QVC (UK)
Encyclopedia
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 profit after five years of broadcasting. In 1998, it turned its first net profit (£12.5 million), against a loss of £228,000 in 1997.
channel was formed in West Chester, Pennsylvania
. It is a multinational corporation, specialising in televised home shopping
. It was founded in 1986
by Joseph Segel
. QVC broadcasts in five countries to 141 million consumer
s. The name is an initialism
—standing for "Quality, Value, Convenience. However, unlike in the USA, this initialism is no longer used on air in the UK.
, southLondon
's Battersea
set to expire on July 2012., the company's UK HQ and studio centre was set to move to Chiswick Park, a 'campus'-style development on the site of a derelict London Transport
bus depot in West London on an unspecified date in 2012. Its centre and distribution warehouse had moved to Kirkby
, in Knowsley
, on Merseyside
, in 1998 from Liverpool's Harrington Dock
. The company has outlet store
s in Warrington
and Shrewsbury
.
The broadcaster planned to launch a high definition
channel on the Sky and Freesat
satellite
platforms in 2012. Broadcasts on the Freeview digital terrestrial
platform would not follow suit because of that system's lack of capacity, the company said in 2010 In June 2011, it was reported that QVC UK had begun carrying out trials of 3D
broadcasting. This was merely an experiment, a spokesperson said.
The channel broadcasts live 17 hours a day (the remainder being repeated content) year round. QVC UK claims a market penetration of 15.4 million homes on the cable
, satellite
, and digital terrestrial
TV. The satellite
'footprint' also takes in much of western Europe
. Retail sales for the year 2008 reached £360+ million. Since 2010, QVC UK's programming is also carried by the ITV1
network in England and Wales in the early hours of the morning as part of ITV's overnight The Zone
programming block.
On 26 October 2010 a second channel was launched in the UK, QVC Beauty
, available to viewers of Freeview, Sky and Freesat
.
service made accessible using the red button on QVC UK's cable
, Sky and digital terrestrial
services. Across each enhanced television platform, QVC provides information including a 24 hour TV Guide
, best selling products of that day and an ability for the viewer to interact with QVC UK's inventory. Customers viewing the Sky and cable TV platforms can buy products using their set-top box
.
In 2008 QVC UK launched a multiscreen video service accessible via the interactive television
layer, making four video streams available to Sky viewers via the red button:
Shopping channel
Shopping channels are television specialty channels that present shopping related content, particularly for home shopping enthusiasts.-USA:* America's Store* Home Shopping Network* Jewelry Television* QVC* Shop at Home Network* ShopNBC...
broadcast in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc.
QVC
QVC is a multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in five countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan and – QVC Italy to 200 million households...
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 profit after five years of broadcasting. In 1998, it turned its first net profit (£12.5 million), against a loss of £228,000 in 1997.
History
The United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
channel was formed in West Chester, Pennsylvania
West Chester, Pennsylvania
The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...
. It is a multinational corporation, specialising in televised home shopping
Shopping channel
Shopping channels are television specialty channels that present shopping related content, particularly for home shopping enthusiasts.-USA:* America's Store* Home Shopping Network* Jewelry Television* QVC* Shop at Home Network* ShopNBC...
. It was founded in 1986
1986 in television
The year 1986 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1986.For the American network television schedule, please see 1986-87 American network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:*September 6 –...
by Joseph Segel
Joseph Segel
Joseph Segel is the founder of over 20 American companies, most notably QVC, an American television network, and the Franklin Mint, a producer of mail-order collectibles. He has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Electronic Retailing Association and an honorary doctorate from...
. QVC broadcasts in five countries to 141 million consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s. The name is an initialism
Acronym and initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
—standing for "Quality, Value, Convenience. However, unlike in the USA, this initialism is no longer used on air in the UK.
Operation in the UK
The UK company became a wholly owned subsidiary of the US broadcaster since 2004. The UK operation operates from two sites. With the company's lease on Marco Polo HouseMarco 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....
, southLondon
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
set to expire on July 2012., the company's UK HQ and studio centre was set to move to Chiswick Park, a 'campus'-style development on the site of a derelict London Transport
London Transport
London Transport could refer to:*London Transport Transport authorities that operated services under the brand:*London Passenger Transport Board *London Transport Executive *London Transport Board...
bus depot in West London on an unspecified date in 2012. Its centre and distribution warehouse had moved to Kirkby
Kirkby
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in the metropolitan county of Merseyside in England. The town was developed from the 1950s through 1970s as a means to house the overspill of Liverpool. It is situated roughly north of Huyton, the administrative HQ of the borough and about...
, in Knowsley
Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley
The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It comprises the towns of Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood and Cronton; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres...
, on Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, in 1998 from Liverpool's Harrington Dock
Harrington Dock
Harrington Dock was a dock on the River Mersey and part of the Port of Liverpool. Situated in the southern dock system, it was connected to Toxteth Dock to the north and Herculaneum Dock to the south. It was built by George Fosbery Lyster and opened in 1882....
