UKTV Gold
360217
225988614
2008-07-16T10:04:31Z
83.191.52.43
{{Infobox TV channel|
name = Gold|
logosize = 120px|
logofile = Gold logo.png|
launch = [[1 November]], [[1992]]|
share = 0.7% (0.4% for +1)<br>|
share as of = March 2008|
share source = [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/monthreports.cfm?report=monthgmulti]|
owner = [[UKTV Network]]<br><small>([[BBC Worldwide]]/[[Virgin Media Television]])</small> |
picture format = [[16:9]], [[576i]] ([[SDTV]]) |
sister names = |
former names = UK Gold (until March 2004)|
web = [http://www.uktvgold.co.uk/ www.uktvgold.co.uk]|
terr serv 1 = [[Top Up TV]]|
terr chan 1 = Channel 17 (17:00-23:30)|
sat serv 1 = [[Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)|Sky Digital]]|
sat chan 1 = Channel 109 <br> Channel 110 (+1)|
cable serv 1 = [[Virgin Media]]<br>|
cable chan 1 = Channel 124 <br> Channel 125 (+1)|
cable serv 2 = [[WightCable]]|
cable chan 2 = Channel 46/112|
cable serv 3 = [[UPC Ireland]]|
cable chan 3 = Channel 120|
adsl serv 1 = [[Tiscali TV]]|
adsl chan 1 = Channel 16|
|}}
'''UKTV Gold''', (previously known as '''UK Gold''' until [[March 8]] [[2004]]), is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[television]] channel that shows mainly classic BBC entertainment programmes. It launched on [[November 1]] [[1992]] and is currently available on [[Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)|Sky Digital]], [[Virgin Media]], [[Tiscali TV]] and terrestrial subscription via [[Top Up TV]].
==History==
[[Image:UKTV Gold share of viewing.png|left|200px|thumb|UKTV Gold share of viewing BARB figures 1992-2007]]The channel launched on [[November 1]], [[1992]] as a joint venture between [[Thames Television]] and the [[BBC]] to show [[rerun]]s of their 'classic' archive programming (UKTV Gold and its sister stations (see below) are now part of the [[UKTV]] network, owned jointly by [[Virgin Media Television]] (formerly Flextech) and the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide).
The channel's major drawbacks in its early years were the insensitive placement of commercial breaks in BBC shows, poor timekeeping, and the heavy-handed editing of BBC programmes to fit commercial timeslots. The channel joined [[British Sky Broadcasting|Sky]]'s basic subscription package in 1993.
Initially broadcast on an analogue [[transponder]] from a [[SES Astra]] satellite at 19.2°E which was not primarily intended for UK reception, the channel used to be notorious for being marred with '[[sparklies]]' in large parts of the UK.
UK Gold's success led to the creation of [[UKTV]], still part-owned by the [[BBC]]'s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, which operates several channels showing different types of archive programming. These included UK Arena (now defunct), UK Style (home and lifestyle), UK Drama, UK Play/PlayUK (music and comedy - now defunct), UK Horizons (now defunct) and UK History, as well as the time-shifted '''UK Gold +1''', and UK Gold Classics, soon renamed to UK Gold 2. UK Gold 2 originally screened morning programmes from UK Gold time-shifted to the evening of the same day, but was relaunched with a completely new programme lineup and renamed UKG<sup>2</sup> on [[November 12]], [[2003]]. Another channel, UK Living, was renamed [[LivingTV]] when it broke away from the joint BBC-Flextech ownership (now solely owned by [[Virgin Media Television]]).
On [[March 8]], [[2004]] all of the UKTV channels changed their prefixes from ''UK'' to ''UKTV'', and UK Horizons was split into two channels - UKTV Documentary and UKTV People.
UKTV still cuts programmes (mainly documentaries) for commercial timing on the UKTV's factual channels, the UKTV channels have broadcast in [[widescreen]] as of [[31 January]] [[2008]]; some programmes made in [[16:9]] format are screened in the compromise [[14:9]] semi-[[letterbox]] ratio. These will be shown in [[16:9]] format later in 2008.
An analogue [[teletext]] service known as GoldText used to be available on this channel, but has since closed down.
The channel has been criticised by some, particularly in recent years, for featuring many recent programmes as opposed to 'classics' as was the original concept, with some shows appearing on the channel mere months or weeks after their first television broadcast.
