- Dave (TV channel)
-
Dave 
Launched October 1998 Owned by UKTV
(BBC Worldwide/Scripps Networks Interactive)Picture format 576i (16:9 and 4:3) (SDTV),
1080i (HDTV)Audience share 0.8%
0.3% (Dave ja vu)
(June 2011, BARB)Slogan "The Home of Witty Banter" Country United Kingdom
IrelandFormerly called UK Gold Classics
(1998-1999)
UK Gold 2 (1999-2003)
UKG² (2003-2004)
UKTV G2 (2004-2007)Sister channel(s) Alibi
Blighty
Eden
GOLD
Good Food
Home
Really
Watch
YesterdayTimeshift service Dave ja vu Availability Terrestrial Freeview Channel 19
Channel 25 (ja vu)Satellite Sky Channel 111 (HD)
Channel 158 (ja vu)Cable Virgin Media Channel 128
Channel 129 (HD)
Channel 191 (ja vu)UPC Ireland Channel 122 Smallworld Cable Channel 114 IPTV TalkTalk TV Channel 40 Internet television TVCatchup Watch live (UK only) Dave (formerly UKTV G2) is a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland owned by UKTV. The channel is available on satellite, cable, IPTV and Freeview platforms. The channel took the name Dave in October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.
Contents
History
UK Gold Classics and UK Gold 2
UK Gold Classics, UKTV's first digital-only channel, was launched in October 1998; around this time UK Gold began to move towards newer programmes instead of older ones; the 'classics' lineup included a number of early shows, including some black-and-white programmes, which had been acquired in the early years of the UK Gold service.
The 'Classics' format lasted just seven months, however; from 2 April 1999, the channel was renamed to UK Gold 2, and screened morning programmes from UK Gold time-shifted to the evening of the same day.
UKG2 and UKTV G2
The UK Gold subsidiary channel was again relaunched with a completely new programme line-up and renamed UKG² on 12 November 2003. The channel was promoted as being an edgier alternative to UK Gold; like that channel, the output was mainly comedy from the BBC with some shows produced inhouse. A fair amount is similar to the comedy output of UK Play/Play UK before that channel's closure; however, unlike Play, the channel did not include music videos.
Along with the rest of the UKTV network, the "UK" prefix was changed to "UKTV" on 8 March 2004 and therefore the channel name changed to UKTV G2. The continuity announcer, 'Colin Murnane' had been known to make fun of the extreme length of the full name saying that "it's for watching rather than saying", "more laughs than letters in its name" or "more letters than Postman Pat" "Ucktavagahtoo for watching not pronouncin" and according to DigitalSpy said "just what this channel needs a show with two more letters. This is QI on UKTVG2 on th B O X".
Initially, the channel broadcast in the evenings only, but during the 'G2' era the decision was made to expand hours into the daytime; to expand the programming line-up, comedy was joined by popular-factual and magazine shows which were already running on UKTV People (now Blighty) such as Top Gear and Airport.
Programming history
Some shows available on Dave include Mock the Week, Top Gear, Red Dwarf, QI, Have I Got News for You, Little Britain, Dragons' Den and stand up comedy shows, among many others.
On 7 October 2005, it was announced that they would show sports programming. This new line-up was called UKTV Sport and included a new show by the same name. UKTV Sport also had its own logo and DOG. There was talk that this could lead to a channel but it never happened.[1]
In February 2006, they 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 16 March 2006, they announced a deal to air extensive coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a sub licensing of the BBC's rights to the tournament.[2] UKTV G2 simulcast 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.
Dave and Freeview launch
In September 2007, UKTV announced that they would relaunch and rename UKTV G2 to Dave on 15 October.[3] UKTV said the name of the channel was chosen because "Everybody knows a bloke called Dave".[4][5] The rebrand included the channel being available free-to-air on digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, replacing UKTV Bright Ideas which only averaged 0.1% of the audience share.[6] The move to Freeview saw Dave launch in the bandwidth previously used by UKTV History which was moved to the time limited (7am to 6pm) bandwidth once occupied by UKTV Bright Ideas. Dave is available daily, from 7am to 3am, on all platforms. It uses the tagline "the home of witty banter" and uses Ralph Ineson as an announcer, along with David Flynn (now with GOLD), Phill Jupitus, Iain Lee and Radio 1 DJ Greg James, who announce during the prime-time schedule.