. The company has outlet store
Outlet store
An outlet store or factory outlet is a brick and mortar or online retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowing customers to watch the production process like in the...
s in Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
and Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
.
The broadcaster planned to launch a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
channel on the Sky and Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
platforms in 2012. Broadcasts on the Freeview digital terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
platform would not follow suit because of that system's lack of capacity, the company said in 2010 In June 2011, it was reported that QVC UK had begun carrying out trials of 3D
3D television
A 3D television is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field.- History :In the late-1890's,...
broadcasting. This was merely an experiment, a spokesperson said.
The channel broadcasts live 17 hours a day (the remainder being repeated content) year round. QVC UK claims a market penetration of 15.4 million homes on the cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
, and digital terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
TV. The satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
'footprint' also takes in much of western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Retail sales for the year 2008 reached £360+ million. Since 2010, QVC UK's programming is also carried by the ITV1
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...
network in England and Wales in the early hours of the morning as part of ITV's overnight The Zone
The Zone (ITV)
The Zone is the name given to the strand of shopping and gaming programming on ITV1 and a television channel available on Freeview. The programme is an interactive home shopping and gaming show, featuring items from QVC up for sale, with gaming segments from Jackpot247...
programming block.
On 26 October 2010 a second channel was launched in the UK, QVC Beauty
QVC Beauty
QVC Beauty is a digital television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, specialising in beauty products. It is the sister channel to QVC...
, available to viewers of Freeview, Sky and Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
.
QVC Active
QVC Active is an interactive televisionInteractive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
service made accessible using the red button on QVC UK's cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, Sky and digital terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
services. Across each enhanced television platform, QVC provides information including a 24 hour TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, best selling products of that day and an ability for the viewer to interact with QVC UK's inventory. Customers viewing the Sky and cable TV platforms can buy products using their set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
.
In 2008 QVC UK launched a multiscreen video service accessible via the interactive television
Interactive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
layer, making four video streams available to Sky viewers via the red button:
- QVC Live
- QVC +1 (a time delayed service)
- Today's Special Value presentation
- QVC BeautyQVC BeautyQVC Beauty is a digital television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, specialising in beauty products. It is the sister channel to QVC...
, also a separate channel on Freeview, Sky and Freesat.
Products
QVC organises its product range in to eight distinct categories:- beauty
- fashion and accessories
- jewellery
- craft and leisure
- for the home
- home electronics
- garden and DIY
- clearance
Presenters
- Alex Kramer
- Alison Keenan
- Alison Young
- Anna Cookson
- Anne Dawson
- Carmel Thomas
- Catherine Huntley
- Charlie Brook
- Claire Sutton
- Craig Rowe
- Dale Franklin
- Debbie Flint
- Debbie GreenwoodDebbie GreenwoodDebbie Greenwood is a British television presenter and a former beauty queen who won the title of Miss Great Britain in 1984.-Career:...
- Glen Campbell
- Jill Franks
- Jilly Halliday
- Julia RobertsJulia Roberts (QVC presenter)Julia Roberts is a British television home shopping host on the shopping channel QVC.-Biography:Roberts started her career as a cabaret dancer, supporting Cannon and Ball on a summer season in Guernsey, and then followed their act on to television...
- Julian Ballantyne
- Kathy TaylerKathy TaylerKathy Tayler, born 23 March 1960, is a UK TV presenter and former champion modern pentathlete.- Athletics:Kathy won the women's modern pentathlon World Cup in 1979 at the age of 19. She was a member of the Great Britain modern pentathlon team that twice won gold at the World Athletics...
- Miceal Murphy
- Orlando Khota
- Pipa Vanderburg
- Richard Jackson
- Sara G
- Simon Biagi
Past presenters
- Anthony Heywood
- Claudia Sylvester
- Harry Greene
- Jon BriggsJon BriggsJon Briggs was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford. His work spans Radio, TV, Voice-Over, Training and Conferences. He started in radio in 1981 as tea boy and progressed to the breakfast show with BBC Radio Oxford aged 19....
- Kara Tritton
- Katy John
- Paul Lavers
- Rob LockeRob LockeRob Locke is a British Actor, TV Host, and Voice-Over Artist who lives in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:Locke was born in Lincoln, England on October 1971 and grew up in the nation's capital, London. He was bitten by the "acting bug" during his first school play, at the age of six...
- Sophia Barnes (Face of Diamonique 2009-2010)
- Steve WhatleySteve WhatleySteven Rae "Steve" Whatley known as 'Gadget Man', 'Mr Diamonique', 'Whatters' and 'Mr Zhuzh!', was a British Theatre Actor, Consumer Expert, Journalist, and Television Presenter.-Early career:...
- Suzanne Evett