ITV Digital
Encyclopedia
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
and Granada plc. It was particularly noted for its failure to break into the digital television market.
History
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) started in the UK in 1998. Six multiplexesMultiplex (TV)
A multiplex or mux is a group of TV channels that are mixed together for broadcast over a digital TV channel and separated out again by the receiver...
were set up, with three of them allocated to the existing analogue
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
broadcasters. The other three multiplexes were auctioned off. A consortium of Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
, Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
and British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
won the auction as British Digital Broadcasting (BDB). The brand ONdigital was adopted for launch. BSkyB was forced by the Independent Television Commission
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
(ITC) to withdraw from the consortium on competition grounds; this effectively placed Sky in direct competition with the newly launched service (although BSkyB was still forced to provide key channels such as Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
and Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
to the service). In all ONdigital was given one year from winning the licence to launching the world's first DTT service. In addition to launching audio and video services they also led the specification of an industry-wide advanced interactive engine (based on MHEG-5
MHEG-5
MHEG-5, or ISO/IEC 13522-5, is part of a set of international standards relating to the presentation of multimedia information, standardised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group...
). This was an open standard that was then used by all broadcasters on DTT.
The new digital broadcaster was launched on 15 November 1998, with a lineup of 18 channels, including many channels developed in-house by Carlton and Granada. On 7 March 2000, Onmail
Onmail
OnMail was a TV based email service run by OnDigital via their set top boxes. It was launched on 7th March 2000, and required the user to purchase a new remote control with a slideout keyboard to type on. It used the built in 2400bps modem in the box to connect the ondigital mail center...
was launched, followed closely on 18 September 2000, by ONdigital launching an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
television service, ONnet, and in the same year a deal with multiplex operator SDN
S4C Digital Networks
SDN is a company that operates Multiplex A, one of the six groups of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom...
led to the launch of pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
service ONrequest.
From the launch date, however, the service was quickly losing money. Aggressive marketing by BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
for their own digital service, Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
, made the ONdigital offer look unattractive. The new digital satellite service provided a dish, Digibox, installation and around 200 channels for £159, a lower price than ONdigital at £199. ONdigital's subscription pricing had been set to compare with the older Sky analogue service of 20 channels. ONdigital also failed to realise that Sky had cast off its downmarket image and believed there was considerable public antipathy towards Sky (and Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
); but this appeared to matter much less than they had hoped.
The ONdigital management team hoped to obtain the upper hand by a series of 'free set top box' promotions (initially at retailers such as Currys
Currys
Currys is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland and is owned by Dixons Retail plc. It specialises in selling home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores...
and Dixons) when ONdigital receiving equipment was purchased at the same time as a television set or similarly priced piece of equipment. These offers eventually became permanent, with the set-top box 'loaned' to the customer at no charge for as long as they continued to subscribe to ONdigital. The offer was swiftly matched by Sky.
Additional problems for ONdigital were caused by the choice of 64QAM broadcast mode, coupled with far weaker than expected broadcast power, (meaning that the signal was weak in many areas), a complex pricing structure (comprising many menu options), a poor quality subscriber management system (badly adapted from Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
), a paper magazine TV guide whereas BSkyB had provided an electronic programme guide
Electronic program guide
Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming...
(EPG), insufficient technical customer services, and much signal piracy
Pirate decryption
Pirate decryption most often refers to the reception of compromised pay TV or pay radio signals without authorization from the original broadcaster...
. While there was a limited return path provided via an in-built 2400 baud modem, there was no requirement (as with BSkyB) to connect the set-top box's modem to a phone line.
Later problems occurred when ONdigital began to sell 'ONprepaid', a set-top box bundle sold in high street stores and supermarkets at a price that included - in theory - the set-top box on loan and the first year's subscription package. Thousands of these packages were also sold at well below retail price on auction sites such as the then-popular QXL. As the call to activate the viewing card did not require any bank details, many ONdigital boxes which were technically on loan were at unverifiable addresses. This was later changed so a customer could not walk away with a box without ONdigital verifying their address. Many customers did not activate the viewing card at all, although where the viewer's address was known, ONdigital would write informing them that they must activate before a certain deadline.
