Pulse was an entertainment channel focusing on

eSports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

as well as American extreme sports, classic films, and mixed martial arts; it was broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 ...

. It ceased operation in March 2009.

Coverage of eSports

The channel was re-branded from

XLEAGUE.TV XLEAGUE.TV was a broadcast production unit owned by The New World Assembly Group, creating and providing content on its primary subject of Video Games. It covered eSports, competitive video gaming by providing coverage for organisers including ...

, an eSports channel. Several time-shift channels were available during the time of air - Pulse +30, Pulse +45 and Pulse +1. Pulse +30mins was the first one to be closed down, on 24 November 2008. Pulse +1 was the second, which closed down on 9 November 2008 and was replaced with HiTV. Two days later on 11 November 2008, a second timeshift, Pulse +45mins, was closed down, which suddenly fell off the air. However, it did later return on 24 November 2008 after Pulse +30mins closed down. The Pulse +30mins EPG slot was replaced by OBE TV. Pulse was removed from the Sky EPG on 10 February 2009. Pulse +45mins was replaced by

Rural TV Rural TV was a rural lifestyle and culture television channel, broadcast internationally. It was launched on March 2, 2009, replacing Pulse +45mins. It merged with FamilyNet in 2013. Background Rural TV, known as "The World's Rural Channel", w ...

on 2 March 2009. It featured coverage of

and, in this respect, it differs from other examples of video game programming in the country, such as

Cybernet ''Cybernet'' (also known as Interactive) was a weekly video gaming magazine programme, originally broadcast overnight on the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The programme was commissioned by ''Yorkshire Television'' and produced by ''Capricorn ...

, which had a broader remit, to cover video games in general. The channel is closely paired to its own self-titled website. The online resource encourages community discussion, while also serving as a platform to organise tournaments and invitational events, some of which may later be screened, on the channel, via its flagship programme, ''The Match''. While the televised matches regularly feature members of recognised, successful gaming clans such as

Team Dignitas Dignitas, formerly known as Team Dignitas, is a professional esports organization based in Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest c ...

, and individual victors of major gaming tournaments including

Shaun "Apollo" Clark Shaun Clark (born 14 October 1989 in Staffordshire), also known by the handle, Apollo, is an esports commentator and former professional player. Apollo started his career as part of Team Dignitas playing ''Command & Conquer 3''. A highlight of h ...

.http://www.worldcybergames.com/6th/2007/tournament/tm_match_matchlist.asp?sort=G070309105 Xleague.tv also encourages enthusiasts and non-professionals to get involved in the community (and thus, potentially, The Match) through the game-specific clubs and leagues set up in a way that ensures that players of like strength compete together.

History

The channel started in May 2007 as X League.tv, but in February 2008, it was revealed that the channel had entered into an agreement with US men's entertainment channel MavTV, who had provided the niche sports content, and the channel would be re-branded as Pulse, which would be made up of separately branded XLEAGUE.TV and Mav blocks, with- according t
Digital Spy
XLeague are in talks with other providers to provide further programming blocks. On Monday 25 February 2008, the Xleague.tv channel was rebranded "Pulse". The channel still retains all the Xleague programmes and website, prior to the rebranding.

WebTV Beta

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

-style section of the website that allows users to upload their videos. Its main focus is on

Machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...

, voice-over movies using video games to animate their scenes.

References

Sources

OfCom's Licence for Pulse

Spong.com news report

External links

{{Authority control Television shows about video games Television channels in the United Kingdom Esports television