Price Drop

Last updated

Price Drop
Price Drop logo.svg
Country United Kingdom
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom
Programming
Picture format 16:9, 576i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner Bid Shopping
Sister channels Shop at Bid
History
Launched11 June 2003
Closed17 April 2014
Former namesPrice-Drop.TV (2003–2005)
Price-Drop TV (2005–2011)
Availability (at time of closure)
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 37

Price Drop was a British television shopping channel based in the UK, that ran daily live reverse auctions. It was the first reverse auction channel of its kind in the world. The channel was owned by Bid Shopping.

Contents

History

Price-Drop TV logo used from 21 January 2005 until 1 August 2011. Price-drop tv logo.png
Price-Drop TV logo used from 21 January 2005 until 1 August 2011.

2003–2005: Price-Drop.TV

The channel first launched as Price-Drop.TV on 11 June 2003. The channel began broadcasting from 4pm to 12 midnight, Wednesdays to Saturdays. The hours of live broadcast were then extended to 7.45am to 1.30am, 7 days a week. It was available to more than 12 million homes in the UK, and made weekly revenue of over £3 million.[ citation needed ]

Prior to December 2004, each 'price drop' started at the Clear price. After guide prices were removed, it was no longer possible to judge how closely the starting prices reflected the true value of products. A certain number of units of a product were advertised at a specified price, and buyers could place orders by telephone. The price was decreased in steps until all units were sold. All purchasers paid the final, lowest, price. Occasionally, the channel had promotions where a small number of products "Megadrop" to £1 during a special event (it appeared to be random, but directors chose which products will Megadrop beforehand). Megadrops were also used on sister channel Bid, but Price Drop was the first to use the promotion.

2005–2011: Price-Drop TV

On 21 January 2005, the channel was renamed from Price-Drop.TV to Price-Drop TV, losing only the 'dot' part of the channel's name.

In October 2005, a start price graphic was introduced, effectively reinstating a rephrased guide price. The "start price" was used to show the starting price of the reverse auction, but was not used to represent a value or worth.

On 10 May 2006, products were now sold at prices in pounds and pence instead of just pounds.

2011–2014: Price Drop and closure

On 1 August 2011, 'Price-Drop TV' rebranded as 'Price Drop' dropping the 'TV' and '-' from the channel's name. Along with the new name, new buying graphics were introduced on all three Bid Shopping channels and new idents compromising of different 3D products flying around the new logo designs were shown. The new design was created to make buying easier for the viewer. At the same time as the new channel design, multi-buy was introduced on certain products where the viewer can select to buy more than one product at the same time (P&P is still applied to each item).

On 30 March 2012 at 6pm, Price Drop "re-launched" with a completely new set, but still in their existing studio. The new set primarily consisted of a brick-work wall design with blue and purple lighting filling the left and right window cut-outs. In the centre of the simulated wall there was another cut-out which housed four LCD screen panels that constructed the main visual display on the Price Drop set; this also provided a backdrop for images and video behind the presenters and assistants.

On 21 May 2013, it was announced that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had referred Bid-Up Limited, who operated Price Drop, to Ofcom for consideration of statutory sanctions following repeated breaches of the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. Ofcom has confirmed that it has accepted the referral. Since January 2012, there have been 33 ASA rulings against Bid-Up Ltd. The two main types of problem have been misleading pricing claims and misleading product descriptions.

On 17 April 2014, the channel's owner Bid Shopping went into administration; Price Drop and its sister channel Shop at Bid were closed down with immediate effect with 229 jobs being lost. Websites for the channels were immediately pulled offline, and a technical fault card appeared on the channels. On 23 April 2014, the Bid and Price Drop websites were updated with information regarding the administration, and the channels were pulled from Virgin Media and Sky Broadband. The channels were removed from Freeview and Sky on 25 April 2014. On Freesat & Virgin Media, its EPG was taken by QVC Beauty. On Freeview, its EPG was taken by Quest. [1] [2]

Broadcasting on Freeview

Price Drop launched on Freeview on 2 December 2003 on channel 24. The channel originally broadcast on multiplex 2, operated by Digital 3&4.

Price Drop had to move to multiplex A on 1 October 2004, when ITV wanted the capacity to launch ITV3 a month later.

On 5 January 2009, Price Drop was removed from the Freeview digital platform, as Bid-Up Shopping lost its space on multiplex A. It was outbid for renewal of its carriage contract by Discovery Networks UK, which launched the entertainment channel Quest. The channel returned to Freeview in August 2009 - but, because it was time-sharing capacity with SmileTV3, its hours were limited to 8am to 12 midnight.

In late June 2012, Price Drop started broadcasting on new Freeview capacity from 8am to 2am in post-digital switchover areas, which included all areas of the United Kingdom by 24 October 2012.

