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U&Gold
U&Gold is a British premium television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in November 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, Watch (later U&W), with classic comedy based programming airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on Watch (later U&W), and quiz shows and more high-brow comedy airing on Dave (later U&Dave). In 2024, Gold was rebranded as U&Gold. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters. Every December, from 2015 until 2018, the channel was temporarily renamed to Christmas Gold. This has since been discontinued, although the channel still continues to broadcast Christmas comedy.
The rights to the BBC programmes were previously held by the BSB entertainment channel Galaxy, prior to the merger with Sky Television to form BSkyB in November 1990 and early in 1992, BBC programmes were no longer broadcast on any BSkyB channel, having latterly aired on The Comedy Channel.
The channel was formed as a joint venture between the BBC, through commercial arm BBC Enterprises, American company Cox Enterprises and outgoing ITV London weekday franchisee Thames Television, known as European Channel Management. The channel, named "UK Gold", was to show repeats of the 'classic' archive programming from the two broadcasters. The channel launched on 1 November 1992 at 7 pm with Just Good Friends. The first commercial shown on the channel was for Lucozade, and all commercials shown in the first three breaks on the channel's launch night either had the word gold or golden in either the name of the brand advertised or mentioned in the commercial itself.
UK Gold was initially broadcast on an analogue transponder from an SES satellite at 19.2°E which was less well suited for UK reception. As a result, the channel used to be notorious for being marred with interference, known as 'sparklies', in large parts of the UK. Another initial drawback was the cutting of programming down to fit commercial time slots, and the intensive use of commercial breaks. Reception improved however with the channel added to BSkyB's basic subscription package in 1993, and the launch of the channel on cable services.
In 1993, Flextech gained its first stake in the station after acquiring Tele-Communications Inc.'s TV interests in Europe. In 1996, it started discussions about increasing its stake, to gain full control. At that point, Flextech held 27% with Cox (38%), BBC (20%) and Pearson (15%). By the Autumn, Flextech held 80% of UK Gold. Flextech's main reason for increasing its stake in UK Gold was in participation of new talks with the BBC.
The channel's success led to the launch of the UKTV network on 1 November 1997, owned by BBC Worldwide and Flextech, and consisting of three other channels: UK Arena, UK Horizons and UK Style, focusing on the arts, factual and lifestyle programmes respectively. The UKTV network would expand to include numerous more channels as the years progressed.
To coincide with the launch of Sky Digital, a sister network entitled UK Gold Classics was launched on 2 October 1998, becoming UKTV's first digital-exclusive network. The channel focused on older programmes that aired on the main UK Gold within its launch, as the main channel was at the time focusing on more newer programmes. The channel only broadcast during the weekend, airing from 6 pm to 2 am; Friday to Sunday. On 28 March 1999, the channel closed under the "Classics" format and on 2 April 1999 was relaunched as UK Gold 2, becoming a secondary timeshift service that broadcast UK Gold's daytime schedule in the evening. Initially, the channel broadcast on weekends only, but expanded to a full 7-day-a-week schedule in June.
On 30 June 2002, UKTV announced the launch of a one-hour timeshift service of the network, entitled UK Gold +1. The channel launched on Sky the following month on 1 August. It initially only broadcast during the evening from 7 pm to 7 am, much like UK Gold 2 but on 12 November 2003, the channel gained a full 24-hour slot.
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U&Gold
U&Gold is a British premium television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in November 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, Watch (later U&W), with classic comedy based programming airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on Watch (later U&W), and quiz shows and more high-brow comedy airing on Dave (later U&Dave). In 2024, Gold was rebranded as U&Gold. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters. Every December, from 2015 until 2018, the channel was temporarily renamed to Christmas Gold. This has since been discontinued, although the channel still continues to broadcast Christmas comedy.
The rights to the BBC programmes were previously held by the BSB entertainment channel Galaxy, prior to the merger with Sky Television to form BSkyB in November 1990 and early in 1992, BBC programmes were no longer broadcast on any BSkyB channel, having latterly aired on The Comedy Channel.
The channel was formed as a joint venture between the BBC, through commercial arm BBC Enterprises, American company Cox Enterprises and outgoing ITV London weekday franchisee Thames Television, known as European Channel Management. The channel, named "UK Gold", was to show repeats of the 'classic' archive programming from the two broadcasters. The channel launched on 1 November 1992 at 7 pm with Just Good Friends. The first commercial shown on the channel was for Lucozade, and all commercials shown in the first three breaks on the channel's launch night either had the word gold or golden in either the name of the brand advertised or mentioned in the commercial itself.
UK Gold was initially broadcast on an analogue transponder from an SES satellite at 19.2°E which was less well suited for UK reception. As a result, the channel used to be notorious for being marred with interference, known as 'sparklies', in large parts of the UK. Another initial drawback was the cutting of programming down to fit commercial time slots, and the intensive use of commercial breaks. Reception improved however with the channel added to BSkyB's basic subscription package in 1993, and the launch of the channel on cable services.
In 1993, Flextech gained its first stake in the station after acquiring Tele-Communications Inc.'s TV interests in Europe. In 1996, it started discussions about increasing its stake, to gain full control. At that point, Flextech held 27% with Cox (38%), BBC (20%) and Pearson (15%). By the Autumn, Flextech held 80% of UK Gold. Flextech's main reason for increasing its stake in UK Gold was in participation of new talks with the BBC.
The channel's success led to the launch of the UKTV network on 1 November 1997, owned by BBC Worldwide and Flextech, and consisting of three other channels: UK Arena, UK Horizons and UK Style, focusing on the arts, factual and lifestyle programmes respectively. The UKTV network would expand to include numerous more channels as the years progressed.
To coincide with the launch of Sky Digital, a sister network entitled UK Gold Classics was launched on 2 October 1998, becoming UKTV's first digital-exclusive network. The channel focused on older programmes that aired on the main UK Gold within its launch, as the main channel was at the time focusing on more newer programmes. The channel only broadcast during the weekend, airing from 6 pm to 2 am; Friday to Sunday. On 28 March 1999, the channel closed under the "Classics" format and on 2 April 1999 was relaunched as UK Gold 2, becoming a secondary timeshift service that broadcast UK Gold's daytime schedule in the evening. Initially, the channel broadcast on weekends only, but expanded to a full 7-day-a-week schedule in June.
On 30 June 2002, UKTV announced the launch of a one-hour timeshift service of the network, entitled UK Gold +1. The channel launched on Sky the following month on 1 August. It initially only broadcast during the evening from 7 pm to 7 am, much like UK Gold 2 but on 12 November 2003, the channel gained a full 24-hour slot.