Quest (British TV channel)
Country | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | Discovery Networks Western Europe |
Quest is a television channel in the United Kingdom. Quest provides factual, lifestyle, entertainment programmes and other imported material. The channel is operated by Discovery Networks Western Europe.
History
Launch
In October 2008, Discovery announced that they would launch a channel on Freeview in early 2009, but without using the "Discovery" name. A placeholder appeared on Freeview channel 47 on 5 January 2009 and Tiscali TV channel 109 on 14 May 2009.[1] Although the channel planned to launch on 14 May 2009 at 10am, after broadcasting a promo loop on the planned launch morning, at 10am the channel returned to displaying a "Coming soon" message.[2][3]
The Quest website displayed a message reading: "Regrettably we have made the decision to postpone the launch of Quest. Due to a number of commercial factors we have had to make this difficult decision. We did not make this decision lightly and we are working towards launching Quest in the near future. We would like to apologise wholeheartedly to any of you that have been looking forward to this launch."
In August 2009, Discovery Networks announced that it planned to launch the channel on 30 September 2009.[4] At the same time the channel moved to channel 38.[5] Quest launched on Sky, on 1 October 2009, after acquiring an EPG slot from Information TV 2. Quest +1 launched on Sky, replacing DMAX +1.5 on 2 November 2009.[6]
Quest launched on Virgin Media on 25 March 2010 on channel 179.
Notable features
It is notable for cropping the top and bottom from 4:3 programming in order to make it 16:9. Furthermore, if the channel is viewed with a receiver set to 4:3, the sides are cropped from the image (including cutting the channel logo in half) meaning only the very centre of the original picture is viewable.
Full-time
On 15 October 2010, Quest began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule on all platforms except Freeview.[7] On 30 June 2011, Gems TV acquired a 24-hour Freeview stream,[8] ending their timeshare with Quest, allowing Quest to begin broadcasting for 24 hours a day on Freeview as well.
Quest +1 on Freeview
At the beginning of March 2014, Quest +1 appeared on Freeview channel 57. On 27 May 2014, Quest moved on Freeview to channel 37 and Quest +1 moved to channel 38.
Sports coverage
On 21 July 2014, Quest announced that they would be broadcasting live football in the form of the 2014 Schalke 04 Cup - a pre-season tournament featuring the likes of Newcastle United F.C. and West Ham United F.C.[9] Five months later the channel broadcast live coverage of the Dubai Challenge Cup.[10]
Speedway highlights are also shown on Quest.
Sky channel moves
On 17 October 2013, Quest moved from 154 to 167 on Sky, while TLC +1 moved from 195 to 154, and Quest +1 moved from 167 to 195.
On 16 July 2015, Quest moved from 167 to 144 on Sky,[11] switching places with sister channel DMAX.
Logos
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Quest logo (2009–2014)
-
Quest logo (2014-Present)
See also
References
- ^ "Placeholder for Quest appears on Freeview". Retrieved 6 January 2009.
- ^ "Discovery's Quest to launch in May". Broadcast. 23 February 2009.
- ^ "Quest TV - Failed launch - The Story". Radio & Telly. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
- ^ "Quest sets Freeview launch date". Broadcastnow. 5 August 2009.
- ^ "'Industrial Junkie' to premiere on Quest". Digital Spy. 7 September 2009.
- ^ "Implementation - Quest +1". AGB Nielsen Media Research. 2 October 2009.
- ^ "Quest goes 24 hours". The Airwaves. 15 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
- ^ "Freeview 24/7 for GemsTV". ShoppingTelly. 29 June 2011.
- ^ "Quest will be broadcasting the 2014 Schalke 04 Cup live". Twitter. 21 July 2014.
- ^ http://www.a516digital.com/2014/12/freeview-football-bonus-as-quest-covers.html
- ^ https://twitter.com/QuestTV/status/621604220819636224