To ensure that all Freeview viewers receive the channel on number 19, UKTV briefly placed a re-tuning notice on the programme's information.
From 31 January 2008, the channel began broadcasting in widescreen, along with the other UKTV channels.[7]
In April 2009, they aired 3 new instalments of Red Dwarf, titled Back to Earth. This marked the channel's first foray into scripted original programming. During the airing of the Red Dwarf mini-series, the Dave DOG in the top left corner of the screen had the word 'Lister' added after it in the same font after the show's lead character; during the show it is even suggested that the station is named after him. Back to Earth brought record breaking viewing figures, not just in the context of the channel's past, but for digital television in general.[8]
In June 2009, the logo was updated to incorporate the 'circle' logo branding of all the new UKTV channels (for example Blighty, and Really). At this time,[when?] the voice of Dave became Nigel Grover, aka, Scott Saunders, who had previously worked at a number of local radio stations.
Dave HD
On 29 July 2011, UKTV announced that it had secured a deal with BSkyB to launch three more high-definition channels on Sky.[9] As part of Virgin Media's deal to sell its share of UKTV, all five of UKTV's HD channels will be added to Virgin's cable television service by 2012.[10] Dave HD launched on 10 October 2011 on Sky and Virgin Media,[11] two days before Watch HD, while Alibi HD will launch in 2012. All three channels will be HD simulcasts of the standard-definition channels.
Timeshift
Timeshift logo
A one-hour timeshifted service of the channel - then known as UKTV G2 - began to operate on 1 November 2004, under the name UKTV G2 +1. As UKTV G2 at the time was an evenings-only service, the timeshift also operated in the evenings only, using the satellite and cable capacity which, during daytime, was used by the now-defunct UKTV Bright Ideas. The sharing arrangement meant that when UKTV G2's hours extended into daytime, the timeshift remained evenings-only.
At the time of the Dave relaunch, UKTV Bright Ideas closed, freeing up the space to allow UKTV G2 +1 to expand its hours to follow those of the parent channel fully; due to the main channel's relaunch as Dave, UKTV G2 +1 became Dave +1.
The timeshift was initially available on the Virgin Media and Sky platforms; from 22 January 2009, following UKTV's acquisition of a further Freeview broadcast slot, Dave +1 was made available on the digital terrestrial platform.
On 24 February 2009, Dave +1 was renamed Dave ja vu (a play on the phrase déjà vu) on all platforms; this was carried out to "strengthen the brand's positioning as the home of witty banter"[12] according to UKTV bosses.
During the channel's World Cup 2006 coverage, UKTV was not permitted to timeshift the World Cup matches; for this reason, UKTV G2 +1 (as it was then known) became a full-time 'mirror' of the main channel's schedule during the tournament, returning to its one-hour delay the day after the competition concluded.
On 14 June 2011, UKTV announced that Really would launch on Freeview on 2 August 2011,[13] to facilitate this Dave ja vu's broadcast hours on the platform were reduced from 8am-4am to 2am-4am.
Reception
Within just one month of its launch, Dave had become the tenth largest television channel in the UK. The broadcaster puts daily averages at around 3 million viewers, although, much of the growth may be attributed to its presence on Freeview; nonetheless, it is performing significantly better in pay TV homes than UKTV G2 ever did. Over the month since its launch, Dave averaged a 1.32% share in multichannel homes and a 3.2% share in the 16-34 male demographic.[14]
Dave's positive reception is proven by an attraction of 4 million viewers throughout 18 November 2007 for its coverage of "Car of the Year", pushing it to second place in multichannel behind ITV2.[14]
The shows with the highest ratings are Mock the Week (over 420,000 viewers), Jo Brand's Big Splash (417,000) QI (over 400,000), Top Gear (350,000) and Dragons' Den (about 300,000).
The first episode of Red Dwarf: Back to Earth attracted 2,060,000 viewers.[15] The highest rating original commission before this had been Red Bull X-Fighters (about 185,000).
Sponsorship
As a commercial television channel, Dave raises revenue through advertising and sponsorship.
