Merit was a short-lived time-shared British lifestyle and entertainment TV channel which was a part of the

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), a ...

lineup in the late summer of 2020.

Broadcasting

The channel began broadcasting at 9pm on 29 July 2020, its launch delayed from the earlier date of 8 July; under its first iteration it was owned by the

ITV Digital Channels ITV Digital Channels Limited (formerly known as Granada Sky Broadcasting) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British broadcaster ITV plc. It manages all of the company's television channels with the exception of ITV, which is part of the enti ...

division of

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on th ...

. It broadcast three hours daily from 9pm to midnight on the former ITV3 +1 Freeview channel slot (which itself was moved to channel 58). During ITV Digital Channels' control of the channel, it ran no advertisements. The channel's licence was acquired by

Sky UK Limited 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 ...

on 20 August 2020. On 17 September 2020, the channel's Freeview slot (34) was taken over by Pick, which moved to accommodate the launch of

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

on channel 11, and Merit consequently ceased transmission that day at midnight.

Programming

The channel didn't broadcast original programming, with the content shown being archival or imported programming from its respective licence holders. Programming from Sky included ''

Four Weddings ''Four Weddings'' is a British reality television series that premiered on Sky Living, on 6 July 2009. It has become popular enough to have inspired the creations of versions in other countries. One episode included the real-life wedding of S ...

'' and the American and New Zealand versions of ''

My Kitchen Rules ''My Kitchen Rules'' (often abbreviated as ''MKR'') is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The show is currently hosted and judged by chef Manu Feildel, who has appeared in every season of the ...

'', while ITV's contributions included '' The Hungry Sailors'' and ''Britain's Best Back Gardens''.

References

{{Freeview 2020 establishments in the United Kingdom 2020 disestablishments in the United Kingdom ITV television channels Sky television channels Television channels and stations established in 2020 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 2020 mergers and acquisitions Defunct British television channels