Additionally, the OnDigital pay-per-view channels were encrypted using a system - SECA
SECA
SECA, SecA or Seca may refer to:* Société Européenne de Contrôle d'Accès, now Nagra France* The SECA Mediaguard encryption system, designed by the above company....
MediaGuard
Mediaguard
Mediaguard is a conditional access system for digital television developed by SECA , company renamed to Canal+ Technologies SA , a subsidiary of Canal+ Group, sold to Thomson...
- which had previously been cracked in Europe. This meant that it was very easy for people to produce and sell counterfeit subscription cards which would give access to all the channels.
In 2002, Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
accused News Corp of extracting the UserROM code from the MediaGuard cards and leaking it onto the internet.
According to The Guardian, News Corp, with the help of NDS
NDS
NDS is an initialism may stand for:* Low German , a regional language spoken in the north of Germany and the northeast of the Netherlands* Lower Saxony...
, had been working on breaking the MediaGuard smartcards used by Canal+, ITV Digital and other non-Murdoch-owned TV companies throughout Europe. Canal+ brought a lawsuit against News Corp. but later dropped the action. News Corporation agreed to buy Canal Plus's struggling Italian operation Telepiu.
In 2008, News Corp. was cleared of other charges, and paid one thousand five hundred dollars in damages.
Finally, Carlton and Granada had chosen not to employ ONdigital management and staff directly, so many people were on short-term contracts and key people left with no notice.
Rebranding
In desperation at the churn rateChurn rate
Churn rate , in its broadest sense, is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving into or out of a collective over a specific period of time...
, Carlton and Granada turned to their most valuable asset - the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
brand - and on 11 July 2001 rebranded ONdigital as ITV Digital. They also (in a very expensive deal) purchased the TV rights to the Football League and launched the ITV Sport Channel. A massive re-branding campaign was launched to support the new naming, with customers even being sent ITV Digital stickers to place over the existing ONdigital logos on their remote controls and set top boxes. The software running on the receivers was never changed though, and always displayed 'ON' on nearly every screen. A plan to change the onscreen software was planned along with a change to a stronger encryption system in Autumn 2002 however this of course never arose due to liquidation. The rebrand was not without controversy as SMG plc (owner of Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
and Grampian Television
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
), UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
and Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
all pointed out that the ITV brand did not belong solely to Carlton and Granada. SMG and UTV initially refused to carry the advertising campaign for ITV Digital and did not allow the ITV Sports Channel space on their Multiplex, meaning that it was not available at launch in most of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The case was resolved in Scotland, and the Channel Islands and later still in Northern Ireland, allowing the ITV Sport Channel to launch in the non-Carlton and Granada regions (although it was never made available in the Channel Islands, as the islands do not have DTT or Cable and it never appeared on Sky Digital).
Monkey
ITV Digital also ran a famous advertising campaign involving the comedianComedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
and a knitted monkey (voiced by Ben Miller
Ben Miller
Bennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
). A replica knitted monkey could be obtained by signing up to ITV Digital. Because the monkey could not be obtained without signing up to the service, a popular market for second-hand monkeys developed. At one time original ITV Digital Monkeys were fetching several hundred pounds on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and even knitting patterns delivered by email were sold for several pounds. In early 2007 the knitted monkey and Johnny Vegas reappeared in an advert for PG Tips
PG Tips
PG Tips is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom, manufactured by Unilever UK. It is claimed that Britons drink 35 million cups of the tea every day.-Brand name:...
tea, which included a reference to ITV Digital's downfall.
Administration and Freeview
These changes failed to revive the broadcaster. Indeed, the cost of the Football League deal proved one too many a burden for ITV Digital, and it was placed into administration on 27 March 2002, after the League refused to accept a £130m pay cut in its £315m deal with the ITV Sport Channel. Most subscription channels ceased broadcasting on ITV Digital on 1 May 2002. The collapse caused severe financial difficulties for lower-division football clubs who had budgeted for large incomes from the television contract. The Football LeagueThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
sued ITV Digital's parent companies, Carlton and Granada, claiming that the firms had breached their contract in failing to deliver the guaranteed income. The League lost the case, with the judge ruling that it had "failed to extract sufficient written guarantees". The League then filed a negligence claim against its lawyers for failing to press for a written guarantee at the time of the deal with ITV Digital. This time it was awarded a paltry £4 in damages of the £150m it was seeking.
