 | |
| Programming | |
|---|---|
| Picture format | 16:9 576i SDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Sister channels | Trace Latina Trace Urban Trace Vault |
| History | |
| Launched | 24 January 2005 |
| Closed | 1 June 2020 |
| Replaced by | Trace Entertainment |
| Former names | Fizz (2005–2009) |
Starz TV (formerly Fizz TV) was a British free-to-air music channel, owned by TRACE Group.[ citation needed ]
Fizz TV was launched on 24 January 2005 on Sky, although the channel began test transmissions on 10 January. [1] 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. [2] Ofcom's television broadcast licensing update for May 2012, indicates that Starz TV was sold to Cloud Television One Limited. [3]
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. [4]
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.
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, It was replaced by Trace Entertainment at 12pm on that day.
Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
Pop is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited, targeting audiences aged 6 to 10. Launched on 29 May 2003 as Toons&Tunes by Chart Show Channels (CSC) Media Group, it later took on its current name and was sold to Sony Pictures Television, who in turn sold it and its local channels to Narrative Entertainment UK Limited in 2021.
CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British cable television broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019.
Scuzz was a British 24-hour rock and metal music television channel owned and operated by Sony Pictures Television. It was launched on 17 April 2003 and went on to be the highest-rated rock TV station on the Sky satellite platform, available in over 12 million homes in the UK and Ireland. The channel was closed on 15 November 2018.
Now 70s is a British free-to-air music television channel, owned by All Around the World Productions, available through Sky UK, Freeview and Virgin Media within the UK. It focuses on music from the 1970s, being the third decade-oriented channel in the Now portfolio, along with Now 80s and Now 90s & 00s.
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.
Trace Hits was a British free-to-air music channel owned by Trace Group.
Trace Vault was a British free-to-air music and entertainment television channel owned by Trace Group.
Flaunt was an electronic dance music television channel. It was a captivating destination for dance music enthusiasts, owned and operated by the CSC Media Group. This esteemed channel focused on broadcasting an array of music videos from diverse dance genres, such dance, techno, trance, disco, eurodance, house & dance-pop along with classic dance hits from the previous decades.
Flava was a British hip-hop music television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. Launched in June 2004 as B4 TV by CSC Media Group, Flava broadcast hip-hop, urban, and R&B music from the late 1970s to the 2010s. It also occasionally aired films and original programming. The channel promoted itself as "100% Old Skool Hip-Hop/R&B 24/7."
Anime Central was a British television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on 13 September 2007. It was first announced on 5 August 2007, though its license first appeared on the Ofcom website in January. The channel ran from 9pm to 6am, free-to-air on Sky's Digital TV Platform, channel 199; and it was the only channel broadcast in the UK and Ireland which was dedicated solely to showing anime.
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.
NME TV was a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group, which carried the branding of the popular music publication NME under a brand licensing agreement. This was a similar arrangement to its radio station, NME Radio, which is operated by Town and Country Broadcasting. The channel replaced Minx on 22 November 2007. NME TV launched at 6.00am that day with "Up the Bracket" by The Libertines being the first video to be played on the channel.
Great! Movies is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited that broadcasts across the UK and Ireland showing films and related content. The channel is transmitted on most of the major broadcast platforms in the UK - terrestrial, satellite and cable. The channel is only broadcast in standard-definition.
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.
Trace Latina is 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 still in France.
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media, although only a small number of both local and national That's TV channels are available on Virgin Media.
Channel U was a British digital satellite TV music channel that focused on the British grime scene which ran from February 2003 to June 2018.