Best channel launches

[Jexedback]

“A new day, a new dawn, a new television station”
Welcome to TV Live Forum.

As TVF closed with the best big endings, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about best channel launches.

Always thought Westcountry was classy

[media]https://youtu.be/KdkVaxYHcVk[/media]

And I liked the Johnny Vaughan wraparound stuff of BBC Three

[media]https://youtu.be/lD5zN74wM2A[/media]

Still love the Blobs’

[Rick]

I thought the blobs for BBC 3 were great, and it has a much better logo than any that followed. It's also been cursed with horrible DOG's since launch too yet BBC FOUR's has always been so small, neat, tidy and in the corner. I hope upon its return to TV next year the DOG is a bit more BBC FOUR in style.

[what]

“A new day, a new dawn, a new television station”
Welcome to TV Live Forum.

As TVF closed with the best big endings, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about best channel launches.

Always thought Westcountry was classy

[media]https://youtu.be/KdkVaxYHcVk[/media]

And I liked the Johnny Vaughan wraparound stuff of BBC Three

[media]https://youtu.be/lD5zN74wM2A[/media]

Still love the Blobs’

Westcountry's first night was good except when they scrapped that movie halfway through. Or was that just Applemask messing with us?

[nwtv2003]

Westcountry's first night was good except when they scrapped that movie halfway through. Or was that just Applemask messing with us?

Technically it wasn’t Westcountry (or ITV for that matter) scrapping the film half way through. The film itself Best Defense was an absolute flop for Paramount to the point where Dudley Moore pulled out and Eddie Murphy was brought in. They were both headline actors for it, but did not appear alongside together. Murphy has been on record to say the film was awful. Not really the best film to start a new era of ITV with to be honest.

[Colm]

Channel 4 set a high benchmark for a station launch IMO - a nicely-curated preview of its content set to the channel's signature tune, then just carrying on with the first programme.

[AaronLancs]

When this launched this morning all I could think of is the immortal words of one Mr. Whiteley.

"As one countdown finishes, so another one starts." or words to that effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLokvD0A4kM

[Flux]

The majority will probably disagree with me, but as a massive Spice Girls fan at the time I thought (and still think) the Channel 5 launch was a brilliant idea:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBxOVp6ix20[/media]

It was very clever PR. The group was everywhere back then, and having them officially open the channel really helped the PR and buildup in the preceding weeks. They teased the "performance" whenever they did any other appearances and promo work, and it generated some extra excitement further afield amongst people who weren't necessarily already interested in the fact a new channel was launching.

I was just a young teenager in the hills of Wales back then, so we knew we wouldn't be able to get Channel 5 on launch. But with some testing, I worked out that I could catch a dim signal of Channel 5's pre-launch test screens in grainy black and white whilst using a portable TV and holding an aerial above my head in a specific corner of our attic, so I made sure I was up there to catch the actual launch! I only actually saw it in full in colour a few years ago thanks to YouTube.

[what]

It's a shame that nowhere near as much effort is put into channel launches nowadays. Just an ident into the first programme.

[dbl]

They certainly don't fly a comedian/talent to the US for a channel launch anymore
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06ECneWvko[/media]

Five US's launch

[Inspector Sands]

It's a shame that nowhere near as much effort is put into channel launches nowadays. Just an ident into the first programme.

Thing is that it's not that big a deal any more. The days when a new TV channel was a once in a decade event are long gone


Back from when they were important, here's Carlton's launch programme, like Channel 5 a few years later they had a clever first advert:
https://youtu.be/3zRnRUOLDgk



Al Jazeera English did make an effort, and it's a great launch (except for the ticker machine going a bit awry at the start)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsNmMZt9fc

Apparently that launch cost a bit more than they planned, that opening sequence contained a brief shot owned by another broadcaster and they retrospectively charged AJ a few $1000 for using it. Bad luck that they chose the one time that every rival was watching!

[Steve in Pudsey]

Here's one that was arguably better than anything that followed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXJmBJ5GCrQ

(Dodgy aspect ratio my fault rather than theirs - are we still calling that Shatliffing over here?)

[johnnyboy]

On the subject of channel launches, I've always wanted to watch the 30-minute "preface" program transmitted at 5.30pm just before the launch of BBC News 24.

Unfortunately, despite many years of looking, I have never found it in its entireity.

[Multi]

Not strictly a launch, more of a relaunch.

I loved Rob’s nod to this...

https://youtu.be/wPBabNFqx0Q

[VMPhil]

It's a shame that nowhere near as much effort is put into channel launches nowadays. Just an ident into the first programme.

I still remember being so disappointed watching the boring ITV3 launch, after watching the ITV2 launch on TV Ark and hoping for something just as grand!

I did watch the BBC Three launch, that was exciting. I recall watching a lot of BBC Choice just because it was closing down. I saw the preview clips of Little Britain so many times. The last night of BBC Choice was indeed just a loop of the pre-launch barker for BBC Three.

[Brekkie]

Has nobody mentioned Merit? :lol:

ITV4 or More4 probably the last really noteable channel launch (can't remember which came first) - but for those of us of a certain generation Channel 5 was the channel launch to remember - or the pre-launch was at least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Q4B3_Uu4k