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Dave is a British
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...
owned by
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 ...
, a subsidiary of
BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
. It broadcasts mainly
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
, with some factual programming. The channel took the name Dave on 15 October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.


History


UK Gold Classics and UK Gold 2 (1998–2003)

UK Gold Classics, UKTV's first digital-only channel, was launched on 2 October 1998 and was only broadcast from Friday to Sunday on Sky Digital from 6.00 pm to 2.00 am. Around this time,
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 ...
began to move towards newer programmes instead of older ones; the 'classics' line-up included a number of early shows, including some black-and-white programmes, which had been acquired in the early years of the UK Gold service. They also showed some recent shows from the main channel, but the main purpose of the channel was older shows from the early years of UK Gold. On weekdays, the channel was off air, showing a still caption of all the UKTV channels and start-up times. The 'Classics' format lasted just six months; the channel ended on 28 March 1999, and from 2 April 1999, the channel was renamed to UK Gold 2, and screened morning programmes from UK Gold time-shifted to the evening of the same day instead of classic shows.


UK G² and UKTV G2 (2003–2007)

The channel was relaunched with a completely new programme line-up and renamed UK G² on 12 November 2003. It was promoted as being an edgier alternative to UK Gold; like that channel, the output was mainly comedy series from 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. ...
...
with some shows produced in-house. A fair amount was similar to the comedy output of UK Play/Play UK before that channel's closure; however, unlike Play, the channel did not include music videos. Along with the rest of the
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 ...
network, the "UK" prefix was changed to "UKTV" on 8 March 2004 and therefore, the channel name changed to UKTV G2. Initially, the channel broadcast in the evenings only, but during the 'G2' era, the decision was made to expand hours into the daytime; to expand the programming line-up, comedy was joined by popular-factual and magazine shows which were already running on UKTV People (then
Blighty "Blighty" is a British English slang term for Great Britain, or often specifically England.
, now
Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
) such as ''Top Gear'' and ''Airport''.


G2 programming

On 7 October 2005, it was announced that they would show sports programming. This new line-up was called UKTV Sport and included a new show by the same name. UKTV Sport also had its own logo and
DOG The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
. There was talk that this could lead to a channel but it never happened. In February 2006, they obtained the rights to show highlights of the RBS Six Nations rugby union championship, with a highlights show broadcast on the evening of the games previously shown live on the BBC. On 16 March 2006, they announced a deal to air extensive coverage of the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
as a sub-licensing of the BBC's rights to the tournament. UKTV G2
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
the BBC's live matches, including the opening match between
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's game with
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and the final. The channel also showed highlights of every match in the tournament. In April 2006, the channel acquired the rights to the quarter-finals of Euroleague Basketball and in August, UKTV G2 also picked up rights to the
2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...
, forming the programme 'UKTV Slam'.


Dave and Freeview launch (2007–present)

