 | |
| Programming | |
|---|---|
| Picture format | 16:9 576i SDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Video Interactive Television (2005-2009) Mushroom TV (2009-2012) Cloud Television One Limited (2012-2014) Sony Pictures Television (2014-2018) TRACE Group (2018-2020) |
| Sister channels | Trace Latina Trace Urban Trace Vault |
| History | |
| Launched | 24 January 2005 |
| Replaced | BuzMuzik (Freesat) |
| Closed | 1 June 2020 |
| Former names | Fizz (2005–2009) |
Starz TV (formerly Fizz TV) was a British free-to-air music channel, owned by TRACE Group. [1]
Fizz TV was launched on 24 January 2005 on Sky, although the channel began test transmissions on 10 January. [2] The output of the station was music videos from a range of genres that were popular in the charts. The channel also had a heavy interactive texting element, through the viewers being able to send in text messages and pictures that were shown on screen.
The parent company of Channel U and Fizz TV, Video Interactive Television, went into voluntary liquidation at the beginning of February 2009, before being purchased by Mushroom TV. When purchasing the two channels, Mushroom TV agreed that Channel U and Fizz TV should be rebranded. The two channels were rebranded as Channel AKA and Starz TV on 16 March 2009.
On 22 June 2012, Mushroom TV entered liquidation. [3] Ofcom's television broadcast licensing update for May 2012, indicates that Starz TV was sold to Cloud Television One Limited. [4]
From 2014 to 2018, it was owned by Sony Pictures Television, before being acquired by TRACE Group on 13 December 2018 along with its three sister music channels. [5]
On 15 April 2014, Starz TV was launched on Freesat, replacing BuzMuzik, which was closed 12 days earlier. It was removed from there along with Chart Show TV, Scuzz and Tiny Pop +1 on 31 July 2018. On 21 October 2019, the channel returned to Freesat, replacing The Vault. It rebranded to 'Christmas Starz' between 1 October 2019 and 7 January 2020, and was later removed from Freesat on 30 April 2020.
On 1 October 2019, the channel rebranded temporarily as Christmas Starz. At the same time, the channel also adopted a new logo, which continued on following the reversion to Starz TV on 7 January 2020.
The channel closed on 1 June 2020 along with Trace Latina, with its content moving to a block on Trace Urban in the mornings. The last song on the channel was "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, before cutting off partly through the video, similar to former sister channels Flava and Scuzz's closures.
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Greatest Hits TV was a British satellite TV music channel owned by UltimateHits Limited. The channel is ultimately owned by All Around the World Productions, a British record label who also operated Channel AKA, Clubland TV and Planet Pop.
Mushroom TV Limited was an English television company and owner of several satellite television music channels. Mushroom operated Channel AKA, Starz TV and Greatest Hits TV. The company was launched in 2000 and, according to their website, were fully committed to supporting British acts and helping them to achieve success in the music industry.
BuzMuzik was a viewer-controlled British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group. The channel was the first of its kind, using social media and SMS to control the music playlists. It launched on 30 May 2012, the launch date having slipped back several times from an initially mooted February opening.
Trace Latina was a music channel specialising mostly in urban Latin music. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom via the Channelbox streaming platform on Freeview UK channel 271 and in France
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat and Freeview. 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.
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