A consortium made up of the BBC, BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
and Crown Castle International was granted ITV Digital's old broadcasting licence, and launched the Freeview service on 30 October 2002, offering 30 free-to-air TV channels and 20 free-to-air radio channels including several interactive channels such as BBCi and Teletext
Teletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
but no subscription or premium services. Those followed on March 31, 2004 when Top Up TV
Top Up TV
Top Up TV is a pay television service in the UK launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial platform. The aim of the service is to "Top Up" Freeview customers by providing additional channels and services....
began broadcasting eleven pay TV
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
channels in timeshare
Timeshare
A timeshare is a form of ownership or right to the use of a property, or the term used to describe such properties. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time in which they may use...
d broadcast slots.
During 2002, ITV Digital's liquidators started to ask customers to return set top boxes or pay a £39.99 fee. This deteriorated from a request to a plea, with one liquidator's representative speaking to Nick Ferrari
Nick Ferrari
Nick Ferrari is a radio presenter who currently hosts the weekday breakfast show from 0700-1000 UTC on the London-based talk and phone-in radio station LBC 97.3. He also has a regular column in the Sunday Express and is a regular guest on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on ITV1...
on LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3 is a London-based talk and phone-in radio station. It is one half of the latest incarnation of LBC, the news and speech service which was Britain's first commercial radio station when it went on air in October 1973...
to justify why they wanted the money, but when asked 'How are you going to force people to return these boxes, are you going to employ collection agencies?' the response was a feeble 'Please, I just want them back'. Had the move been successful, this could have threatened to undermine the fledgling Freeview service, since at the time most digital terrestrial receivers were former ONdigital and ITV Digital units. Carlton and Granada stepped in and paid £2.8m to have the boxes stay with their customers, as at the time the ITV companies received a discount on their licence payments based on the number of digital homes they had converted. Second hand ONdigital receivers are widely available from sources such as eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
and were fully compatible with the successor Freeview system (and also with Top Up TV
Top Up TV
Top Up TV is a pay television service in the UK launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial platform. The aim of the service is to "Top Up" Freeview customers by providing additional channels and services....
). They do have some drawbacks however: they are slower than more modern boxes with faster processors (ONdigital receivers often take several seconds to change channel for example) and lack support for the full Freeview Electronic Programme Guide, as this feature was introduced well after the ONdigital receiver software was written. The receiver software can also be buggy, causing the boxes lock up and refuse to respond to keypresses on the remote control. In addition, the set top boxes do not support the '8k' transmission mode which is being introduced across the UK following 'digital switchover' in each region.
Following the administration in 2002, the three multiplexes that were run by ITV Digital remained blank until a week or so before Freeview's launch. However, E4 and FilmFour
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
continued broadcasting for over two weeks after the shutdown. Strangely however, E4 carried subtitles until the placeholder was deleted in September 2002. Most of the original ITV Digital channel placeholders and Logical Channel Numbers were kept until Freeview's replaced them, leaving large gaps between channels.
ITV Digital operated out of Marco Polo House
Marco Polo House
Marco Polo House is a large marble- and glass-clad office building at 346 Queenstown Road facing Battersea Park in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built in 1987, to a design by postmodernist architect Ian Pollard....
, the south London building home to shopping channel QVC and which had once housed The Observer newspaper, but perhaps most famous as the lavish headquarters of the ill-fated British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...
. ITV Digital had call centres located in Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...
, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and used outsourced BT call centres in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
List of channels
This was the list of channels just before the service ceased transmission. It also features channels that closed before the date.Key
| Encryption/package | Notes |
|---|---|
| Does not require a monthly subscription. | |
| Subscription channel | Requires a monthly subscription to view the channel. |
| Pay-per-view Pay-per-view Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it... |
Requires a payment for each event that is viewed. |
List
| EPG Electronic program guide Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming... No. |
Channel name | Owner | Notes | Encryption/package |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BBC One BBC One BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution... |
BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
Some regional variations Regional variations (television) A regional variation generally refers to times when a radio station or television station simultaneously broadcasts different programmes, continuity or adverts to different parts of its coverage area... in programming. |
|
| 2 | BBC Two BBC Two BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio... |
BBC | Some regional variations in programming; variations from analogue in Wales and Northern Ireland. | |
| 3 | ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... |
ITV Network Limited | Made up of 15 regional stations. Branded mainly ITV ITV1 ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their... , Channel Television Channel Television Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey... , Grampian TV Grampian Television Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife... , Scottish TV Scottish Television Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active... or UTV UTV UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3... , depending on regional station. |
|
| 4 | Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... /S4C S4C S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on... |
Channel Four Television Corporation/Welsh Fourth Channel Authority Welsh Fourth Channel Authority The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority regulates S4C , the Welsh-language television station of Wales. It is not connected to Ofcom, or any other regulator, and exists purely to ensure the quality of the channel. The Authority's Chair and members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture,... |
Channel 4 is on channel 8 when viewed in Wales. | |
| 5 | Channel 5 | RTL Group | ||
| 6 | ITV2 ITV2 ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the... |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Originally called S2 in Scotland and UTV2 in Northern Ireland until both names were discontinued. | |
| 7 | BBC Choice BBC Choice BBC Choice was a BBC TV station which launched on 23 September 1998 and closed on 9 February 2003. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, and was the first new channel from the BBC since BBC Two launched in 1964... |
BBC | Later rebranded as BBC Three BBC Three BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent... . Broadcasts only between 19:00 and 07:00. |
|
| 8 | TeleG | SDN Ltd S4C Digital Networks SDN is a company that operates Multiplex A, one of the six groups of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom... |
Not available outside Scotland. | |
| 9 | Teletext Teletext Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules... |
Teletext Ltd | ||
| 10 | BBC Four BBC Four BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... |
BBC | Was on Channel 13 when originally named BBC Knowledge BBC Knowledge BBC Knowledge was an early BBC digital television channel, available by cable, satellite, or terrestrial digital broadcasting, providing a programme of documentary, cultural and educational television.-Launch:... . Broadcasts only between 19:00 and 06:00. |
|
| 11 | BBC News 24 | BBC | ||
| 12 | CBBC CBBC Channel CBBC is a BBC television channel aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. It complements the CBBC programming that continues to air on BBC One and BBC Two. Launched on 11 February 2002, it broadcasts from 7am to 7pm on Freeview, cable, IPTV and digital satellite, occupying the same bandwidth as, but a different... |
BBC | Broadcasts only between 07:00 and 19:00. | |
| 13 | CBeebies CBeebies CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both... |
BBC | Broadcasts only between 06:00 and 19:00. | |
| 15 | NTL Interactive NTL Ireland NTL Communications Limited was a cable television and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service company in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2005 it was owned by Liberty Global Europe , having been divested by NTL... |
NTL | Interactive TV guide operated by NTL (eventually closed). | |
| 16 | No Channel | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Was ITV Text + before it closed in February 2002. | |
| 17 | BBCi | BBC | Launched as BBC Text, was originally on Channel 10. | |
| 18 | S4C2 S4C2 S4C2 was a free-to-air British television station owned by S4C which, until 2010, broadcast coverage of the National Assembly for Wales at the Senedd.... |
Welsh Fourth Channel Authority | Not available outside Wales. Broadcasts only between 09:00 and 18:00 on Tuesdays to Thursdays. | |
| 19 | QVC QVC (UK) QVC UK is a digital television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. formed a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. "QVC — The Shopping Channel" first broadcast in the UK on 1 October 1993. QVC UK - 20% owned by Sky - moved into... |
