CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019.
Background
CSC Media Group was named after the now defunct UK music show ''
The Chart Show
''The Chart Show'' (also known as ''The ITV Chart Show'' between 1989 and 1998) was a popular weekly syndicated music video programme which ran in the United Kingdom from April 1986 until August 1998, with revivals in 2003 and 2008–2009.
''T ...
'', which ran on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
and
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
for twelve years. CSC evolved from the original Chart Show production company
Video Visuals, to Chart Show Channels, which was then acquired in 2007 by private equity group Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
Until
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
acquired the company, they owned sixteen channels, all of which are advertising-funded and
free to air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscriptio ...
(FTA).
History
Chart Show Channels was founded in May 2002. The company's first channel -
Chart Show TV
Trace Hits (formerly Chart Show TV and Trace Urban) is a British free-to-air music channel owned by Trace Group.
History
Chart Show TV launched on 16 September 2002 and initially consisted of several different charts, mimicking the format of ...
, launched on Sky on September 16th of that year, with high viewing figures within its first week of launch. On October 14th, a sister network -
Chart Shop TV was launched. This network allowed viewers to purchase CDs and music-related merchandise. It aired on the same broadcast capacity as Chart Show, and aired from 4:00–6:00 am early in the morning during Chart Show's downtime.
In March 2003, Chart Shop TV closed, and its broadcast capacity was used for
Video Vault, once again broadcasting late-at-night during Chart Show TV's downtime. On May 30, the company's first children's network -
Toons & Tunes soft-launched before fully launching as Pop in July. Video Vault would fully launch that month as The Vault, moving into Pop's broadcast capacity as a nighttime service. In September, a sister channel to Pop - Pop Plus, was launched, which functioned similarly to a timeshift service, although it didn't always air the same programmes as its sister channel. On September 17th, The Vault moved out of Pop's capacity space and gained its own 24-hour slot.
In July 2004, the company's next music channel
B4 was launched in Pop Plus' broadcast capacity, broadcasting in its space at night. Pop Plus later re-launched as the pre-school-oriented
Tiny Pop
Tiny Pop (styled as tiny POP) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. Broadcast on many of the major digital television platforms in the UK, Tiny Pop, which was ...
at the end of the month.
In 2006,
British Sky Broadcasting
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
sold their three music channels
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...
(previously
The Amp
The AMP was a youth center and music venue in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Established in October 2003 by Billy Luetzen, the AMP provided a place for local youth to hang out, and on most weekends staged a concert. Generally concerts had ...
),
Scuzz
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 i ...
, and
Flaunt
''Flaunt'' is an American fashion and culture magazine based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with an office in New York.
History
The magazine was founded in 1998 by the current C.E.O. Luis Barajas, and Creative Director Jim Turner, who had previousl ...
to CSC. Formerly encrypted, CSC made the channels FTA like the rest of their channels.
In 2007, they launched five channels; two of which were
timeshift channel
A timeshift channel (sometimes referred to as a +1 channel) is a television channel carrying time-delayed reruns of its "parent" channel's programming. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network br ...
s:
Pop +1 and
Tiny Pop +1. The third channel was a new children's channel called
Pop Girl
Pop Girl was a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), a company associated with the makers of ''The Chart Show'', a television programme that had previously bee ...
, aimed at a young female audience. The fourth channel was
AnimeCentral, which time-shares with Pop Girl, and shows animated series for an older audience; it was the first dedicated channel in the UK for anime broadcasting. The fifth was
Minx
Minx, MinX or MINX may refer to:
Music
* MINX (band), dissolved South Korean girl group replaced by Dreamcatcher
* MINX (musician) (born 1983), Australian DJ and producer
* ''Minx'' (Leatherface album), 1993
* ''Minx'' (Toyah album), 1985
Pr ...
, which was a spin-off music channel from the Minx slot shown on Chart Show TV. Minx was later replaced by
NME TV
NME TV was a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), which carried the branding of the popular music publication ''NME'' under a brand licensing agreement. This was a similar arrang ...
, which is a dedicated indie music channel.
In 2008, they rebranded B4 to
Flava after showing a mix of R&B music for a few months prior to this in March. The channel also went
16:9 widescreen prior to the rebrand, to match the other CSC music channels. On Tuesday 6 May, they launched
Flaunt +1, a 1-hour timeshifted version of Flaunt. This was their first-ever timeshifted music channel, and is also the second to launch in the UK, after
MTV One +1 (now MTV +1) launched in February 2008, replacing
MTV Flux
MTV Flux was a television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The version in the UK and Ireland launched on 6 September 2006. The brand started as a website on 1 August. It used bandwidth that was originally used to broadcast VH2. There i ...
. On Monday 12 May, six days after launching their first music timeshift,
Bliss +1, their second music channel timeshift, was launched and their third music channel timeshift,
Scuzz +1 launched in November 2008. It soon closed, and the satellite transponder space was then used by
NHK World TV
NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese state-controlled public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-ser ...
. On Monday 19 May, they launched their fourth kids channel, replacing
Pop +1.
Kix!
