Virgin1

Infobox TV channel
name = Virgin1
logofile = Virgin1.png logoalt =
launch = 1 October 2007
picture format = 16:9, 576i (SDTV)
replaced names = Ftn
share = 0.6% (0.2% for +1)
share as of = July 2008
share source = [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/monthreports.cfm?report=monthgmulti&requesttimeout=500&
]
owner = Virgin Media Television
country = UK
sister names = Virgin Central
timeshift names = Virgin1+1
web = [http://www.virgin1.co.uk www.virgin1.co.uk]
terr serv 1 = Freeview
terr chan 1 = Channel 20 (18:00 - 06:00)
sat serv 1 = Sky Digital
sat chan 1 = Channel 121
Channel 122 (+1)
cable serv 1 = Virgin Media
On Demand Content in
cable chan 1 = Channel 122
Channel 123 (+1)
Catch-Up TV On Demand
TV Choice On Demand
cable serv 2 = UPC Ireland
cable chan 2 = Channel 129|

Virgin1 is the flagship television channel operated by the British broadcaster Virgin Media Television. The channel was launched on 1 October 2007 at 9pm on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky Digital, replacing Ftn.

The channel will initially have a £40 million budget as well as being funded through advertising revenue.

The channel is broadcast 24 hours on cable and satellite complemented by the Virgin1+1 service (not available on Freeview). As Ftn only broadcast for 12 hours on Freeview, Virgin1 is broadcast on Freeview only from 6:00 pm until 6:00 am.

From 3 June 2008 Virgin1 has been capable of widescreen (16:9) broadcasting along with the other Virgin Media Television channels.

History

Virgin1 was launched on 1 October 2007 on all platforms (Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky Digital) replacing former Virgin Media Television channel Ftn. The network had previously expressed their interest in running a general entertainment channel, to coincide with the relaunch of NTL:Telewest to Virgin Media. Some media sources have claimed that Virgin1 is intended to be in direct competition with British Sky Broadcasting's Sky1 [cite news| title = Virgin 1 Freeview channel to rival Sky One| publisher = Tech.co.uk| date = 11 June, 2007| url = http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/video/film-and-tv/news/virgin-1-freeview-channel-to-rival-sky-one?articleid=1656449795| accessdate = 2007-11-04] , which has an average of around 0.9% of the market compared to Virgin1's 0.8%. Virgin1's sister channel Living has 1.0% audience share combined with its timeshifted service. It was announced in the summer of 2007 that Virgin Media Television was to launch the new channel. [cite news| title = Virgin Media Television announces Virgin 1| publisher = Virgin Media Press Office| date = 12 June, 2007| url = http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1014424&highlight| accessdate = 2006-08-24] At first the company stated that all of their other channels, including Ftn would still run as normal, but because of Ftn having a key Freeview primetime slot which would increase any channels audience share this was later changed. [cite news| title = Launch of Virgin 1 on Freeview| publisher = Freeview.co.uk| date =| url = http://freeview.co.uk/help/channels-programming/q102| accessdate = 2006-08-24] As a result of the launch of Virgin1, Ftn closed, leaving its EPG positions on Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview to Virgin1. [cite news| title = Virgin 1 launch date announced| publisher = Digital Spy| date = 18 September, 2007| url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a75847/virgin-1-launch-date-announced.html| accessdate = 2006-09-18] The channel went on to achieve its highest ratings thus far, with the season premiere of Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles which secured a 4.2% share of multi channel viewers. [ [http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/785823/Terminator-series-gives-Virgin-1-record-audience/ Terminator series gives Virgin 1 record audience - Brand Republic Login - Brand Republic ] ]

Launch Night

On the launch night, the channel started of at 18:00 by showing three hours of looped previews accompanied by a countdown until the official launch at 21:00.

The schedule after the previews for the primetime shows on the channels launch night were as follows:

Notable Shows

The schedule for Virgin1 currently consists of a mixture of American and British comedy, drama and factual programming, both acquired and commissioned. The channel is pitched between female-targeted channel Living and male-targeted channel Bravo. The channel also shows some content from Living, Bravo, Challenge and Trouble.

V Funny Sunday

V Funny Sunday was a programming block that aired on Sunday evenings from 11th November 2007 until 24th February 2008 which featured classic comedy from the United States. The block was thought to have taken inspiration from the US network Fox (owned by Sky1 parent News Corp) which airs a comedy block on Sunday evenings (known as LOL Sunday).

=References=

External links

* [http://www.virgin1.co.uk Official Website]
* [http://www.virginmediatv.co.uk Virgin Media Television]