QVC | Originally used by Shop! until it closed. | |
| 20 | ITV Sport Channel ITV Sport Channel ITV Sport Channel was a digital sport television channel, that was owned by Carlton Communications and Granada plc. It was launched on 11 August 2001 and it closed down on 12 May 2002, following ITV Digital's collapse, on which the channel was available on... |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Was a subscription channel until 1 May 2002. Closed down on 12 May 2002. | |
| 21 | Sky Sports 1 Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... |
BSkyB | Subscription channel | |
| 22 | Sky Sports 2 Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... |
BSkyB | Initially did not launch on the service until 1999, unlike 1 and 3. | Subscription channel |
| 23 | Sky Sports 3 Sky Sports Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland... |
BSkyB | Subscription channel | |
| 24 | Sky Movies Max 1 Sky Movies Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland... |
BSkyB | Subscription channel | |
| 25 | Sky Movies Premier 1 Sky Movies Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland... |
BSkyB | Subscription channel | |
| 26 | Sky One | BSkyB | Subscription channel | |
| 27 | Cartoon Network | Turner Broadcasting System Europe Turner Broadcasting System Europe Turner Broadcasting System Europe is the company managing the collection of cable networks around Europe.Turner Broadcasting System Europe operates the following brands: CNN International, Boomerang, TCM, TNT Film, Cartoon Network, and Boing. The availability of these brands depends on what country... |
Subscription channel | |
| 28 | Carlton Cinema Carlton Cinema Carlton Cinema was a British digital film television channel, provided by Carlton Television. It launched in November 1998 on the ONdigital platform, and closed down in March 2003, being the last ever Carlton-branded television network. Its sister channels are Carlton Select, Carlton World, Carlton... /ONsport 2 |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd | ONsport 2 only broadcasts during Tuesday nights. Carlton Cinema uses the slot the rest of the time. | Subscription channel |
| 29 | British Eurosport | TF1 Group TF1 Group TF1 Group is a French media holding company , the owner of channel TF1, the largest European private TV channel, and Eurosport, the largest European sports network.The group was formed after TF1 was privatised in 1987... |
Subscription channel | |
| 30 | Granada Plus | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Subscription channel | |
| 31 | Men & Motors Men & Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting in 1996... |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Originally timeshared with Granada Breeze Granada Breeze Granada Breeze was a lifestyle channel operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched as Granada Good Life on 1 October 1996.... until it closed. |
Subscription channel |
| 32 | UK Gold | UKTV UKTV UKTV is a digital cable and satellite television network, formed through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, a commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Scripps Networks Interactive, spun off from The E.W Scripps Company in 2008... |
Subscription channel | |
| 33 | MTV MTV (UK and Ireland) MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel operated by Viacom International Media Networks.The channel was launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localization strategy in 1997. MTV UK was launched on 1 July 1997. The channel was set up to provide audiences with local artists and more relevant... |
MTV Networks Europe | Subscription channel | |
| 35 | ITV Digital Preview | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Originally timeshared by Carlton Select Carlton Select Carlton Select was a British digital television channel, owned by Carlton Television. It was launched in February 1997, and closed down in March 2000. Its sister channels were Carlton Cinema, Carlton Food Network, Carlton Kids and Carlton World.... and Carlton Food Network Carlton Food Network Carlton Food Network was a British digital television channel, provided by Carlton Television, showing food and cookery programmes. It launched in September 1996, and closed in November 2001... . |
|
| 36 | Discovery Channel | Discovery Networks Western Europe Discovery Networks Western Europe Discovery Networks Western Europe is a branch of Discovery Networks International.It holds the responsibility for overseeing Discovery Networks International channels in 30 different countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, the Netherlands and other... |
Originally a timeshare of Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (UK) Discovery Kids was a British educational children's channel. The channel initially began broadcasting exclusively on the On Digital service time sharing with Discovery Wings; the channel eventually became available on other digital platforms such as Sky Digital, and Virgin Media.Discovery Kids and... and Discovery Wings. Both channels were replaced by Discovery Channel on 18 November 2001. |
Subscription channel |
| 37 | Play UK Play UK Play UK was a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel was launched on 10 October 1998... |
UKTV | Launched as UK Play. | Subscription channel |
| 38 | UK Style | UKTV | Initially timeshared with UK Horizons. | Subscription channel |
| 39 | Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (UK & Ireland) Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993... /Paramount Comedy Channel Comedy Central (UK) Comedy Central in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a localised version of Comedy Central which first began in the United States in the 1990s. The television channel is available through the Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV in the United Kingdom, Sky Ireland, UPC Ireland and Magnet Networks in the... |
