IN
UKTV were trying to reposition UKTV Gold as a 'general entertainment' repeat station at this point in its life; a lot of the 'classic' stuff they'd always had was jettisoned.
Then a couple of years later they brought in Jimmy Saville and replaced their idents with a spacehopper. It's not really the channel's best era to be honest.
I was always surprised that (UK(TV)) Gold didn't pick up classic Corrie following the demise of Granada Plus.
Assuming Granada/ITV would have been prepared to license it to them, of course.
Assuming Granada/ITV would have been prepared to license it to them, of course.
UKTV were trying to reposition UKTV Gold as a 'general entertainment' repeat station at this point in its life; a lot of the 'classic' stuff they'd always had was jettisoned.
Then a couple of years later they brought in Jimmy Saville and replaced their idents with a spacehopper. It's not really the channel's best era to be honest.
ST
I don't think Watch has ever really delivered what UKTV expected from it.
With only repeats, and few successful or memorable original commissions, it never compared well to the channels around it on the Sky EPG. Numerous awful revamps haven't helped.
This 'closure' and 'launch' as W won't fool many people. The new ident/presentation graphics look nice, but it doesn't scream female oriented to me.
I can see this having no better success than G.O.L.D., which had to revert to GOLD after a while, and is still referred to by many as 'UK Gold' - a name it hasn't actually had for 12 years.
As another has said: I think UKTV may be trying to spread its content across too many channels. If you're going to claim to have a flagship channel, sat in a prime position on the Sky EPG behind a paywall, then you need either very good imports (à la Sky Atlantic) or good original commissions.
With only repeats, and few successful or memorable original commissions, it never compared well to the channels around it on the Sky EPG. Numerous awful revamps haven't helped.
This 'closure' and 'launch' as W won't fool many people. The new ident/presentation graphics look nice, but it doesn't scream female oriented to me.
I can see this having no better success than G.O.L.D., which had to revert to GOLD after a while, and is still referred to by many as 'UK Gold' - a name it hasn't actually had for 12 years.
As another has said: I think UKTV may be trying to spread its content across too many channels. If you're going to claim to have a flagship channel, sat in a prime position on the Sky EPG behind a paywall, then you need either very good imports (à la Sky Atlantic) or good original commissions.
VM
I also have to say, whilst I liked it at first, over time I have come to dislike the current Watch logo. It's a bit of a mess with the weird semi-circle design and typeface. I think I just liked it because it was bolder than anything they had had previously (which was pretty nondescript and bland by comparison).
BR
I do think the original Watch logo was the best. The channels main problem though is that UKTV launched so many genre based channels in a relatively short period that they never really left anything for Watch - and from the announcements today I don't think W has much more of a purpose either.
JA
Remember that Watch's big launch show was getting Richard & Judy after Channel 4 axed them. That didn't last long!
JA
That would be redundant, because it'll be on iPlayer.
Wonder if it means EastEnders will also be available on UKTV's on demand services.
JA
I don't understand why classic Corrie, Emmerdale, and Crossroads have never turned up on ITV3, to be honest.
I was always surprised that (UK(TV)) Gold didn't pick up classic Corrie following the demise of Granada Plus.
Assuming Granada/ITV would have been prepared to license it to them, of course.
Assuming Granada/ITV would have been prepared to license it to them, of course.
CO
Is that even on UK satellite?
Crossroads- Hey, we can't take away Big Centre TV's main attraction can we? 
Is that even on UK satellite?
TW
I agree, this is a waste of time. They already have Really as the female skewing channel, which everyone can see.
LL
Is that even on UK satellite?
No. Big Centre TV does stream their output in the UK only though.
London Lite
Founding member
Crossroads- Hey, we can't take away Big Centre TV's main attraction can we?
Is that even on UK satellite?
No. Big Centre TV does stream their output in the UK only though.