U&Dave
Ownership | |
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Owner | UKTV (BBC/Virgin Media Television) |
Dave (previously UKTV G2, UK G2; UK Gold 2 and UK Gold Classics) is a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom, as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel is available on Satellite (BSkyB) and Cable platforms. On 1 November 2004 a timeshift service with name UKTV G2+1 launched on the Virgin Media and Sky Digital platforms.
In September 2007, it was announced that UKTV will rebrand the channel to 'Dave' on 15 October[1]. The channel will also be free-to-air on digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, replacing UKTV Bright Ideas which currently only averages 0.1% of the audience share.[2]
History
UK Gold Classics was launched when UK Gold began to move towards newer programmes instead of older ones. From 2 April 1999 it was renamed to UK Gold 2, and screened morning programmes from UK Gold time-shifted to the evening of the same day. It was again relaunched with a completely new programme lineup and renamed UKG² on November 12, 2003. Along with the rest of the UKTV network, the "UK" prefix was changed to "UKTV" on 8 March 2004 and is thus now known as UKTV G2. The continuity announcers have been known to make fun of the extreme length of the full name saying "it's for watching rather than saying", "more laughs than letters in its name" or "more letters than Postman Pat".
The output of the channel is mainly comedy from the BBC with some shows produced in house. A fair amount is similar to the comedy output of UK Play/Play UK before that channel's closure.
Some shows available on UKTV G2 are Top Gear, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Parkinson, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Room 101, QI, Have I Got News for You and Little Britain.
In February 2006, UKTV G2 picked up the rights to show highlights of the RBS Six Nations rugby union championship, with a highlights show broadcast on the evening of the games previously shown live on the BBC. On March 16 2006, UKTV G2 announced a deal to air extensive coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a sublicensing of the BBC's rights to the tournament.[3] UKTV G2 simulcasted the BBC's live matches, including the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica, England's game with Paraguay and the final. The channel also showed highlights of every match in the tournament.
Rebranding & Freeview Launch
In September 2007, it was announced that the channel will be relaunched and renamed to Dave on October 15.[4] On Freeview, With the launch of Dave, UKTV History reduces its Freeview hours and UKTV Bright Ideas closes. The channel will be avaliable from 7am to 3am daily on all platforms.
Programming
Current Programming
Current Programming shown in the daytime
- Airport
- Top Gear
- The Best of Top Gear
- Ray Mears: Bushcraft
- Ray Mears: World of Survival
- A Life of Grime
- A Life of Grime New York
Logos
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UK Gold 2 (Autumn 1998 - May 2001)
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UKTV G2 (November 2003 - October 2007)
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Dave - "The Home of Witty Banter" (October 2007 - Present)
References
- ^ UKTV G2: Meet Dave: The new name for UKTV G2
- ^ UKTV considers G2 Freeview launch Digital Spy, August 8th 2007
- ^ UKTV lands huge World Cup rights deal DigitalSpy.co.uk, March 16th 2006
- ^ UKTV G2 becomes Dave, joins Freeview
External links
- G2 at UKTV.co.uk
- UKTV G2 at TV Ark
- The TV Room looks at presentation/branding on the UKTV channels