In September 2007, UKTV announced that they would relaunch and rename UKTV G2 as Dave on 15 October. UKTV said the name of the channel was chosen because "everyone knows a bloke called Dave". The concept and branding was the work of
Red Bee Media Red Bee Media, formerly Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services (EBMS), is an international broadcasting and media services company and the largest access provider in Europe. Red Bee has its headquarters in London, England, with branch offices in ...
. The rebrand included the channel being available free-to-air on
digital terrestrial 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' ...
platform,
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), ...
, replacing
UKTV Bright Ideas UKTV Bright Ideas was a digital television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, which was part of the UKTV family of channels. The channel broadcast a variety of programmes, often originally aired on UKTV Style, UKTV Food and UKTV Gardens, a ...
which only averaged 0.1% of the audience share. The move to Freeview saw Dave launch in the bandwidth previously used by
UKTV History Yesterday is a British free-to-air history-oriented television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 30 October 2002 as UK History and relaunched in its current format on 2 March 2009. It is available on satell ...
which was moved to the time limited (7.00 am to 6.00 pm) bandwidth once occupied by
UKTV Bright Ideas UKTV Bright Ideas was a digital television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, which was part of the UKTV family of channels. The channel broadcast a variety of programmes, often originally aired on UKTV Style, UKTV Food and UKTV Gardens, a ...
. Dave is available daily, from 7.00 am to 4.00 am, on all platforms. It uses the tagline "the home of witty banter" and uses
Ralph Ineson Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in ''The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in '' Game of Thrones'', Amycus Ca ...
as an announcer, along with David Flynn,
Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...
,
Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began ...
and
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, ...
DJ
Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...
. To ensure that all Freeview viewers received Dave on channel number 19, UKTV briefly placed a re-tuning notice on the programme's information. In September 2012, it changed to channel number 12. From 31 January 2008, the channel began broadcasting in
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
, along with the other UKTV channels. In April 2009, they aired three new instalments of ''
Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...
'', entitled '' Back to Earth''. This marked the channel's first foray into scripted original programming. During the airing of the ''Red Dwarf'' mini-series, the Dave
DOG The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
in the top left corner of the screen had the word 'Lister' added after it in the same font, after the show's lead character; during the special it is even suggested that the station is named after him. ''Back to Earth'' brought record breaking viewing figures, not just in the context of the channel's past, but for digital television in general. Subsequently, three full series of ''Red Dwarf'' have been produced for Dave which aired in 2012, 2016 and 2017, along with a feature-length special in 2020. In June 2009, the logo was updated to incorporate the 'circle' logo branding of all the new UKTV channels (for example Home, G.O.L.D., Really). At the same time, the voice of Dave became Nigel Grover, aka Scott Saunders, who had previously worked at a number of local radio stations. On 29 April 2014, the 'circle' logo was removed and the original 2007 logo was restored. In June 2019, Dave moved to channel 19 on Freeview, a space previously occupied by Yesterday, due to its owner
BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
(which currently assumes full control of UKTV), breaking up its joint venture with
Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual television, factual and lifestyle television bra ...
, with Discovery acquiring
Good Food Good Food was a cookery channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, latterly as part of the Discovery, Inc. network of channels. The channel originally launched on 5 November 2001 and relaunched in its final format on 22 June 2009 ...
,
Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
and Really from the network. On 9 November 2022, the logo was once again modified to include a tilted rectangle/box behind it. With the logo alteration came a rebrand for the channel, including new presentation and new idents. A new slogan asks viewers to "Add a bit of Dave" to their lives.


Subsidiary channels


Dave ja vu

Alongside the main channel, a
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 ...
is also operated: Dave Ja Vu. Corresponding to the name on the main channel, it shows all programming from the channel one hour later. The channel originally launched on 1 November 2004 as UKTV G2 +1 on
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
and
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 o ...
. As UKTV G2 at the time was a primetime service, the timeshift also operated in the evenings only, using the satellite and cable capacity which, during daytime, was used by the now-defunct
UKTV Bright Ideas UKTV Bright Ideas was a digital television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, which was part of the UKTV family of channels. The channel broadcast a variety of programmes, often originally aired on UKTV Style, UKTV Food and UKTV Gardens, a ...
. The sharing arrangement meant that when UKTV G2's hours extended into daytime, the timeshift remained evenings-only. At the time of the Dave relaunch, UKTV Bright Ideas closed, freeing up the space to allow UKTV G2 +1 to expand its hours to follow those of the parent channel fully; due to the main channel's relaunch as Dave, UKTV G2 +1 became Dave +1. From 22 January 2009, following UKTV's acquisition of a further
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), ...
broadcast slot, Dave +1 was made available on the digital terrestrial platform. On 24 February 2009, Dave +1 was renamed Dave ja vu (a play on the phrase
déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univer ...
) on all platforms; this was carried out to "strengthen the brand's positioning as the home of witty banter" according to UKTV bosses. On 14 June 2011, UKTV announced that Really would launch on Freeview on 2 August 2011, to facilitate this Dave ja vu's broadcast hours on the platform were reduced from 8.00 am-4.00 am to 2.00 am-4.00 am. On 22 November 2012, UKTV confirmed that it had secured a deal for another 24-hour DTT slot and would use it for Dave ja vu until it firmed up permanent plans for the slot. Dave ja vu began to broadcast its full schedule on the platform again from 3 January 2013.
Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
permanently took the slot from 8 July 2013, however Dave ja vu continued to broadcast between 2.00 am-5.00 am. On 20 November 2014, Dave ja vu returned to 24-hour broadcasting. After UKTV bought CCXTV, they swapped the channel numbers around on Freeview, so Dave ja vu ended up on channel 23, whilst CCXTV ended up on Freeview 73. After the relaunch of BBC Three (and with BBC Four in Scotland taking the next slot) Dave ja vu moved down to channel 25, until March 2022, when UKTV revealed that it would be going back to the 70s section on the Freeview EPG as the channel number was used by UKTV for their female skewing W channel. From 28 March 2022, Dave Ja Vu took Drama+1's slot on Freeview 74, with that one-hour timeshift of Drama moving up to channel 60.