MTV Networks Europe | Nickelodeon broadcasts only between 06:00 and 19:00 with Comedy Central broadcasting during Nickelodeon's downtime. | Subscription channel |
| 41 | FilmFour Film4 Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:... |
Channel Four Television Corporation | Did not close down until 24 May 2002. | Subscription channel |
| 42 | E4 | Channel Four Television Corporation | Did not close down until 24 May 2002. | Subscription channel |
| 43 | UK Horizons UK Horizons UK Horizons was a television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel was in existence between 1997 and 2004.-Launch:... |
UKTV | Channel 43 was originally Simply Money before it closed. | Subscription channel |
| 44 | TV Travel Shop TV Travel Shop TV Travel Shop was a British television channel that sold holidays.It launched in 1998, primarily on satellite and cable. In 2000, the channel launched on ONdigital, using capacity from ONrequest 2 , and broadcast 6am-12pm weekdays, and 6am-10am weekends, free to air on channel 44. Its hours were... |
TV Travel Shop | Subscription channel | |
| 45 | BBC Parliament BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament... |
BBC | Was originally on channel 12. Audio channel only. | |
| 46 | No channel | Two Way TV was originally on this channel before it closed on 31 December 2001. | Subscription channel | |
| 47 | ITV Select Previews | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Wellbeing was originally on Channel 47 before it closed on 31 December 2001. | |
| 48 | ITN News Channel ITV News Channel The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and... |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Later known as the ITV News Channel. | |
| 50 | ITV Select Information | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | ||
| 56 | No channel | Used by For Adults Only 1 until it closed. | Pay-per-view | |
| 57 | No channel | Used by For Adults Only 2 until it closed. | Pay-per-view | |
| 88 | ITV Digital Information | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | ||
| 90 | The Adult Channel The Adult Channel The Adult Channel is a broadcast just for adults pay-per-view cable/satellite/IPTV channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, replacing the Home Video Channel on 30th June 1999... |
Pay-per-view | ||
| 91 | Television X Television X Television X is the name of a series of adult television channels in the UK, produced by Portland TV, a subsidiary of Northern & Shell owned by Richard Desmond, the proprietor of the Daily Express... |
Did not close down until 18 May 2002. | Pay-per-view | |
| 98 | ITV Sport Select | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Ceased transmission prior to service collapse, was used solely for Premier League football. | Pay-per-view |
| 99 | ITV Sport Plus | ITV Digital Channels Ltd | Ceased transmission prior to service collapse, previously known as ONsport 1, showing Champions League and ATP Masters Series. | Pay-per-view |
Set top boxes
This is a list of ex-ITV and ONdigital set-top boxes. The boxes are generally more cumbersome than more modern offerings, and MHEG services run noticeably slower. All boxes used similar software, in that a unified interface and design was used between all models. Top Up TVTop Up TV
Top Up TV is a pay television service in the UK launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial platform. The aim of the service is to "Top Up" Freeview customers by providing additional channels and services....
provided the most recent update in 2004 which upgraded minor technicalities with encryption services.
- NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Mediamaster 9850T - Pace Micro Technology DTR-730, DTR-735
- PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
DTX 6370, DTX 6371, DTX 6372 - PioneerPioneer Corporationis a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
DBR-T200, DBR-T210 - SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
VTX-D500U - ToshibaToshibais a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
DTB2000
iDTVs
ONdigital and ITVdigital could also be received with an Integrated Digitial TelevisionIntegrated Digital Television
An Integrated Digital Television set is a television set with a built in digital tuner, be it for DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-C, DMB-T/H, ATSC or ISDB. Most of them also allow reception of analogue signals . They do away with the need for a set top box for converting those signals for reception on a...
(iDTV) receiver. They used a Conditional Access Module
Conditional access module
A conditional access module is an electronic device, usually incorporating a slot for a smart card, which equips an Integrated Digital Television or set-top box with the appropriate hardware facility to view conditional access content that has been encrypted using a conditional access system...
(CAM) with a smart card, plugged in to a DVB Common Interface
Common Interface
In Digital Video Broadcasting, the Common Interface is an extensible digital interconnect found in the digital TV market. It is also known as DVB-CI for Digital Video Broadcast Common Interface....
slot in the back of the set.
Purchasers of iDTVs were given a substantially discounted price on using the ONdigital service, as there was no cost for a set-top box.
Some of the original iDTVs needed firmware upgrades to work with the CAM. For example, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
sent technicians out to homes to make the necessary updates free of charge.
