Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech before becoming a subsidiary of BSkyB, with Challenge still broadcasting.
Living TV Group's advertising was handled by former sister company Interactive Digital Sales (IDS) until 1 January 2011,[2] when Sky Media took over.
Flextech began life as an oil services group, previously floated as an energy investment company back in 1983.
[3] By 1992, Flextech was a media-only group, having built up stakes in local cable operators by way of selling off its non-core assets.
[17] The deal ultimately came to nothing, but two years later, both companies agreed to allow Flextech's television channels to be broadcast on Sky's new digital platform.
In 2007, Target Entertainment Group acquired Minotaur International and formed strategic alliances with Virgin Media Television to act as their preferred distribution partner.
[32] In 2005, Telewest, in preparation for its long-awaited merger with NTL, put Flextech up for sale as the companies agreed "a content provider" had no place within the merged operation.
A lot of interest was generated by the sale; potential suitors included RTL, Hallmark Channel, ITV, Time Warner and Disney.
Commercial terrestrial players had found that the popularity of Freeview worked to their advantage, as viewers have fewer channels to choose from than on pay-TV platforms.
Media analysis at the time did not believe the sale was genuine, although five other bidders including RTL and ITV did state an interest.
Scripps was negotiating a deal to give BBC Worldwide the option of increasing its stake to a maximum of 60%, by using a combination of cash and an unspecified "package of digital rights" for UKTV.
[44][45] The companies had, in parallel, agreed to enter into a number of agreements providing for the carriage of certain Sky standard and high-definition (HD) channels.
Virgin Media also gained access to red button interactive sports coverage and the opportunity to deliver selected standard definition programming over the internet.
On 20 July 2010, the Office of Fair Trading announced that they would review BSkyB's acquisition of the Virgin Media Television business to judge whether it posed any competition concerns in the UK.
The watchdog invited interested parties from the industry to comment on the sale, including its potential impact on the pay-TV market.
On 14 September 2010, the OFT decided not to refer BSkyB's takeover of Virgin Media's TV channels to the Competition Commission.
Initially Bravo aired black and white B-movies from the 1950s and 1960s and vintage TV series such as Knight Rider and MacGyver, and original productions.
Bravo also aired World Championship Wrestling's flagship show Nitro during WCW's final year in business (2000–2001).
As Player, Bravo 2 added exclusive coverage of the FIA GT Championship to its portfolio of sports events.
Shows include the likes of the CSI, Close to Home and Boston Legal, the channel was broadening its audience reach to other key demographics such as men aged 18–45.
The channel also showed more lifestyle and health-related programming such as, Baby ER, Birth Stories, Downsize Me and Wedding SOS.
[58] Running a daily schedule from 15:00 to 02:00, the channel gave viewers the opportunity to experience their favourite Living shows again or catch up on ones that they have missed.
SceneOne was a general entertainment website and television channel that was closed down under Flextech management after disappointing reach and a lack of revenue.
[60] The site's coverage spanned cinema, TV, radio, music, concerts, theatre, comedy, online, books and videos.
[62] The channel was seen as Virgin Media's replacement of Sky Sports News which had been removed from their platform on 1 March 2007 as their contract with BSkyB had ended.
TCC closed down silently on 3 April 1998 for unknown reasons, although ratings had fallen dramatically following the launch of rival children's channels.
Its slot on the various platforms was taken by TV Travel Shop, although Cable & Wireless continued to briefly run the channel's Nordic feed for several months.
[65] Viewers pressed the red button on their remote controls and were presented with a list of television series, episodes of which they could have watched at any time they like during the week.
The current database generated £2.9m of gross gaming margin from 12 May 2009 to 31 December 2009 and was subject to a revenue share agreement.
Under the revised terms, all revenues arising from this database will be retained by NetPlay TV, with VMTV receiving fixed monthly payments that reflect the value of its airtime.