Pop Max (formerly Kix! and then Kix) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, sci-fi, action and adventure series and ani ...
kit started at 06:00 hours, showing a mixture of cartoons, extreme sports, as well as music, aimed for boys, similar to another kids channel,
Jetix. Currently, it broadcasts from 06:00 to 23:30 daily.
Pop Girl +1, a 1-hour timeshifted version of Pop Girl launched on Wednesday 4 June, replacing their first music channel timeshift,
Flaunt +1, which had only been on air just short of four weeks.
AnimeCentral has been replaced with
Showcase TV
Showcase TV was a television channel in the United Kingdom currently run by Information TV and is used to offer smaller specialist channels a place to showcase their programmes, sometimes leading to a full channel launch. It is also used as a p ...
on 27 August 2008, which simulcasts a mixture of channels such as
Pop Girl
Pop Girl was a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), a company associated with the makers of ''The Chart Show'', a television programme that had previously bee ...
,
Chart Show TV
Trace Hits (formerly Chart Show TV and Trace Urban) is a British free-to-air music channel owned by Trace Group.
History
Chart Show TV launched on 16 September 2002 and initially consisted of several different charts, mimicking the format of ...
,
True Movies 2
True Movies 2 was a British free-to-air television channel that was owned by Moving Movies Ltd., majority owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels). It was launched on 20 March 2006 and was a sister channel from True Movies which ...
, along with
AnimeCentral programming block with repeats of ''
Cowboy Bebop'' and ''
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex''.
CSC is the majority owner of Moving Movies Ltd.; with
True Movies 1 being the first channel from the company, it launched on 8 April 2005 and was joined by
True Movies 2
True Movies 2 was a British free-to-air television channel that was owned by Moving Movies Ltd., majority owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels). It was launched on 20 March 2006 and was a sister channel from True Movies which ...
in March 2006. Both channels showed mainly made-for-TV movies from a range of genres, all based on real-life events and people.
They were announced as being one of the channel providers providing
DVB-H channels in a 16 channel trial of the technology in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, a system which would have carried Chart Show TV.
CSC was one of the parties involved in bidding for a low-bandwidth, 18-hour-a-day stream on the UK's
digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
(DTT) system in November 2005.
Like
The Box Plus Network
The Box Plus Network (formerly Video Jukebox Network International Ltd and Box Television Ltd) was a British television company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation, it specialised in music programming.
On 2 April 2013, all The Box Pl ...
and
All Around the World Productions
Xploded Music is a British record label set up by Cris Nuttall and Matt Cadman. The label is a joint venture with Universal, and has developed from their previous partnership with the All Around the World dance music label. All Around the Wo ...
channels, all of CSC's music channels now broadcast 24 hours a day.
In May 2012, CSC launched
BuzMuzik, a new music television channel driven by mobile phone (text/mms) and social media.
In February 2013, CSC launched True Entertainment +1, a one-hour timeshift of True Entertainment. It was replaced by
True Drama on 4 June 2013.
On 22 July 2013, Kix Power launched, replacing Pop Girl +1 on Sky. That was rebranded as Kix +1 on 1 October 2013, rebranded as Kix Power again on Christmas 2013 and Easter 2014; and was renamed Kix + on 22 April 2014. This timeshift was replaced with Pop +1 on 14 July 2014. Kix Power was renamed as POP Power, and POP Power replaces
Pop Max
Pop Max (formerly Kix! and then Kix) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, sci-fi, action and adventure series and ani ...
on Virgin TV.
In late 2013, CSC purchased
Starz TV
Starz TV (formerly Fizz TV) was a British free-to-air music channel, owned by TRACE Group.
History
Fizz TV was launched on 24 January 2005 on Sky. The output of the station was music videos from a range of genres that were popular in the char ...
, which was a sole channel by Cloud Television One Limited, following the collapse of
Mushroom TV
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 ...
and the sale of Mushroom's all other channels to
All Around the World Productions
Xploded Music is a British record label set up by Cris Nuttall and Matt Cadman. The label is a joint venture with Universal, and has developed from their previous partnership with the All Around the World dance music label. All Around the Wo ...
. In April 2014, CSC closed BuzMuzik, and replaced it with a revival of True Entertainment +1. The channel also closed for CSC to broadcast Starz TV.
On 26 June 2014,
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
's TV programming and network unit, said it would buy CSC and its 16 channels for £107 million ($180 million). The deal was completed on 15 August 2014.
All the channels were transferred to
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
, and the company went dormant.
On 13 December 2018, their four remaining music channels were sold to the
TRACE Group.
On 27 November 2019, the company was liquidated and dissolved.
List of channels owned by CSC Media Group
Former (Sold to Sony and then Narrative Capital)
Defunct
Note: former channels in light red closed before the start of Sony's deal.
References
{{Sony Pictures
2002 establishments in England
2019 disestablishments in England
British companies established in 2002
British companies disestablished in 2019
Mass media companies based in London
Mass media companies established in 2006
Mass media companies disestablished in 2019
Sony Pictures Television
2014 mergers and acquisitions
British subsidiaries of foreign companies