===UKTV Gold 2008 Rebrand===
On [[12 June]], [[2008]], it was reported that [[UKTV]] are rebranding UKTV Gold to just 'Gold' in October 2008 as part of a network-wide rebrand. <ref>{{cite news
| title=UKTV to rebrand all channels
| publisher=Broadcast
| date=[[12 June]], [[2008]]
| url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/06/uktv_to_rebrand_all_channels.html
| accessdate=2008-06-13}}</ref>. However in an effort to increase profits UKTV Gold is now only going to show Comedy Programmes (As listed on the UKTV Website). Each of the channels (apart from Dave and History Art) are going to concentrate on one certain type of programmes. This has been identified as a scheme to increase profits since instead of having all the classic programmes on one channel, if a fan of both Doctor Who and Dads Army wants to watch both programmes, they have to buy two subscriptions instead on just one. This news was confirmed four weeks later and the new channel, Watch, will launch on 7 October with UKTV Gold dropping the UKTV part of its name. It should be noted that "Gold" is actually an acronym for the channel's slogan; '''G'''o '''O'''n '''L'''augh '''D'''aily. It is unknown whether this was intentional or coincidental.
==Programming==
The output of the channel is mainly British comedy programmes and sometimes feature length films. These are a combination of internally produced shows and repeats of shows from the [[BBC]] & [[ITV]] archive.
===Current Programming===
{{col-start}}
{{col-4}}
*''[[A Question of Sport]] (Dave)
*''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]
*''[[The Afternoon Play (BBC)|The Afternoon Play]]
*''[[Alistair McGowan's Big Impression]]
*''[[Animal Park]]
*''[[As Time Goes By (TV series)|As Time Goes By]]
*''[[Baywatch]]
*''[[The Bill]]
*''[[Blackadder]]
*''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]
*''[[The Catherine Tate Show]]
*''[[Celebrity Masterchef]] (UKTV Style)
*''[[Charlie's Angels]]
*''[[Doctor Who|Classic Doctor Who]] (UKTV Drama)
*''Close Up
*''[[Comedy Connections]]
*''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]] (UKTV Drama)
*''[[Dalziel and Pascoe]]
*''[[Dancing With The Stars]]
*''[[dinnerladies]]
*''[[DIY SOS]] (Now on [[UKTV Style]]
*''[[A Life Of Grime]]
*''[[Doctor Who]] (No Longer on UKTV Gold. It now is on [[UKTV Drama]])
*''[[EastEnders]]
*''[[EuroMillions|Euromillions: Boom Bang a Bang]]
*''[[Fantasy Island]]
*''[[Fawlty Towers]]
*''[[Gimme Gimme Gimme (TV series)|Gimme Gimme Gimme]]
*''[[Holby City]] (UKTV Drama)
*''Icons
*''[[Jim'll Fix It|Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again]]
*''[[Keeping up Appearances]]
*''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]
{{col-4}}
*''[[The Lenny Henry Show]]
*''[[Little Britain]]
*''[[Men Behaving Badly]]
*''[[My Family]]
*''[[My Hero (TV series)|My Hero]]
*''[[Neighbours]]
*''[[The New Adventures Of Old Christine]]
*''[[New Tricks (TV series)|New Tricks]]
*''[[The Office (UK TV series)|The Office]]
*''[[One Foot In The Grave]]
*''[[Only Fools and Horses]]
*''[[Only Fools and Horses|Only Fools and Horses Greatest Moments]]
*''[[Open All Hours]]
*''[[Porridge (TV series)|Porridge]]
*''[[Robin Hood (2006 TV series)|Robin Hood]]
*''[[The Royle Family]]
*''[[Seaside Rescue]]
*''[[Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em]]
*''[[Sorry! (TV series)]]
*''[[Shark (TV series)|Shark]]
*''Starstruck Classics
*''[[The Thin Blue Line (TV series)|The Thin Blue Line]]
*''[[2 Point 4 Children]]
*''[[The Good Life (1975 TV series)|The Good Life]]
*''[[The Vicar of Dibley]]
*''[[Traffic Cops]]
*''[[Victoria Wood As Seen On TV]]''
*''[[Waterloo Road]]''
*''[[Who Do You Think You Are?]]
*''[[Wogan|Wogan: Now and Then]]
*''[[The Worst Week of My Life]]
*''[[Yes Minister]]{{col-end}}
{{complete-list}}
===Former Programming===
{{col-start}}
{{col-4}}
*''[[A Close Shave]]
*''[[A Grand Day Out]]
*''[[Allo, Allo]]
*''[[The A-Team]]
*''[[Alas Smith & Jones]]
*''[[All Creatures Great and Small]]
*''[[Are You Being Served?]]
*''[[Bob's Full House]]
*''[[Big Break]]
*''[[Birds of a Feather]]
*''[[Blake's 7]]''
*''[[Blankety Blank]]
*''[[Blue Peter]]
*''[[The Blue Planet]]
*''[[Bullseye (UK game show)|Bullseye]]
*''[[Bottom (TV series)|Bottom]]
*''[[Brookside]]
*''[[The Brittas Empire]]
*''[[Canned Carrott]]
*''[[Commercial Breakdown|Carrott's Commercial Breakdown]]
*''[[Carrott Confidential]]
*''[[Carrott's Lib]]
*''[[Coast (TV series)|Coast]]
*''[[Dad's Army]]
*''[[Dangerfield (TV series)|Dangerfield]]
*''[[Defenders of the Earth]]
*''[[Dynasty]]
*''[[Eldorado (TV series)|Eldorado]]
*''[[Extreme Makeover: Home Edition]]
*''[[The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin]]
*''[[French & Saunders]]
*''[[Family Fortunes]]
*''[[Goodnight Sweetheart]]
*''[[Happy Families (TV series)|Happy Famalies]]
*''[[Hi-de-Hi!]]
{{col-4}}
*''[[The House of Eliott]]
*''[[The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show]]
*''[[It Ain't Half Hot Mum]]
*''[[Inspector Morse]]
*''[[Kenny_Everett#The_Kenny_Everett_Television_Show_.28BBC_1981-1988.29 |The Kenny Everett Television Show]]
*''[[Lovejoy]]
*''[[The Mary Whitehouse Experience]]
*''[[Match of the Day]]
*''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]
*''[[Morecambe and Wise|The Morcambe & Wise Show]]
*''[[Murder, She Wrote]]
*''[[Newman and Baddiel in Pieces]]
*''[[Planet Earth (TV series)|Planet Earth]]
*''[[Prison Break]] Repeats of season 1 & 2
*''[[Rainbow (TV series)|Rainbow]]
*''[[Record Breakers]]
*''[[Rentaghost]]
*''[[Red Dwarf]]
*''[[Rutland Weekend Television]]
*''[[Shooting Stars]]
*''[[Stars In Their Eyes]]
*''[[Spitting Image]]
*''[[Sons and Daughters]]
*''[[Tenko]]
*''[[The Sweeney]]
*''[[The Tripods]]
*''[[The Two Ronnies]]
*''[[Top of the Pops]]
*''[[Waiting For God]]
*''[[The Weakest Link]]
*''[[The Wrong Trousers]]
*''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]
*''[[You Bet!]]
*''[[You Rang, M'Lord?]] {{col-end}}
{{incomplete-list}}
UKTV Gold's new look went live on [[April 5]], [[2007]] - the same day that Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again, premiered.
==On-Screen Identity==
[[Image:UK Gold Goldie 1993.jpg|thumb|Goldie the UK Gold dog.]]
For the first few years, idents on UK Gold featured an animated dog mascot named "Goldie" posing with the UK Gold logo. Goldie was never name-checked as such on air, possibly owing to the death of the original [[Blue Peter]] dog Goldie some weeks before launch, although the late-night music video slot "Dog House" was originally listed as "Goldie's Video Bites" in initial pre-launch listings. The Goldie idents were kept until 1993 when they were replaced with a form-up of the first logo against a blue background. A re-branding in 1994 saw UK Gold adopt a more fitting identity: Idents were based on the [[forging]] of gold bars, with the station's logo appearing to have been stamped into gold. Variations on this theme were used until 1997, when the channel received a revamp as part of the formation of the UKTV network.
The new network's [[corporate identity]] saw all its channels logos simplified to a boxed "UK" followed by the name (e.g. "Gold") in a simple sans serif font. The new networkwide ident theme would involve the splitting of the screen for different purposes. UK Gold's new idents depicted objects such as apples or leaves falling through the top half of the screen, with only the gold coloured ones reaching the bottom half of the screen. These idents were briefly adopted for UK Gold 2 when it launched in 2000. In 2000 the theme changed again, this time with idents featuring light beams and fireworks.
These channel idents were carried on through another network-wide re-branding of the logo in 2001, adopting a bolder font and merging UK into a single composite character. A range of live-action idents showing everyday activities from unusual perspectives appeared in 2002. From 2003 onward idents showed channel hopping viewers with their TV set "off stage" being brought to a halt by the appearance of a golden light accompanied by the channel's ident jingle. This new identity also featured a series of shifting yellow, orange and red blocks which suggested a gold bar at the centre of the screen.
On [[April 4]] [[2007]], UKTV Gold unveiled a new on-air identity centred around a branded golden [[space hopper]].[http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a44849/uktv-gold-bounces-back-with-gbp10m-new-look.html] playing to contemporary trends toward 1970s nostalgia, and emphasising the station's re-run content. 12 new live action idents featuring the branded space hopper began airing from April 5th 2007.
===Logos===
<gallery>
Image:UK Gold logo (2001-2004.png|UK Gold (2001-2004)
Image:UKTV Gold logo.png|UKTV Gold (2004-October 2008)
Image:Gold logo.png|Gold (From October 2008)
</gallery>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.uktvgold.co.uk Gold] at UKTV.co.uk
*[http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/otherchannels/ukgold.html UKTV Gold at TV Ark]
*[http://thetvroom.com/uktv The TV Room] looks at presentation/branding on the UKTV channels
{{UKTV}}
{{Virgin Media Television}}
[[Category:UKTV channels]]