Dave HD

On 29 July 2011,
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 ...
announced that it had secured a deal with
BSkyB 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 ...
to launch three more high-definition channels on
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...
. As part of Virgin Media's deal to sell its share of UKTV, all five of UKTV's HD channels would also be added to Virgin's cable television service by 2012. Dave HD launched on 10 October 2011 on Sky and Virgin Media, two days before '' Watch HD'', while '' Alibi HD'' launched in July 2012. All three channels are HD
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
s of the
standard-definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
channel. Dave HD along with Good Food HD and Eden HD launched on BT TV on 3 October 2016.


Reception

Within just one month of its launch, Dave had become the tenth largest
television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...
in the UK. The broadcaster puts daily averages at around 3 million viewers, although, much of the growth may be attributed to its presence 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), ...
; nonetheless, it is performing significantly better in pay TV homes than UKTV G2 ever did. Over the month since its launch, Dave averaged a 1.32% share in multichannel homes and a 3.2% share in the 16–34 male demographic. Dave's positive reception is proven by an attraction of 4 million viewers throughout 18 November 2007 for its coverage of "Car of the Year", pushing it to second place in multichannel behind
ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...
. The first episode of '' Red Dwarf: Back to Earth'' attracted 2,060,000 viewers on the first viewing, though over 4 million viewed the episode at some point over its debut weekend. The highest rating original commission before this had been ''
Red Bull X-Fighters Red Bull X-Fighters was a freestyle motocross motorbike stunt competition organized by Red Bull from 2001 to 2017. It was the most popular freestyle motocross event in the world, with a 15-year plus history and more than 50 past events on six c ...
'' (about 185,000).


Programming


Current 'Made for Dave' UKTV Originals


Previous 'Made for Dave' UKTV Originals


Current reruns and imports


Sport

From 2008 to 2010, Dave showed highlights of the
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
. On 6 January 2016, UKTV announced that Dave would show its first-ever live sporting event with a
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
match between
David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amate ...
and Mark de Mori at
the O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...
on 16 January 2016 produced by Salter Brothers Entertainment. In late May 2016, Dave broadcast full live coverage of the 2016 BDO World Trophy darts tournament. In July 2016, Dave covered cricket's
Caribbean Premier League The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. It was founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013 to replace the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in ...
. It broadcast five matches live, including the final and showed the other games in full on a delayed basis. In 2017, Dave started broadcasting live MMA with promotion BAMMA.


Films

In early 2016, Dave aired
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
films during the daytime. Dave mostly show films on Friday and Saturday nights, with Friday being a repeat of the film that was shown on a Saturday. In 2019, Dave showed a season of
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
movies. As of 2021, most of the films that are shown on Dave are sourced from the
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
archive.


Previous


''Dave Weekly'' podcast

In August 2011, Dave launched a regular comedy podcast called ''The Dave Weekly'' hosted on joindave.co.uk and accessible via iTunes. Presented by
Ben Shires Ben Shires is a British television presenter and comedian, currently working on TV channels CBBC and Dave. He hosts the Guinness World Records-themed children's show '' Officially Amazing'', and is also a radio presenter on Heart Yorkshire. Ca ...
, the podcast comprises interviews with comedians such as
Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for st ...
,
Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Saturd ...
,
Adam Buxton Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian, podcaster and writer. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series '' The Adam and Joe Show'' (19 ...
, Paul Foot and
Alex Horne Alexander James Jeffery Horne (born 10 September 1978) is a British comedian and musician. Horne is the creator of BAFTA award-winning TV series '' Taskmaster'', in which he also performs as the Taskmaster's assistant. He is the host and ban ...
along with occasional features.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dave (Tv Channel) Television channels and stations established in 1998 UKTV UKTV channels 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom