True Crime Xtra

Last updated

True Crime Xtra
Broadcast area United Kingdom
Programming
Picture format 576i 16:9 SDTV
Ownership
Owner AMC Networks International
Paramount Networks UK & Australia
ParentCBS AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership
Sister channels
History
Launched16 November 2009;14 years ago (2009-11-16)
Replaced Zone Romantica (Europe)
Zone Club (Poland)
Former namesCBS Drama (2009–2022)
RealityXtra (2022–2023)
Links
Website realityxtra.co.uk
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (UK)Channel 68
Streaming media
Virgin TV Anywhere Watch live (UK only)

True Crime Xtra (Styled as TRUE CRIME XTRA, formerly known as CBS Drama and RealityXtra) is a British free-to-air television channel that centres its programming on American television shows produced by CBS. It is the sister channel of CBS Reality and is owned in partnership by AMC Networks and Paramount Networks.

Contents

History

CBS Drama logo, used until 30 June 2022. CBS Drama.png
CBS Drama logo, used until 30 June 2022.

CBS Drama

On 14 September 2009, it was revealed that the international arm of CBS, CBS Studios International, struck a joint venture deal with Chellomedia to launch six CBS-branded channels in the UK during 2009. The new channels would replace Zone Romantica, Zone Thriller, Zone Horror and Zone Reality, plus timeshift services Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1. [1] [2] On 1 October 2009, it was announced that CBS Reality, CBS Reality +1, CBS Drama and CBS Action would launch on 16 November 2009 replacing Zone Reality, Zone Reality +1, Zone Romantica and Zone Thriller. On 5 April 2010, Zone Horror and Zone Horror +1 were rebranded by Horror Channel and Horror Channel +1, following the rebrand of the portfolio's other three channels in November 2009. [3]

On 1 August 2012 Chellomedia revealed that all European versions of the Zone Channels would be rebranded into CBS Channels. [4] CBS Drama replaced Zone Romantica on 3 December 2012 (in Poland replaced Zone Club). [5]

CBS Reality launched on Freeview on 1 April 2014 followed by CBS Action on 1 October 2014 and as of July 2014, CBS Reality +1, CBS Action, CBS Drama & Horror Channel are available on the YouView platform as part of TalkTalk TV's Entertainment Boost, but were removed from the EPG on 2 June 2015.

CBS Drama closed in Poland on 31 December 2016. [6] It had broadcast UK shows such as Bad Girls, Waterloo Road and Footballers Wives, American shows such as Dallas, Beverly Hills, 90210, CSI and Knots Landing, as well as Australian shows such as Return To Eden and Bondi Rescue.

RealityXtra

On 30 June 2022, the British arm of the AMC-Paramount partnership revised its channel line-up with all CBS branding, with the exception of CBS Reality, being dropped and new channel Legend taking CBS Justice's slot and Horror's programming. In the reshuffle, CBS Drama was renamed Reality Xtra, becoming a sister channel to the current (CBS) Reality channel. [7]

RealityXtra logo used until 22 November 2023 RealityXtra logo.svg
RealityXtra logo used until 22 November 2023

With the rebrand and reshuffle of channels, RealityXtra changed frequencies on Freeview and became a limited-reach channel for viewers who could receive the range of Local channels on channel 7 or 8. [8] [9]

True Crime Xtra

On 22 November 2023, RealityXtra rebranded as True Crime Xtra to be more in-line with the True Crime brand.

Programming

Current programming on True Crime Xtra

RealityXtra2

RealityXtra2
RealityXtra2.png
Broadcast area United Kingdom
Programming
Picture format 576i 16:9 SDTV
Ownership
Owner
History
Launched26 October 2022;14 months ago (2022-10-26)
Closed26 April 2023;8 months ago (2023-04-26)
Replaced by HorrorXtra
Links
Website realityxtra.co.uk
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (UK)Channel 69

RealityXtra2 was a short-lived sister channel to RealityXtra exclusively broadcast on Freeview, deemed [10] to be a placeholder channel so AMC Networks could utilize the space for another network. [10] Unlike the main RealityXtra channel, RealityXtra2 is not available on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

The channel launched on 26 October 2022, on Freeview channel 69. [11] with the channel only broadcasting two episodes of Donal MacIntyre's Murder Files from 12:00am until 2:00am. The channel used CBS Justice's on-screen bug from 26 October until 11 November) but with the channel ident used on-air. [12] and eventually changed to the standard RealityXtra bug.

The channel hours were changed to 3:00am to 5:00am by 2023, with the channel showing random episodes of The Fugitive [13] and Written In Blood [14]

On 24 April 2023, it was announced that RealityXtra2 would be replaced with HorrorXtra, and that the channel space would gain full daytime hours in the process. RealityXtra2 closed on 26 April, and HorrorXtra launched on the same day. [15]

Programming on RealityXtra2

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Network</span> American television channel

Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.

Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group. In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on demand content are available through these as well as via NOW, EE TV and TalkTalk TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alibi (TV channel)</span> Digital television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom

Alibi is a British pay television channel that was launched on 1 November 1997 as UK Arena. It was renamed UK Drama in 2000, and then UKTV Drama in 2004, and assumed its current name on 7 October 2008.

Legend is a British free-to-air television channel specialising in sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, action and cult series. It is broadcast in the UK and Ireland. The channel is known for its horror movies during the evenings and early hours with its schedule featuring in the Films section of the Radio Times rather than with the General Entertainment channels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme Sports Channel</span> European pay television channel

The Extreme Sports Channel is a pay television channel that was launched from Amsterdam on 1 May 1999. The channel broadcasts in over 60 countries and 12 languages, and covers extreme sport and adventure sports which include surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, BMX, mountain biking, FMX, music, gaming and fashion.

AMC Networks International UK (EMEA) (formerly AMC Networks International Zone (EMEA),Chello Zone, Zone Vision and Zone Media) is a London, UK-based television company, founded in 1991 by Chris Wronski and owned by AMC Networks International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zone Thriller</span> European TV channel

Zone Thriller was a television channel in Europe that launched on 3 July 2006. The channel aired a number of varying movie styles including psychological dramas and murder mysteries.

CBS Europa is a Polish film channel. It broadcasts contemporary films, influential classics, acclaimed favourites and avant-garde productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Global Content Distribution</span> Global TV distribution arm of Paramount Global

Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division of Desilu Productions. With the sale of Desilu to Gulf+Western, then-owners of film studio Paramount Pictures, in 1968, the division evolved into Paramount's first foray into the international television industry in the 1970s.

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

Zone Romantica was a European TV channel that launched in 1998. The channel broadcast a mixture of telenovelas, music and entertainment from all over the world, but mainly from Latin America. The channel was available 24 hours a day, to 20 territories across Europe and the Middle East. The channel reached 8 million subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zone Club</span> European lifestyle and entertainment channel

Zone Club was a European lifestyle and entertainment channel. It launched in 1998 as Club. It then launched on 1 April 2001 in Poland, and on 13 September 2004 in Hungary.

AMC Networks International is the division of AMC Networks that operates outside the United States. AMC Networks commissions and distributes TV channels, content and video services. The division's operating companies and business units currently own and operate in joint venture a total of 68 branded TV channels and run a suite of digital, on demand and broadband services in Europe. In aggregate, its channels and feeds reach 382 million homes. AMC Networks International also provide a set of advanced digital services, such as ad sales and broadcast solutions to international channel operators.

CBS Justice was a British free-to-air television channel specialising in action film, drama and murder-mysteries programs. It launched in the UK and Ireland on 16 November 2009 and later expanded to Africa in 2019. It closed on all platforms in the UK on 30 June 2022.

CBS Reality is a European free-to-air television channel broadcast in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.

5Action is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global, which is grouped under Paramount Networks UK & Australia division. 5Action features a range of programming from the Channel 5 stable as well as other content from the UK and US, focusing on action, crime and wrestling, aiming towards a Male audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HGTV (British and Irish TV channel)</span> Television channel about homes and gardens

HGTV (formerly Home) is a British free-to-air television channel interior home and garden-orientated lifestyle television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel originally launched on 1 November 1997 as UK Style and then was rebranded to Home on 30 April 2009 and was rebranded to its current form on 21 January 2020. HGTV is broadcast 24 hours a day on Sky and TVPlayer. UK Style was transmitted by terrestrial provider ITV Digital 24 hours a day until the company's collapse in 2002. After a slight rebrand to UKTV Style, the channel made a return to terrestrial screens for a time in the mid-2000s as part of the now-defunct Top Up TV system. Home became available as a free-to-air linear service on Freeview from 1 March 2016.

True Crime is a British free-to-air television channel.

References

  1. "CBS FINALChello Zone partnership press release". Chello Zone. 14 September 2009. Archived from the original (DOC) on 24 July 2011.
  2. "CBS to launch UK channels with Chellomedia". Broadcastnow. 14 September 2009.
  3. "Zone Horror rebrands as Horror Channel". Broadband TV News. 31 March 2010.
  4. "CBS and Chellomedia take entertainment across EMEA". Broadband TV News. 1 August 2012.
  5. "Kanały CBS w Polsce. Co w ramówce?". Media2.pl. 30 November 2012.
  6. "CBS Drama kończy nadawanie w Polsce" (in Polish). 26 November 2016.
  7. "CBS name dropped in major channel change". 18 June 2022.
  8. "Freeview channel switch-off completes". 30 June 2022.
  9. "Freeview Updates (via Wayback Machine)". 15 September 2022 [30 June 2022]. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Freeview changes: new services for October". 26 October 2022.
  11. "Freeview Updates". 26 October 2022 [26 October 2022].
  12. "RealityXtra 2 - Continuity (27th October 2022) - YouTube". YouTube . 27 October 2022.
  13. "The Fugitive on RealityXtra". www.realityxtra.co.uk.
  14. "Written In Blood on CBS Reality". www.cbsreality.tv.
  15. Newsdesk1, RXTV (24 April 2023). "New channels for Freeview viewers from 26th April > RXTV info". RXTV info.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)