UKTV Preps New General Entertainment Channel

LONDON, June 12: UKTV is
set to launch a new channel this October featuring a slate of BBC shows, movies
and other content, and is refocusing its UKTV Gold brand on comedy, while UKTV
Drama will be dedicated to the crime genre.

The as-yet-unnamed new
entertainment subscription channel will combine high-quality contemporary BBC
shows like Torchwood, Mistresses
and Larkrise to Candleford with
movies and the new Richard and Judy
prime-time show, among other offerings. UKTV is positioning the channel as a
linear catch-up service for “modern classics.” More details will be revealed
this summer.

UKTV Gold, currently home
to classic series, will be dedicated purely to comedy, featuring shows like Only
Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers and Little Britain. The name will remain the same.

UKTV Drama, meanwhile,
will move away from modern and classic drama and comedy to focus solely on the
crime genre. Programs will include Miss Marple and Waking the Dead.

Matthew Littleford, the
controller of UKTV, noted: “We’ve already got the number one pay channel, Gold,
in entertainment. Building on that position of strength, we’ve decided to take
the bold decision to launch two new entertainment channels and re-brand Gold,
all by Q4 this year. The scale of change at UKTV demonstrates the magnitude of
our ambition and will future-proof our business as we head towards 2012.”

Christian Drobnyk, the
director of entertainment, added: “We need to grab viewers’ attention as they
flick through the EPG with strong channel brands that resonate with our viewers
and showcase the exceptional lineup of programs we have. This will ensure we
have the most editorially and commercially desirable channels in multichannel.”

—By Mansha Daswani