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Information about Challenge

Challenge
Launched1 September, 1993
Owned byVirgin Media Television
Picture format, 576i (SDTV)
Audience share0.3% (0.1% for +1)
(September 2007, [1])
Formerly calledThe Family Channel
(until February 1997),
Challenge TV
(until May 2002),
Challenge?
(until June 2003)
Timeshift serviceChallenge +1
Websitewww.challenge.co.uk
Availability
Satellite
Sky DigitalChannel 124
Channel 125 (+1)
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 152
Channel 153 (+1)
WightCableChannel 42/115
Challenge is a British digital TV channel owned by Virgin Media Television. Originally known as The Family Channel, and later as Challenge TV, the station relies heavily on gameshows taken from a variety of sources. Most are repeats of programmes acquired from the terrestrial channels' archives, but a few are original productions commissioned by Challenge itself.

The channel also has interactive features for digital cable and satellite viewers watching certain shows, enabling them to play along at home.

Challenge acquires programmes which have usually previously been shown on UK terrestrial channels.

Challenge now broadcasts 24 hours a day. In its early years, it timeshared with The Children's Channel and then later with TV Travel Shop. During this, Challenge would usually begin at 5pm and run until around midnight, with a teleshopping service filling up the early hours when both them and either TCC or TV Travel Shop weren't broadcasting.

Themed programming

In recent times Challenge has begun to theme its daily schedule. Gameshow repeats typically play in the daytime, action gameshows are shown in early evening, and now reality and casino-based programmes have been introduced late at night. This has drawn criticism to the channel but in return has attracted a whole new audience.

In late 2004 Challenge introduced the Gameshow Gods slot during weekday evenings, in which two vintage episodes hosted by well-known gameshow presenters such as Bob Monkhouse, Bruce Forsyth and Ted Rogers were shown each night. They would then be replaced with another two gameshows the following month. This re-introduced many gameshow favourites from years gone by.

In the summer of 2005 Challenge showed Old-School Saturdays, featuring popular Saturday-evening programmes of years gone by. This was followed in the autumn by Tea Time Takedown: popular action gameshows, namely The Crystal Maze and Gladiators, were shown in the early-evening slots on weekdays. This theme of programming continues at those times, albeit without the Teatime Takedown label.

From spring 2006 Challenge began a Quiz Frenzy on weekday afternoons, playing such quiz shows such as Fifteen to One.

In summer 2006 Challenge continued its line of themed programmes with Threesomes every weekend. Three classic gameshows such as Catchphrase and Family Fortunes were shown three times a day, back-to-back. This did take a break for a brief time shortly after its introduction but has recently been re-introduced.In March 2007 Fully Loaded was introduced showing double-bills of certain gameshows on weekday mornings. This also brought in the introduction of the short-lived ITV daytime show Cash Cab. Dale's Supermarket Sweep will be joining this line up from August 2007.

The next theme as from July 2007 is breakfast action showing RollerJam, The Crystal Maze and Fort Boyard on weekday mornings between 7am and 10am.

Player

On March 2 2006, Challenge's parent company Flextech Television launched a new channel called Player. Previously Challenge had aired a late-night block under the Player name (featuring gambling programmes such as Celebrity Poker Club, Casino Casino and the World Poker Tour), which was a great success. The new full-time Player channel used the same ident as Challenge's Player strand but in a different colour (from red to yellow). The channel was renamed Bravo 2 and has become a sister channel of Bravo rather than Challenge.




Logo of the Player block on Challenge

Logo of the Player channel


Current Programmes Airing

Monday - Friday (Starts Monday 22nd October)

Saturday - Sunday

  • 7:00-8:00 - Don't Try This At Home (Saturdays Only)
  • 7:00-8:00 - The Moment Of Truth (Sundays Only)
  • 8:00-9:00 - Takeshi's Castle (x2)
  • 9:00-10:00 - The Crystal Maze
  • 10:00-11:30 - Dale's Supermarket Sweep (x3)
  • 11:30-13:00 - Catchphrase (x3)
  • 13:00-15:00 - Classic Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (x2)
  • 15:00-16:30 - Play Your Cards Right (x3) (Saturdays Only)
  • 16:30-18:00 - Bullseye (x3) (Saturdays Only)
  • 18:00-19:30 - Bruce's Price Is Right (x3) (Saturdays Only)
  • 19:30-21:00 - Family Fortunes (x3) (Saturdays Only)
  • 21:00-23:00 - Fear Factor (x2)
  • 23:00-1:00 - World Series of Poker 2007 (x2) (Saturdays Only)
  • 23:00-0:00 - World Series of Poker 2007 (Sundays Only)
  • 1:00-2:00 - Cash Poker (Saturdays Only)
  • 0:00-2:00 - Cash Poker (x2) (Sundays Only)
  • 2:00-3:00 - Casino Casino
  • 3:00-4:00 - Don't Try This At Home (Saturdays Only)
  • 3:00-4:00 - The Moment Of Truth (Sundays Only)
  • 4:00-5:30 - Catchphrase (x3)

Former Programmes

Presenters

From 1997 to 2002 Challenge Has Had Previous Presenters here are some presenters.

