrase on Challenge today was the Snake Charmer one. Always nice to see.
