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ST
Stuart
Inspector Sands posted:
A better example is 'Drama', and that channel isn't exactly setting the world alight.

In fact not many of the UKTV channels has a great unique name. Though they're only aimed at the UK so it's not as big an issue

It does make me laugh that Drama uses the tag line "The Only Channel Called Drama", when in fact UKTV previously had a channel called UK Drama, and changed it to Alibi.


As with Dave Channel, it's currently called Drama Channel on their website. Shocked
ET
ethanh05
Inspector Sands posted:
Steve in Pudsey posted:
That hasn't done Dave any harm though!

It's not been that easy for them, they have to call themselves Dave Channel on their website which is off brand somewhat. And there was a dispute over the name: https://www.ft.com/content/f7736590-2cae-11e0-83bd-00144feab49a

Dave is a name not a genre though. A better example is 'Drama', and that channel isn't exactly setting the world alight.

In fact not many of the UKTV channels has a great unique name. Though they're only aimed at the UK so it's not as big an issue


That's probably because it's the exact same as ITV3, and if you've ever seen ITV compared to UKTV, you'll know which one is better. It doesn't help that there are a couple of channels (Eden, Good Food, Home) that are extremely unimportant to the UKTV portfolio as a whole.
DB
dbl
Drama actually does quite decently for UKTV. Eden, Good Food and Home, well.... yeah. It's very niche.
ET
ethanh05
dbl posted:
Drama actually does quite decently for UKTV. Eden, Good Food and Home, well.... yeah. It's very niche.

I would say Drama is behind Dave, Gold and maybe W in UKTV's priorities, although Really is improving slightly as a channel. Personally, I think UKTV started to go really downhill when Blighty closed down, and when Watch became W it pretty much destroyed an entire channel. A new channel should be in order if I was them - replacing Eden.
VM
VMPhil
Drama's an odd one when it comes to UKTV channels because it's not using a more vague name (like Yesterday, Eden, Dave) that stops it from looking strange when they schedule comedy, which they seem to do more of now.

Yesterday has also broadened out and now shows classic comedy (and looking at the schedule, appears to be showing Pointless and Antiques Roadshow in the early hours, oddly enough) which is at odds with their idents, more suited to historical documentaries.
LL
London Lite Founding member
I'd say the core three channels for UKTV are W, Gold and Dave. Two being pay, the other FTA. These get the bulk of UKTV's homegrown commissions.

The others in the middle group plodding along. Drama, Alibi, Really, Yesterday with the others not exactly a priority.
VM
VMPhil
UKTV People/Blighty was always the channel I wondered why they bothered to keep running, usually forgotten about and not given much marketing, aside from when Blighty launched and they did a few original productions before they gave up on it and closed it.
London Lite and bilky asko gave kudos
ET
ethanh05
London Lite posted:
I'd say the core three channels for UKTV are W, Gold and Dave. Two being pay, the other FTA. These get the bulk of UKTV's homegrown commissions.

The others in the middle group plodding along. Drama, Alibi, Really, Yesterday with the others not exactly a priority.


One of the things UKTV is good at is convincing you what channel it is (well, that's a bit of an overstatement).
Dave - Comedy/Top Gear
Gold - Comedy/OFAH
Drama - No idea
Alibi - Crime Drama
Yesterday - History
Eden - Documentaries
Home - See above: Drama
Good Food - Bad Food
W - Whatever they feel like

One of the problems with this strategy is when they show programmes of a certain genre on other channels with other genres.

UKTV needs to be more than a set of channels filled with repeats. And although they have started more homegrown programmes, they need to be more creative. At least we can agree that Dave is the crown jewel for them...

Wait... isn't this a Syfy thread?
DB
dbl
ethanh05 posted:
dbl posted:
Drama actually does quite decently for UKTV. Eden, Good Food and Home, well.... yeah. It's very niche.

I would say Drama is behind Dave, Gold and maybe W in UKTV's priorities, although Really is improving slightly as a channel.

Not quite, but you're close.
ET
ethanh05
dbl posted:
ethanh05 posted:
dbl posted:
Drama actually does quite decently for UKTV. Eden, Good Food and Home, well.... yeah. It's very niche.

I would say Drama is behind Dave, Gold and maybe W in UKTV's priorities, although Really is improving slightly as a channel.

Not quite, but you're close.

OK then, Dave is definitely highest. I always thought Gold would be in second but I guess W would be second and Gold would be third. Think that is correct.
RO
rob Founding member
ethanh05 posted:
Drama - No idea


Laughing
LL
London Lite Founding member
ethanh05 posted:
dbl posted:
ethanh05 posted:
I would say Drama is behind Dave, Gold and maybe W in UKTV's priorities, although Really is improving slightly as a channel.

Not quite, but you're close.

OK then, Dave is definitely highest. I always thought Gold would be in second but I guess W would be second and Gold would be third. Think that is correct.


I'd swap Gold and W as Gold has slightly more coverage being on Now TV and TV Player for non cable/Sky customers.

Also going by Barb figures. Just over half a million viewers watched a homegrown commission about David Jason at the end of August on Gold. W's highest rated show was Masterchef Australia with just under 300k.

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