Programming
Name of show Original channel(s) Original run Absolute Power BBC Two 2003-2005 Airport BBC Two
BBC One1996–2008 Al Murray's Compete for the Meat Dave 2011 Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution Channel 4 2010 Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask Dave 2011-present And Then You Die Dave 2007-2008 Argumental Dave 2008–present A Question of Sport BBC One 1970–present Bang Goes the Theory BBC One 2009-present Banzai E4 2001–2004 Batteries Not Included Dave 2008 Black Books Channel 4 2000-2004 Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia BBC One 1995 Billy Connolly's World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales BBC 2002 Billy Connolly's World Tour of New Zealand BBC 2004 Billy Connolly's World Tour of Scotland BBC 1994 Car Duels UKTV G2 2006 Car of the Year UKTV G2/Dave Carpool Dave 2010–2011 Chandon Pictures Movie Extra (Australia) 2007-2009 Clarkson's Car Years BBC Two 2000 Comedy Connections BBC One 2003–2008 Comedy Exchange Dave 2010 Cooking in the Danger Zone BBC Two 2008 Crash Dave's One Night Stand Dave 2010–present Dead Ringers BBC Two 2002-2007 Dragons' Den BBC HD
BBC Two2005–present Driving Wars Dave 2011-present Everest ER BBC One 2009 Extreme Lives Factory Spike (United States) 2008 The Fast Show BBC Two 1994–2000 FC Dave Dave 2008 Fifth Gear Channel 5 2002–present Full Circle with Michael Palin BBC 1997 Full Metal Challenge Channel 4 2003 Game On BBC Two 1995-1998 Gavin & Stacey BBC Three
BBC Two
BBC One2007-2010 Gears and Tears BBC One 2010 Genius BBC Two 2009-2010 The Graham Norton Show BBC HD
BBC One
BBC Two2007–present GT Racer Treasure HD (United States) 2008–2009 Hardliners 2010-2011 Harry Enfield and Chums BBC One 1994–1997 Harry Enfield's Television Programme BBC Two 1990–1992 Have I Got News For You BBC One
BBC Two1990–present HeadJam BBC Three 2004 High Altitude BBC Two 2009 Hole in the Wall BBC One 2008-2009 Ideal BBC Three 2005–present Improvisation My Dear Mark Watson (Pilot) Dave 2011 I'm Alan Partridge BBC Two 1997–2002 James May's 20th Century BBC Two 2007 James May's Big Ideas BBC Two 2008 James May on the Moon BBC Two 2009 James May's Toy Stories BBC Two 2009-2011 James May's Top Toys BBC Two 2005 Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbours BBC 2002 Jeremy Clarkson's Extreme Machines BBC Two 1998 Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld BBC Two 1995–1996 Jo Brand's Big Splash Dave 2011 Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire BBC HD
BBC Two2009 Lead Balloon BBC Four
BBC Two2006–present Little Britain BBC One
BBC Three2003–2006 Last Man Standing BBC Three 2007-2008 Live at the Apollo BBC One 2004–present Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends BBC Two 1998–2000 Man Stroke Woman BBC Three 2005-2007 Man v. Food Travel Channel (United States) 2008-present Mechannibals BBC Two 2005 Men Behaving Badly ITV1
BBC One1992–1998 Mitch and Matt's Big Fish Good Food 2008 Mock the Week BBC Two 2005–present Never Mind the Buzzcocks BBC Two 1996–present Not Going Out BBC One 2006-present Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure BBC Two 2006-2007 Peep Show Channel 4 2003-present Psychoville BBC Two 2009-2011 Pulling BBC Three 2006–2009 QI BBC Four
BBC Two
BBC One
BBC HD2003–present Race Car Driver Dave 2007-present Radical Highs BBC Two 1998-2000 Ray Mears' Bushcraft BBC Two 2004–2005 Ray Mears' Extreme Survival BBC Two 1999–2002 Ray Mears Goes Walkabout BBC Two 2008 Ray Mears' Wild Food BBC Two 2007 Ray Mears' World of Survival BBC Two 1997–1998 Red Bull X-Fighters Dave 2008-present Red Dwarf BBC Two
Dave1988–1999
2009
2012Rich Hall's Fishing Show BBC Four 2003 Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive BBC Three 2006-2007 Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis BBC Four 2008 Robot Wars Extreme BBC Two 2001–2003 Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul/Harry & Paul BBC One
BBC Two2007-present Russell Howard's Good News BBC Three
BBC HD2009-present School's Out BBC One 2006-2007 Seaside Rescue BBC One 2004-2009 Shameless Channel 4 2004-present Shark Tank ABC (United States) 2009-present Shooting Stars BBC Choice