Additional information

Past presenters

Retail store

A pilot retail outlet at the Hatfield Galleria opened in 2004 selling goods initially at close to RRP, and dropping the price each day. Another store opened at Kingsgate Shopping Centre in Huddersfield around the same time. Due to the global recession and questions over stock quality, both stores were closed in April 2009.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeview (UK)</span> British digital terrestrial television platform

Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the seven DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. As of July 2020, it has 85 TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bid Shopping</span> British teleshopping network

Sit-Up Ltd., traded as Bid Shopping, was an English broadcaster which launched in 2000. It operated a portfolio of falling price shopping television channels to over 12 million homes in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Top Up TV</span> Former UK pay TV service

Top Up TV was a pay TV service in the United Kingdom that was launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial television platform. The service aimed to "top up" Freeview customers by providing additional content and services through encrypted TV channels unavailable to other viewers.

Shop at Bid was a British television shopping channel that ran daily auctions and later fixed price demonstrations. It was the world's first channel of its kind. It launched as Bid-Up.tv. The channel was owned by Bid Shopping.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bid Plus</span> Television channel

Bid Plus was a British television shopping channel owned by Bid Shopping. The channel ceased broadcast on 1 July 2013.

iBuy British home shopping channel

iBuy was a British satellite-based home shopping channel.

SDN is a company that operates one of the six multiplexes of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom. Although it was co-founded by Welsh channel S4C in 1997, the company has been wholly owned by ITV plc since 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TJC (TV channel)</span> British home shopping channel and retailer

The Jewellery Channel, known otherwise as TJC, is a British home shopping channel and online retailer specialising in jewellery, home, beauty, fashion, gemstones and other lifestyle accessories. It is one of the main TV shopping channels in the UK. The channel launched on 4 April 2006, and currently broadcasts 24 hours a day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JML Direct TV</span> Series of British television shopping channels owned by John Mills Limited

JML Direct TV was a television shopping channel owned by JML Direct Limited that mainly broadcasts infomercials featuring various products from the company. The channel was broadcast on Sky and Freesat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ideal World</span> British free-to-view shopping channel

Ideal World is a British TV shopping channel, broadcasting on DTT, satellite and online, with transactional websites, previously hosted from studios in Peterborough.

High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in late 2005 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.

Freeview is the name for the collection of free-to-air services on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform in the United Kingdom. The service was launched at 5 am on 30 October 2002 and is jointly operated by its five equal shareholders – BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BSkyB and transmitter operator Arqiva. This article documents the history of the Freeview service, from its inception up to the present.

Gemporia is a British television and online retailer, licensed by Ofcom under the Gems TV name. The channel is mostly concerned with selling jewellery with a few lifestyle products from the homeware and beauty categories promoted in various slots across the schedule. The channel is available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat, Freeview and online. The channel operations are based at Eagle Road Studios in Redditch, near Birmingham. As of February 2023, the channel broadcast 24 hours a day, live between the hours of 07:00-23:00 on television, via the GEMPORIA mobile app, and online at gemporia.com. The business derives from Gems TV in Thailand.

The British media company Sky UK has incurred criticism over the years, much of it centred on overcharging, anti-competitive practices, and the business practices and undue political influence of its one-time majority owner News Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QVC Beauty</span> Television channel

QVC Beauty is a digital television shopping channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, specializing in beauty products. It is the sister channel to QVC. The channel launched on Tuesday 26 October 2010 and is available on Sky, Freesat and online, and was formerly available on Freeview until 21 June 2023 when it was replaced by QVC2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemporia</span> Television channel

Gemporia is a British television and online jewellery retailer. The main television channel operated by the business is Gems TV, a reverse auction jewellery shopping channel, the first dedicated reverse auction channel in the UK. The channel is available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat, Freeview and online. The channel operations are based at Eagle Road Studios in Redditch, near Birmingham. As of February 2023, the channel broadcast 24 hours a day, live between the hours of 07:00-23:00 on television, via the GEMPORIA mobile app, and online at gemporia.com.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That's Manchester</span> Local TV station in Manchester, England

That's Manchester is a local television station serving Greater Manchester. It is owned and operated by That's TV and broadcasts on Freeview channel 7 from studios at The Flint Glass Works in the Ancoats suburb of Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That's TV</span> Network of local television services in the United Kingdom

That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media. That's TV started off as the owner of a number of local television licences in several conurbations, but even though regional news can still be found via these services, these channels simulcast the classic hits and television schedule of the national That's TV channel for most of the day. That's Television Ltd is owned by That's Media Ltd, which is based at The Flint Glass Works in the Ancoats neighbourhood of Manchester.

References

  1. ↑ "TV channel Sit-Up falls into administration despite passing CVA last month". Retail Week. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Administrators appointed to sit-up Limited". KPMG. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Nana Akua". nanaakua.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Andrea McLean". andreamclean.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.