UKTV

'UKTV' is a joint venture between the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, and Virgin Media owned Virgin Media Television, formerly ''Flextech Television''. UKTV is one of the United Kingdom's largest television companies.
UKTV's channels are available via satellite and cable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. In the UK, on digital terrestrial television, UKTV History and UKTV Bright Ideas are available on the Freeview platform, and selected parts of UKTV Gold, UKTV Style and UKTV Food are available through Top Up TV.
Most programmes on UKTV's channels are repeat broadcasts of BBC productions (although the entertainment channels also feature programmes made by other companies) and the channels themselves are played out by Red Bee Media (formerly ''BBC Broadcast'') from their 'Broadcast Centre' in West London.
UKTV has been criticised in recent years. Criticisms include the allegation that factual programming is cut down for commercial timing, but other programmes like comedy and drama, are not. Another point is that UKTV never (except World Cup games on UKTV G2) broadcasts in a 16:9 widescreen format, leaving a lot of its programming, and all adverts, with stretched pictures if viewed on a widescreen television from a set-top box without correct pillarboxing. Widescreen transmissions are cut down to a 14:9 format leaving the sides of the picture cut off. However, UKTV recently had a survey asking about UKTV broadcasting in widescreen.

Contents

Channels

Closed channels

External links

Channels

★ UKTV Bright Ideas

★ UKTV Documentary

★ UKTV Drama

★ UKTV Food

★ UKTV G2

★ UKTV Gold

★ UKTV History

★ UKTV People

★ UKTV Style

★ UKTV Gardens
All but Bright Ideas, People, and Gardens have a timeshifted service.

Closed channels

★ UK Horizons - closed to create UKTV People and UKTV Documentary

★ UK Arena - focused on arts programming. Closed due to insufficient ratings, relaunched — originally with the same graphics — as UK Drama, see above

★ Play UK (formerly UK Play) — closed, became UKG2.

★ UKTV People +1 - closed to create UKTV Drama +1
UK Horizons and UK Arena were named after the BBC's flagship science and arts documentaries, ''Horizon'' and ''Arena''.
Note that there was a channel called UK Living that was originally affiliated with UK Gold but did not become part of the UKTV network, it changed its name to LivingTV before the UKTV network launched.

External links

★ UKTV.co.uk

★ BBC

★ Virgin Media

★ Top Up TV

★ The TV Room looks at presentation/branding on the UKTV channels