BBC Two1995-2011 Should I Worry About...? BBC One 2004–2005 Smack the Pony Channel 4 1999–2003 Speed BBC One 2001 Spaced Channel 4 1999–2001 Speeders truTV (United States) 2007–present Star Stories Channel 4 2006-2008 Stephen Fry in America BBC One 2008 Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle BBC Two 2009-present Street Cred Sudoku UKTV G2 2005-2007 That Mitchell and Webb Look BBC Two 2006–present The Accidental Angler BBC Two 2006 The Armstrong and Miller Show BBC One 2007-present The Bubble BBC Two 2010 The Catherine Tate Show BBC Two 2004–2007 The Gadget Show Channel 5 2004–present The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson BBC One 2009-present The Mighty Boosh BBC Three 2004–2007 The Royle Family BBC One 1998-2000 The Smoking Room BBC Three 2004–2005 Three Men in a Boat BBC Two 2006–2011 Top Gear BBC Two
BBC HD2002–present Top of the Pops 2 BBC Two 1994–present Total Wipeout USA ABC (United States) 2008-present Trawlermen BBC One 2006-2010 Traffic Cops BBC One 2003-present Tribe BBC Two 2005–2007 Turn Back Time BBC 2006 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK version) Channel 4 1988–1998 World Rally Championship Dave 2007–2010 World's Most Stupid Criminals Channel 5 2003 Would I Lie To You? BBC One 2007–present Zimbani (pilot) Dave 2010 Upcoming content
- A Bit of Fry and Laurie - starts 26th November at 10:30pm
- Helicopter Heroes - starts 7th December at 11:30am
Dave Weekly podcast
In August 2011, Dave launched a regular comedy podcast called The Dave Weekly hosted on joindave.co.uk and accessible via iTunes.[16] Presented by Ben Shires, the podcast comprises of interviews with comedians like Russell Kane, Jo Brand, Adam Buxton, Paul Foot and Alex Horne along with occasional features.
References
- ^ Conlan, Tara (7 October 2005). "UKTV to launch sport channel | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/oct/07/broadcasting.digitaltv. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
- ^ "Broadcasting — News — UKTV lands huge World Cup rights deal — Digital Spy". http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds30513.html. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ^ "It's Dave — not Bright Ideas and evening History — ukfree.tv — independent digital TV and switchover advice". http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051303. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ^ "'Dave' channel targets young men". BBC News. 20 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7005061.stm. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ Leigh Holmwood (20 September 2007). "UKTV to launch channel called 'Dave' | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/20/television. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ^ "Terrestrial — News — UKTV considers G2 Freeview launch — Digital Spy". http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a70407/uktv-considers-g2-freeview-launch.html. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ^ "UKTV goes widescreen". UKTV. http://uktv.co.uk/uktv/stepbystep/aid/598215. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
- ^ "Back To Earth Natterings". http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2009/06/26/back-to-earth-natterings/.
- ^ "UKTV enters VoD market with landmark HD content deal with Sky". UKTV. 29 July 2011. http://uktv.co.uk/network/item/aid/646048.
- ^ "Virgin Media sells £239m stake in UKTV". Financial Times. 15 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-cz51SAczqUJ:www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04a841ee-c729-11e0-a9ef-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1VI55De3n.
- ^ "Virgin TV just got even bigger". Virgin Media. http://my.virginmedia.com/customer-news/articles/UKTVNew/. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ^ "UKTV launches Dave ja vu — Brand Republic". http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/883914/UKTV-launches-Dave-ja-vu/. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "UKTV secures free to air slot for Really, its cutting edge lifestyle channel". UKTV. 14 June 2011. http://uktv.co.uk/network/item/aid/645227.
- ^ a b Welsh, James (2007-11-21). "UKTV celebrates Dave's growth". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a80331/uktv-celebrates-daves-growth.html. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ "Television — News — New 'Red Dwarf' pulls in over 2 million". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a152469/new-red-dwarf-pulls-in-over-2-million.html?rss. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ "The Dave Weekly Podcast on iTunes". http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dave-weekly/id458044498.
External links
UKTV Channels Former channels Categories:- Television channels and stations established in 1998
- UKTV channels
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
