Challenge (TV channel)
| Country | United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland |
|---|---|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting |
Challenge is a United Kingdom digital TV channel that mostly airs programmes dedicated to gameshows. It is owned by British Sky Broadcasting.
The channel was originally called The Family Channel from 1 September 1993 to 31 January 1997, which aired a mixture of genre shows mainly including sitcoms, game shows, dramas and entertainment.
The Family Channel was later re-branded as Challenge TV from 1 February 1998 and the channel now mainly focuses on gameshows taken from a variety of terrestrial and digital channel archives (among the few non-gameshows it has aired the short-lived U.S. drama Dr. Vegas and the 1995 crime drama film Casino).
The channel was originally a primetime block between 19:00 to 00:00 after The Children's Channel block has ended but since The Children's Channel closed on 3 April 1998, Challenge TV is now a 24 hours, 7 days a week channel.
On 20 May 2002, the channel was re-named again, becoming Challenge?. On 30 June 2003, the question mark was dropped: Challenge.
The channel mostly transmits repeats of programmes acquired from UK terrestrial channel archives (e.g. BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5) and a few from around the world (e.g. - NBC (USA), Nine Network (Australia), M-Net (South Africa)), with a few original productions commissioned by Challenge itself.
The channel also aired some poker game shows including World Poker Tour, Celebrity Blackjack and Casino Casino, this also launched a short-lived spin-off channel, Player, which mainly focused on poker game shows that Challenge had transmitted.
The channel only aired programmes in the letterbox format (4:3), but on 3 June 2008, it switched to the widescreen format (16:9) along with all other Living TV Group channels. This was coupled with a revamped logo.
The channel used to have interactive features for digital cable and satellite viewers watching certain shows, enabling them to play along at home, and it used to offer many games and competitions before the start of each programme, during commercial breaks and after the end of each programme.
On 15 September 2010, it was announced that it will on an unconfirmed date close all of its sister channels Bravo, Bravo 2 and Channel One.[1] Bravo, Bravo 2 and Challenge Jackpot closed on 1 January 2011 and Channel One closed on 31 January 2011. Channel One's Freeview space on the Freeview multiplex will be used by Challenge to launch on the platform on 1 February 2011.[2] On 25 January 2011 it was confirmed that Total Nonstop Action Wrestling programming would start broadcasting on Challenge from 3 February 2011.[3] It was also confirmed on the same day that the channel number for Freeview would be channel 46.[3]
Programming
Current programming made by Challenge
| Name of show | Original dates of the programming so far aired by Challenge | When aired by Challenge |
|---|---|---|
Current programming made by Challenge currently taking a break
| Name of show | Original dates of the programming so far aired by Challenge | When aired by Challenge |
|---|---|---|
Former Programming made by the Family Channel/Challenge(TV)
| Name of show | Original dates of the programming so far aired by Challenge | When aired by Challenge |
|---|---|---|
Current Programming originally shown by other broadcasters
| Name of show | Original channel that aired | Original dates of the programming currently being aired by Challenge | When aired by Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
Current programming originally shown by other broadcasters currently taking a break
| Name of show | Original channel that aired | Original dates of the programming so far aired by Challenge | When aired by Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
Former Programming originally shown by other broadcasters
| Name of show | Original channel that aired | Original dates of the programming so far aired by The Family Channel/Challenge | When aired by The Family Channel/Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
References
- ^ Sweney, Mark (15 September 2010). "BSkyB to close Bravo and Channel One". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "BARB reported channels". Overnights.tv. 17 January 2011.
- ^ a b "TNA set for Freeview". The Sun. 25 January 2011.
External links
- Challenge at sky.com
- Challenge Jackpot.com
