Article
June 14, 2011
UKTV secures Freeview slot for Really, its cutting edge lifestyle channel.
London, Tuesday 14th June 2011: Award winning broadcaster, UKTV today announced that it is strengthening its commitment to its lifestyle genre by launching Really onto Freeview.
Moving to Freeview channel 20 on 2nd August from 08.00 until 02:00 Really will still be available on Sky and Virgin Media. Replacing Dave Ja Vu, Really will sit immediately below its UKTV-stablemate, Dave, the home of witty banter, on Freeview’s EPG. This move will mean that three of the award-winning broadcaster’s offerings are available free to air, one from each of its three key programming genres: factual (Yesterday), entertainment (Dave) and lifestyle (Really).
UKTV’s CEO, Darren Childs, says, “UKTV has an ambitious growth strategy for 2011 and beyond and investment in our Lifestyle channels is integral to our success. We’ve already got the two leading channels in the genre – Home and Good Food. By securing a free-to-air slot for Really and investing considerably in its content, we are confident UKTV will continue to dominate the genre.”
Originally launched by UKTV as part of its ambitious network rebrand in May 2009 with the strapline “You couldn’t make it up!” Really offers an eye-opening insight into people’s lives. Targeting predominately young women, Really offers honest, outrageous and fun programming.
UKTV’s Clare Laycock, Interim Director of Lifestyle and Channel Head of Really and Home, adds, “We’ve secured a highly visible EPG position right next to Dave and that, together with Really’s compelling visual identity and schedule packed full of guilty TV pleasures will ensure it stands out from the crowd. There is so much untapped potential with this channel and with a more prominent shop window to show off our wares, we’ll be looking to maximise Really’s potential.”
The eye-catching schedule is packed full of UK exclusive and high profile US imports including the original Tool Academy and Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew; a daily strand of shock docs such as Pregnant Man and Baby Beauty Queens; and trusted BBC Three titles such as Snog, Marry, Avoid and Bizarre ER; Really offers an honest insight into people’s lives… that really gets you talking.
Really will be UKTV’s third channel to join on the Freeview platform, following the highly acclaimed rebrand and launch of Dave, the home of witty banter, in October 2007. Yesterday, UKTV’s factual offering in Freeview, has grown to become Britain’s most watched factual channel.
The launch has been overseen by UKTV’s interim Controller, Christian Drobnyk.
Really. New to Freeview 20; Sky 248 and Virgin 267
Notes to Editors
Formed in 1997, UKTV is an independent commercial joint venture, between BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and Virgin Media.
Attracting 36 million viewers each month, the network consists of 10 distinctive channel brands – Watch, Gold, Dave, Alibi, Yesterday, Blighty, Eden, Home, Really and Good Food – offering a broad range of quality programming across entertainment, lifestyle and factual programming. UKTV currently operates 24 broadcast streams when multiplexes (+1s) and HD channels are taken into account, and 11 highly successful websites.
Promising to creatively connect its audiences with great programming, UKTV’s successful programming strategy combines quality content from the BBC with high profile original commissions and key acquisitions.
All UKTV channels are distributed on Sky and Virgin Media. Dave, Dave ja vu, Yesterday are also available on Freeview.