Logos


The Family Channel (1993-1997)

Challenge TV (1997-2002)

Challenge? (2002-2003)

Challenge (2003-2004)

Challenge (2004-2006)

Challenge (2006-present)


External links

 •  • [ e]
Virgin Media Television
Virgin 1  Virgin Central • Bravo • Bravo 2 • Challenge • Ftn • Living • Living2 • Trouble • Adult Swim • Sit-Up TV
Joint Ventures: Setanta Sports News • UKTV
See also: The Children's Channel (Defunct channel) • SceneOne
Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church, the new Liturgical Year (Indiction) also begins.
  • Church of England - Saint Giles.
  • Cameroon - Jour d'Union Nationale Camerounaise.
  • Libya - Revolution Day (1969).
  • New Zealand - National R.A.K.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    • 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
    1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
    1990 1991 1992 - 1993 - 1994 1995 1996

    Year 1993 (MCMXCIII
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Virgin Media Television

    Type Broadcast television
    Country  United Kingdom
    Availability    National & International
    Owner Virgin Media
    Key people Catrin Jones (Production Associate)
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    576i is a standard-definition video mode used in former PAL and SECAM countries, and is the digital equivalent of the analogue PAL and SECAM systems.

    The 576
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    20th century - 21st century
    1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
    1994 1995 1996 - 1997 - 1998 1999 2000

    Year 1997 (MCMXCVII
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
    1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
    1999 2000 2001 - 2002 - 2003 2004 2005

    2002 by topic:
    News by month
    Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
    1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
    2000 2001 2002 - 2003 - 2004 2005 2006

    2003 by topic:
    News by month
    Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2°E (Astra 2A/2B/2D) and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Virgin Media Incorporated

    Public: (NASDAQ:  VMED )
    Founded NTL: 1992; Telewest: 1984
    Headquarters Corporate: New York City, United States
    Operational: Hook, England, UK

    Key people James Mooney, Chairman
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Wight Cable 2005 Ltd is the only provider of commercial and residential cable television, telephone and broadband internet services on the Isle of Wight. Along with Kingston Communications and others, it is one of the last few remaining cable companies in the UK not owned by
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Motto
    "Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
    "God and my right"
    Anthem
    "God Save the Queen" [3]
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Virgin Media Television

    Type Broadcast television
    Country  United Kingdom
    Availability    National & International
    Owner Virgin Media
    Key people Catrin Jones (Production Associate)
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    game show involves members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. In some shows contestants compete against other players or another team whilst other shows involve contestants
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    The Children's Channel was an early cable channel which began broadcasting on September 1, 1984 in the United Kingdom. It also became available on the Astra Satellite in 1989.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Availability
    At time of closure
    Terrestrial
    Freeview Channel 17 (closed in January 2004)
    Satellite
    Sky Digital Channel 631
    Cable
    NTL Channel 115/633 (may be incorrect)
    Telewest Channel 875

    TV Travel Shop
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
    1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
    2001 2002 2003 - 2004 - 2005 2006 2007

    2004 by topic:
    News by month
    Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Robert Allen Monkhouse OBE (June 1, 1928 – December 29, 2003) was a British entertainer in the traditional sense, though primarily known as a comedian and game show host.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Bruce Forsyth, CBE (born Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson on 22 February 1928, is a British showman and entertainer who achieved celebrity on the show Sunday Night at the London Palladium
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    For other uses, see: Edward Rogers (disambiguation).


    Ted Rogers (30 July 1935 – 2 May 2001) was a fast talking English comedian and light entertainer (who originally started his career as a red coat entertainer) best remembered as the only
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
    1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
    2002 2003 2004 - 2005 - 2006 2007 2008

    2005 by topic:
    News by month
    Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    The Crystal Maze is a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. Repeated episodes are often shown on digital television channels, most recently Ftn and Challenge from January 2007.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Gladiators was a long-running game show produced by LWT for ITV in the United Kingdom from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000. It was an adaptation of the United States game show American Gladiators
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Fifteen to One is a popular general knowledge quiz show on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, that ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 that had a reputation for being the toughest quiz on TV. Repeats of the final series used to be shown on Challenge.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a word, phrase or expression recognised by its repeated utterance. Such memetic phrases often originate in popular culture and the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media (such as literature and publishing, motion
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Family Fortunes is a long-running British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme began on ITV on January 6 1980 and ran until 2002 and revived four years later in 2006.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Cash Cab is a game show originating in the United Kingdom in which passengers in a specially designated taxi cab are offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of trivia questions on the way to their destination. It was devised by Adam Wood.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Dale's Supermarket Sweep is a UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format.

    Series

    The show has gone through two versions, both hosted by Dale Winton.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    RollerJam was an American sports entertainment television series depicting roller derby. It was shown on The New TNN from 1999 to 2001. It was derived from the original roller derby, only this particular version used inline roller skates to modernize the sport.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    The Crystal Maze is a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. Repeated episodes are often shown on digital television channels, most recently Ftn and Challenge from January 2007.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine, that first aired in 1990 and is popular to this day. It has been remade across the globe, most successfully in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
    ..... Click the link for more information.


    This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
    Herod_Archelaus


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