UKTV Rebrand and new channel

Why not? There's no doubt I watch more "Dave" than "UKTVG2". It was a risky rebrand and it succeded. You have to applaud that.

As for the rest, well, the branding is a mish-mash to me. I tend to say "UK Gold" and "UKTV Drama". The mistake was to tweak "UK" to "UKTV". It never really rolled off the tongue.

They have an opportunity to pull the channels together under a more consistant family brand, whilst keeping their genres distinct. That could be as simple as a common element in their presentation,

UKTVG2 was an awful name so you weren't as aware of it. Dave was catchy and new. If they repeat the same stunt, it's not new and is less likely to work. What are the chances of it succeeding again?

Err no. I was aware of UKTVG2, but I wasn't really aware of what it was showing. The "home of witty banter" branding tells me what I can expect to see, and that's the kind of thing I enjoy.

Its not about it being "new" as such - just distinct. Its possible they can do that with the others too.

When chris says "you" he means "one" (as in "people in general"), rather than literally YOU personally, Gavin!

And, it is indeed the case, that "most people" probably weren't all that aware of UKTV G2.

Do you not think that some of the rise in popularity of 'Dave' could possibly be due to the fact that it's FTA and also on the most popular digital platform?

The most popular digital channels are FTA. I can't see UKTV making their whole portfolio FTA in an attempt to repeat the success of 'Dave'.

No I'm pretty sure he was referring to me. The clue is that he quoted me then replied.



I'm aware of every channel that appears in my EPG - those I have subscribed to, that is.

As I said, I wasn't sure what kind of programming I would see on it - whereas a channel called "Dave - the home of witty banter" tells me quite a lot. I consider looking to see what's on Dave where I didn't bother to check G2.

Strange though it may seem I am one of "most people".

The important thing to remember is that the branding isn't just the name "Dave" in isolation. Its "Dave - the home of witty banter". We call it "Dave" as a shorthand, but we know what we'll find there.

If the next channel was "Doris - the home of food and cookery" then its target audience would know what to expect.

"Doris" is what you would think if you were in the mood for Masterchef or Ready Steady Cook.

Its not just that the short name is "catchy" - but that its been carefully positioned to mean something.

If you weren't aware of what it was showing, then surely you weren't really aware of it? I know of the channel "Trouble", but I haven't a clue what I might find there so I'm not aware of it.



Nevertheless, this works in this case. If all of the UKTV channels had a slogan such as "the home of witty banter" there would be too many to remember surely, hence becoming yet again blissfully unaware?

With so many people telling me what I am or am not aware of, I'm beginning to wonder why I'm taking the time to post.

I'm not going to get drawn into an argument about semantics - I'm sharing my personal experience. I watch more Dave because its a clearly defined genre channel I'm interested in.



"Too many to remember"? I think you're missing the point.

I wasn't suggesting viewers have to learn a whole series of slogans for each channel - the point of genre channels is to appeal to a target audience.

Women, for example, may have little interest in "Dave", but (those who enjoy it) may notice and seek out a channel about lifestyle or cookery.

The shorthand name is largely irrelevant provided it has been promoted and positioned as a "home" to cookery, with targeted trailers and adverts seeking out that audience.

That is how the advertising industry works, is it not?

I'm getting quite fed up with 'Dave' repeating the same things over and over again;

- Never Mind The Buzzcocks (please show come classic ones as we've seen these newer ones 100s of times already)

- Have I Got News For You (show some older ones of these too please - newer ones are getting boring - shown too much)

- The same pre-recorded continuity announcements for everything

I remember when it first launched they had I'm Alan Partridge, etc.

Can't they make some changes to the schedules?

Have you considered writing them a letter and asking them these probing questions directly?

You are sitting there thinking you want to buy me a very large ice cream


I could have gone with the rude version, you know...

But do UKTV take any notice anyway?

People were requesting more repeats of classic TOTP (not TOTP2!) for years, but all that has appeared is reruns of TOTP2!