Controversial TV was a
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
channel broadcast in the UK and Ireland, owned by independent production company Edge Media Television.
History
The channel launched in June 2008 after the founder,
Keith Goodyer, acquired EMTV Ltd. The acquisition of EMTV Ltd included their
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
broadcast licence, which had previously been used to air the now defunct East Midlands Television. As the licence, and the Sky channel, were known as EMTV, the name "Edge Media Television" was created as a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
.
In an attempt to encourage more viewers to stop at the channel when browsing on their television, the name that appears on the Ofcom licence, and therefore on the Sky
EPG
Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...
, was changed from EMTV to Controversial TV on 25 March 2009, however the production company and channel continued to be referred to on-screen as Edge Media. At around the same time, a reshuffle of the Sky EPG saw the channel move from channel 211 to channel 200.
On 6 June 2013, Edge Media withdrew their own original programming from the channel, which began solely broadcasting
Loaded TV, a spin-off of the men’s magazine ''
Loaded'', that had been airing on Controversial TV since 26 November 2012.
The channel ceased broadcasting on 30 August 2013.
Ownership dispute
A number of legal disputes over the ownership of the channel and the holding company saw broadcasts interrupted on 8 September 2010. Although programming resumed on 1 November 2010, this consisted of looping repeats. Ownership issues were resolved in February 2011, after which point the channel resumed making new programmes, including new episodes of the flagship live chat show "On The Edge", which returned on 3 March 2011.
During the dispute, a concerted effort was made by
Ian R Crane to keep the channel in the public eye. This included founding the "Edge Media Rescue Plan" to solicit donations from viewers to aid in the continued development of new programmes. Funds from the rescue plan were used to support new programming on the channel when it returned to air, along with development and maintenance of the website.
Vision statement
Edge Media Television aimed to "air programming that is educational, thought provoking and enlightening, and to show programmes that encourage intelligent discussion" and noted that it provided "a platform for people to share alternative and suppressed viewpoints".
Regular topics included perceived political wrongdoing ignored by the mainstream media,
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
,
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
and the natural world,
false flag terror, financial and corporation malpractice, religion and spirituality,
vaccines
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity
The adaptive immune system, also known as the acquired immune system, is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized, systemic cells and pro ...
and the
pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
,
secret societies
A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
and other issues that fit generally under the heading of the "unexplained".
Carriage
Controversial TV was available in the UK and Ireland on the Sky channel 200 from
Eutelsat 28A
Eutelsat 133 West A (formerly Eurobird 1, Eutelsat 28A, and Eutelsat 33C) is a Eutelsat operated Eurobird satellite, used primarily for digital television. It was launched in March 2001, and after a short period testing at 33°E, joined Eutelsat 2 ...
, and could therefore be tuned on many
Freesat
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 Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
and free-to-air satellite receivers across Europe. Additionally, the channel was carried online as a subscription service, which also included access to "Edge Extra" - a second, internet only, channel carrying repeats of programmes previously shown on the television, along with some online exclusives.
Programming
On The Edge
The flagship show on the channel was
chat show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
"On The Edge". Presenters have included Frankie Ma and Theo Chalmers.
[CHC T]
On The Edge with Theo Chalmers
/ref> It was initially presented by Frankie Ma and then later by Theo Chalmers (75 shows from 2008-2010) and alex:g (43 shows from 2011-2012). From 23 February 2012, guest hosts present the show every week, the first three being Ian R Crane, Andy Thomas, and Brian Gerrish
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word mean ...
.
The vast majority of episodes were broadcast live, with viewer interaction - originally by telephone calls, subsequently by text message
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...
. The show was broadcast on Thursday nights between 8pm-9pm on the television, with an extra hour available online, albeit only to paid subscribers. Guests have included David Icke
David Vaughan Icke (; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist and a former footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more than 25 countries.
In 1990, Icke ...
, former MI5 officer turned whistleblower David Shayler
David Shayler (; born 24 December 1965) is a former British MI5 officer and a conspiracy theorist. Shayler was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act 1989 for passing secret documents to ''The Mail on Sunday'' in August 1997 that alleged tha ...
, comedian Arthur Smith, The Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, musician Jim Corr
James Steven Ignatius Corr, (born 31 July 1964) is an Irish musician, singer, songwriter and DJ. He is a member of the Irish folk/rock band The Corrs, the other members being his three younger sisters Andrea, Sharon and Caroline.
Musical ...
and John Hemming MP.
A second live chat show "One Step Beyond" with former "On The Edge" host Theo Chalmers commenced in September 2010, aired on Tuesday nights.
Other shows produced by Edge Media Television
*''Behind The Sofa'' - DVD and Blu-ray review show, hosted by alex:g with guest reviewers Toby Hadoke
Toby is a popular, usually male, name in many English speaking countries. The name is from the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates to ''Good i ...
, Mitch Benn
Mitchell John Benn (born 20 January 1970) is an English comedian, author and musician known for his comedy rock songs performed on BBC radio. He was, until 2016, a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's satirical programme ''The Now Show'', and ha ...
and Gary Slaymaker, co-production with Cult TV.
*''Esoteria'' - Kerrang Radio’s late night chat show host Nick Margerrison "takes a wander around the Esoteric world".
*''Nick Ashron's Lightworker's Guide to the Galaxy'' - Talk show hosted by Psychic artist, musician and author Nick Ashron, co-production with Starship Pegasus Productions.
Other shows aired on Controversial TV
*''Bridging Heaven & Earth'' - Weekly spiritual talk show hosted by "Allen".
*''Democracy Now!
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'' - Independent news, analysis, and opinion programme made in the USA.
*'' Loaded TV'' - Spin-off micro-channel of the men’s magazine '' Loaded''.
*''Question Everything'' - Interviews conducted by the Conscious Media Network.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official homepage
English-language television stations in the United Kingdom
Television channels and stations established in 2008
2008 establishments in the United Kingdom
Television channels in the United Kingdom
2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2013