Dave

World Screen Weekly, January 17, 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

LAUNCH DATE: October 15, 2007

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: Dave reaches 20 million homes across the U.K. via cable, satellite and Freeview.

OWNERSHIP: Dave is one of nine channels operated by UKTV, a joint venture of BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media Television.

DESCRIPTION: Tagged as “The Home of Witty Banter,” Dave offers up a mix of sketch-show sitcoms, panel-show comedies, factual entertainment and motoring content, all with trademark irreverence and humor.

CHANNEL HEAD: Steve North

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Evolved from UKTV’s G2, Dave is a male-skewing comedy and factual entertainment channel that aims to “tap into a sense of banter, a sense of fun, a sort of communication and a sense of people interacting and reacting to each other,” says the channel’s head, Steve North. He explains that although Dave targets ABC1 males aged 16 to 44, the channel “does not alienate females. It’s slightly more thought-provoking than a lot of the other male channels out there.”

In its first month of broadcast, the channel garnered a 1.32-percent share of total multichannel homes and a 3.2-percent share of 16- to 34-year-old males. In pay-TV homes, Dave brought in 1.8 million new viewers, increasing its viewership by 35 percent since the re-branding. Today, Dave is attracting more than 3 million viewers daily.

In terms of competition, North sees “everyone being a competitor in different areas.” He goes on to explain: “The terrestrial channels—BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4—have certain areas of their schedules that are competitors for ours. And there are smaller channels—Paramount Comedy, Bravo, ITV4—where a larger section of their schedule is in competition with us.” North notes: “segments on different channels are competing with [Dave] instead of whole channels themselves.”

Dave has launched several original series since its inception, including the panel show And Then You Die. Hosted by ’80s puppet comic Barrie Stardust, the series celebrates mediocrity, death and “the harder side of life.” North describes the show as “quite a comedy, very irreverent and mod and clever; a little bit different using a puppet as a host.” Car of the Year was a top-performing original for the network, and was the first live show to air on Dave. Viewers were able to log on to the website and vote in five different car categories, and for the overall winner of Car of the Year. Another top performer in the way of original fare is Totally Viral, which looks at the “weird and wacky stuff on the web.”

Other series proving to be hits right out of the gate include the motoring series Top Gear and the panel show QI. The appeal of QI, which stands for “Quite Interesting,” North says, is the interaction between the host, Stephen Fry, and the guests. “It’s the banter of the comedians on the show that is incredibly funny and enjoyable to watch. It’s all slightly smarter humor and clever in the way they are doing it.”

Top Gear, from the BBC, sees three hosts performing outlandish motoring challenges, but again, plays on their interaction. “At the heart of both of these programs is the witty banter,” explains North, “and that’s the essence of the channel as well.”

North says that the young channel is still formulating its strategy for non-linear platforms. “We are looking at our options. We need to take a step back at the moment and ask what’s right for us and for our viewers; what’s going to be the best way to enhance the experience of the channel.”

WHAT’S NEW: Dave is dedicating the month of January to what it calls “Quizcoms”: programs that combine quiz-show formats with comedic twists. The channel’s current Quizcom roster includes Hey I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, QI and They Think It’s All Over. In February, the channel hopes to introduce more motoring programming.

“[This] year is a blank canvas for us at the moment,” says North. “At the moment it’s all about making sure our viewers understand what the channel is all about before we introduce different things.”

WEBSITE: Dave-TV.co.uk

—By Kristin Brzoznowski