Carlton/Granada Digital Television Channels
Carlton and Granada (later ITV Digital Channels Ltd) created a selection of channels, which formed some of the core content of channels available via the service, which were:| Channel name | Year removed | Reason/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Carlton Kids Carlton Kids Carlton Kids was a digital children's television channel, provided by Carlton Television, which started broadcasting in 1998 and closed in early 2000. Its sister channels were Carlton Food Network, Carlton World, Carlton Cinema and Carlton Select... |
2000 | Was timeshared with Carlton World. Replaced by a timeshare of Discovery Kids and Discovery Wings. |
| Carlton Select Carlton Select Carlton Select was a British digital television channel, owned by Carlton Television. It was launched in February 1997, and closed down in March 2000. Its sister channels were Carlton Cinema, Carlton Food Network, Carlton Kids and Carlton World.... |
2000 | |
| Carlton World Carlton World Carlton World was a British digital television channel, launched in November 1998 and closed down in early 2000. Its sister channels were Carlton Kids, Carlton Food Network, Carlton Select and Carlton Cinema... |
2000 | Was timeshared with Carlton Kids. Replaced by a timeshare of Discovery Kids and Discovery Wings. |
| First ONdigital | 2000 | |
| ONsport 1 | 2001 | Replaced by ITV Sport Channel, ITV Sport Extra and ITV Sport Select. |
| ONsport 2 | 2001 | Replaced by ITV Sport Channel, ITV Sport Extra and ITV Sport Select. |
| TASTE CFN Carlton Food Network Carlton Food Network was a British digital television channel, provided by Carlton Television, showing food and cookery programmes. It launched in September 1996, and closed in November 2001... |
2001 | Known as Carlton Food Network until 1 May 2001. |
| Granada Breeze Granada Breeze Granada Breeze was a lifestyle channel operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched as Granada Good Life on 1 October 1996.... |
2002 | Known as Granada Good Life until 1 May 1998. |
| ITV Select | 2002 | Known as ONrequest until 22 August 2001. |
| ITV Sport Channel | 2002 | |
| ITV Sport Extra | 2002 | |
| ITV Sport Select | 2002 | |
| Shop! | 2002 | Joint venture between Granada and Littlewoods. |
| Wellbeing | 2002 | Joint venture between Granada and Boots. |
| Carlton Cinema Carlton Cinema Carlton Cinema was a British digital film television channel, provided by Carlton Television. It launched in November 1998 on the ONdigital platform, and closed down in March 2003, being the last ever Carlton-branded television network. Its sister channels are Carlton Select, Carlton World, Carlton... |
2003 | Failed to guarantee carriage on Sky. |
| Plus | 2004 | Known as Granada Plus until early 2000s. Closed due to poor viewership and replaced by ITV3. |
| ITV News Channel | 2005 | Known as ITN News Channel until after the collapse of ITV Digital. |
| Men & Motors | 2010 | Known as Granada Men & Motors until early 2000s. |
| ITV2 | Still broadcasting. |
Timeline of events
- 1997
- 25 June 1997 - The Independent Television CommissionIndependent Television CommissionThe Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
(ITC) award the sole DTTDigital terrestrial televisionDigital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
broadcast licence to British Digital Broadcasting - 20 December 1997 - The ITC award the three pay-TV digital multiplex licences to BDB
- 25 June 1997 - The Independent Television Commission
- 1998
- 29 July 1998 - BDB rebrand as ONdigital
- 15 November 1998 - Formal broadcasting begins
- 2000
- 1 May 2000 - Formal broadcasting of pay-per-viewPay-per-viewPay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
(PPV) service ONrequest begins
- 1 May 2000 - Formal broadcasting of pay-per-view
- 2001
- 11 July 2001 - ONdigital rebrand as ITV Digital
- 22 August 2001 - PPV service ONrequest rebrands as ITV Select
- 2002
- 27 March 2002 - ITV Digital placed into administration
- 1 May 2002 - Pay-TV operations cease
- 30 October 2002 - Formal broadcasting of replacement Freeview service begins
External links
- ONdigital in liquidation Information for subscribers
- ONdigital history site
- ITV Digital / PG Tips Monkey Mavis, 8 March 2009 - Knitting kit for Monkey
- ITV Digital goes broke BBC News, 27 March 2002
- Set-top box offers low-cost digital BBC News, 29 March 2002