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Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech before becoming a subsidiary of
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 ...
, with
Challenge still broadcasting.
Living TV Group had several owned channels, available in the United Kingdom on
digital territorial television, satellite television and cable television platforms and in Ireland on satellite and cable television. Living TV Group's advertising for all of its channels was handled by former sister company Interactive Digital Sales (IDS) until 1 January 2011, when Sky Media took over.
History
Flextech (1990–2000)
Flextech, was formerly an oil services group, previously floated as an energy investment company back in 1983. It was not until the arrival of chief executive Roger Luard in 1986 that its focus began to change and it became a TV programme provider. Its first media acquisition was in 1990 with a 20% stake in programme producer/distributor HIT Communications, by October 1990 acquired a stake in The Children's Channel, when it brought 25% holding in Starstream Ltd, from BT, who no longer need to make sure quality programming was being broadcast on the Cable network. By 1992, Flextech was a media-only group, having built up stakes in local cable operators selling off its non-core asset.
During the summer of 1993, Flextech entered into an agreement with International Family Entertainment (IFE), to hold 39% stake in The Family Channel and to build upon its Television portfolio. Roger Luard, chief executive officer said, "We are delighted to be involved with one of the United States' leading and most successful basic cable networks, and we look forward to co-operating with IFE in opportunities for expansion into Europe and beyond. The channel was announced as a ''Premier family entertainment network in the United Kingdom''. Maidstone Studios, become the station operation base, which also benefited Flextech, as the facility operated the channels' uplink, playout and management operations. In the autumn talks, they were held with
Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Co ...
(TCI- the Denver-based US cable TV giant). Under the original terms of the proposed deal, Flextech would have acquire TCI's European programming business in exchange for shares.
By January 1994, the deal was complete with TCI which allowed TCI to acquire 60.4% of Flextech, while Flextech acquired 100% of Bravo, 25% of UK Gold, 31% of UK Living, and 25% of The Children's Channel which increased its share in that channel.
In February 1994, Flextech shareholders approved a deal in which Flextech absorbs the European programming interests of United Artists European Holdings. In return, UAEH's US parent, TeleCommunications Inc (TCI), received 60 per cent of the enlarged Flextech. Within days of the deal, Flextech brought a 20% stake in
HTV for £27million. Chris Rowlands, HTV's chief executive, said "The deal was a tremendous opportunity for both companies. We will make programmes for Flextech and provide services for them which at the moment they have to buy in". Within a year, the stake was transferred to
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
as part of its deal to acquire a 20% stake in
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
. As part of the deal, Flextech agreed to license the rights to over 125 hours of the drama and documentary output from STV's library which entered into a production output agreement to commission television programmes from STV with a minimum total value of 6.0 million pounds over three years.
In 1995, the company raised £92M after two new American companies invested in the company, "US west" 9% and Hallmark 10%, the addition funds allowed buying the remaining share in The Children's Channel, to gain full control of the channel.
Talks were held with
BSkyB in the spring of 1996, over a potential merger of the two companies' pay-TV channels, with the aimed of a wholesale consolidation of the subscription market, which would have save costs and created a dominant supplier of programmes in the UK subscription market and Europe. The deal come to nothing, but two years later, both companies agreed to allow Flextech's television channels to be broadcast on sky new digital platform. Flextech started to strengthen its portfolio when it acquired full control over
The Family Channel and Maidstone Studios. A new independent sales house was created to manage airtime of over 14 channels. In 1993, Flextech gain its first stake in
UK Gold
Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with clas ...
after acquiring Tele-Communications' (TCI) TV interest in Europe.
In 1996, it started discussions about increasing its stake to gain full control. At that point, Flextech held 27% with Cox (38%),
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(20%) and
Pearson Pearson may refer to:
Organizations Education
*Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
*Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC
*Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation)
Companies
*Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...
(15%). By the Autumn, Flextech acquired Cox and Pearson stake thus give Flextech an 80% stake in
UK Gold
Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with clas ...
.
During 1996, talks began between Flextech and the BBC about a partnership
to launch a new range of entertainment channels which had access to the BBC's entire programme library. The deal was signed in March 1997 when the BBC and Flextech unveiled their new venture, which included ''BBC Showcase'', an entertainment channel; ''BBC Horizon'', documentaries; ''BBC Style'', lifestyle; ''BBC Learning'', for schools, and ''BBC Arena'', for the arts, plus three other channels including ''BBC Sport'', ''BBC Catch-Up'', for repeats of popular programmes within days of their original transmission, and a TV version of Radio 1. Initially, it was assumed that the new channels would be BBC-branded but Flextech wanted the channels to have advertisements. The BBC argued that BBC-branded services in the UK should not carry advertising and thought that this would undermine the rationale of the license fee in the UK. A compromise was reached when the BBC launched BBC Showcase and BBC Learning (later renamed BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge shortly before launch) on its own, with the remainder of the deal passing to
BBC Worldwide.
Eventually the concept of the BBC/Flextech channels led the launch of
UKTV
UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
in September 1997, with BBC Horizon becoming
UK Horizons, BBC Style becoming
UK Style and BBC Arena becoming
UK Arena
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.
History
The channel originally launched ...
. Also, the concept of a television version of
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
was reused for the
UK Play channel, which launched in October 1998, but became defunct in September 2002 and the concept of BBC Catch-Up was later reused for the channel
Watch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
, which was launched in October 2008. The concept of a dedicated BBC Sport channel never materialised, however, it has been reused when
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliamen ...
was temporarily replaced by a dedicated BBC Sport channel in the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and the
2012 Summer Olympics, plus a range of dedicated BBC Sport channels was launched specifically for the 2012 Summer Olympics, plus there is a BBC Sport interactive channel that is available on
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
channel 301 as a part of the
BBC Red Button
BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to c ...
service.
Flextech agreed to acquire
Minotaur International
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
for around $6.5 million in 1999 Minotaur International was responsible for international sales of most programmes commissioned by the network. In 2007
Target Entertainment Groupacquired Minotaur International and formed strategic alliances with Virgin Media Television to act as their preferred distribution partner in 2007.
In 1998, chief executive Roger Luard died, and
Adam Singer
David Karp (May 5, 1922 – September 11, 1999) was an American novelist and television writer. He also used the pseudonyms Wallace Ware and Adam Singer.
Life and career
Born in Manhattan, Karp worked for his living from an early age. His employ ...
becoming chief executive. In early December 1999, talks were convened about a merger between
Telewest
Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also onc ...
and Flextech, By 17 December 1999, the merger was agreed upon which created a £10.5bn media giant with Telewest shareholders owning 80% of the new group and Flextech shareholders owned 20% The two companies fully merged on 19 April 2000.
Telewest/NTL/Virgin (2000–09)
Flextech continued to expand under Telewest ownership with
UKTV
UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
continuing to expand its network of channels with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, plus a new venture which saw a shopping channel come into operation in Autumn 2000. In 2003, Flextech restructured its marketing department with creative solutions put together by central in-house marketers who worked agencies including Banc and Karmarama. The new marketing strategy was also used as a forerunner for the company's newest channel