Dave (TV channel)

Dave
Launched	2 October 1998
Owned by	UKTV (BBC Worldwide/Scripps Networks Interactive)
Picture format	576i (4:3 and 16:9) (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Audience share	0.99% 0.27% (Dave ja vu) (September 2015, BARB)
Slogan	"The Home of Witty Banter"
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom Ireland
Formerly called	UK Gold Classics (1998–1999) UK Gold 2 (1999–2003) UKG² (2003–2004) UKTV G2 (2004–2007)
Sister channel(s)	Alibi Drama Eden Gold Good Food Home Really W Yesterday
Timeshift service	Dave ja vu
Website	uktv.co.uk/dave
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview	Channel 12 Channel 84 (ja vu)
Satellite
Sky	Channel 111 (SD/HD) Channel 214 (ja vu) Channel 246 (SD)
Cable
Virgin Media	Channel 128 Channel 129 (ja vu) Channel 194 (HD)
Virgin Media Ireland	Channel 122
WightFibre	Channel 69
Streaming media
TVPlayer	Watch live (UK only)
Sky Go	Watch live (UK and Ireland only)
Virgin TV Anywhere	Watch live (UK only)

Dave is a television channel owned by UKTV, which is available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is available on cable, IPTV, Freeview and some satellite platforms. The channel took the name Dave in October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.

History

UK Gold Classics and UK Gold 2

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 6pm to 2am. Around this time UK Gold 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 part 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 March 28th 1999, and from April 2nd 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.

UKG2 and UKTV G2

The UK Gold subsidiary channel was again relaunched with a completely new programme line-up and renamed UKG² on 12 November 2003. The channel was promoted as being an edgier alternative to UK Gold; like that channel, the output was mainly comedy from the BBC with some shows produced inhouse. A fair amount is 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 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. now Drama) 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. There was talk that this could lead to a channel but it never happened.^[1]

In February 2006, they picked up 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 as a sub licensing of the BBC's rights to the tournament.^[2] UKTV G2 simulcast the BBC's live matches, including the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica, England's game with Paraguay and the final. The channel also showed highlights of every match in the tournament.

Dave and Freeview launch

In September 2007, UKTV announced that they would relaunch and rename UKTV G2 as Dave on 15 October.^[3] UKTV said the name of the channel was chosen because "everyone knows a bloke called Dave".^[4] The rebrand included the channel being available free-to-air on digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, replacing UKTV Bright Ideas which only averaged 0.1% of the audience share.^[5] The move to Freeview saw Dave launch in the bandwidth previously used by UKTV History which was moved to the time limited (7am to 6pm) bandwidth once occupied by UKTV Bright Ideas. Dave is available daily, from 7am to 3am, on all platforms. It uses the tagline "the home of witty comedy banter" and uses Ralph Ineson as an announcer, along with David Flynn (now with Gold), Phill Jupitus, Iain Lee and Radio 1 DJ Greg James, who announce during the prime-time schedule.

To ensure that all Freeview viewers receive the channel on number 19, UKTV briefly placed a re-tuning notice on the programme's information. This later changed to the current location on Channel 12.

From 31 January 2008, the channel began broadcasting in widescreen, along with the other UKTV channels.^[6]

In April 2009, they aired 3 new instalments of Red Dwarf, 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 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 show 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.^[7]

In June 2009, the logo was updated to incorporate the 'circle' logo branding of all the new UKTV channels (for example Home, GOLD and 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 the 29 April 2014, the 'circle' logo was removed and the original 2007 logo was restored.

On 6 January 2016, UKTV announced that Dave would show its first-ever live sporting event with a boxing match between David Haye and Mark de Mori at The O2 Arena on 16 January 2016.^[8]

As of 2016, Dave airs western films during the daytime, including One More Train to Rob, Chief Crazy Horse, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and The Hired Hand.

Dave HD

On 29 July 2011, UKTV announced that it had secured a deal with BSkyB to launch three more high-definition channels on Sky.^[9] 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.^[10] Dave HD launched on 10 October 2011 on Sky and Virgin Media,^[11] two days before Watch HD, while Alibi HD launched in July 2012. All three channels are HD simulcasts of the standard-definition channel.

Timeshift

Timeshift logo

A one-hour timeshifted service of the channel – then known as UKTV G2 – began to operate on 1 November 2004, under the name UKTV G2 +1. As UKTV G2 at the time was an evenings-only 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. 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.

The timeshift was initially available on the Virgin Media and Sky platforms; from 22 January 2009, following UKTV's acquisition of a further Freeview 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) on all platforms; this was carried out to "strengthen the brand's positioning as the home of witty banter"^[12] according to UKTV bosses.

On 14 June 2011, UKTV announced that Really would launch on Freeview on 2 August 2011,^[13] to facilitate this Dave ja vu's broadcast hours on the platform were reduced from 8am-4am to 2am-4am. 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.^[14] Dave ja vu began to broadcast its full schedule on the platform again from 3 January 2013. Drama permanently took the slot from 8 July 2013,^[15] however Dave ja vu continued to broadcast between 2am-5am.^[16]

On 20 November 2014, Dave ja vu returned to 24-hour broadcasting.^[17]

Reception

Within just one month of its launch, Dave had become the tenth largest television channel 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; 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.^[18]

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.^[18]

Some of Dave's more popular shows, such as Mock the Week, Top Gear and Have I Got News For You, often, self-mockingly reference the channel with phrases such as "...happened last week. Unless you're watching the repeat on Dave in which case it happened 3 years ago."

The shows with the highest ratings are Mock the Week (over 420,000 viewers), QI (over 400,000), Top Gear (350,000) and Dragons' Den (about 300,000).

The first episode of Red Dwarf: Back to Earth attracted 2,060,000 viewers on the first viewing,^[19] though over 4 million viewed the episode at some point over its debut weekend.^[7] The highest rating original commission before this had been Red Bull X-Fighters (about 185,000).

Programming

Current

Name of show	Original channel(s)	Original run
8 Out of 10 Cats	Channel 4	2004–present
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled	Dave	2014–present
American Pickers	History (United States)	2010–present
Blackadder	BBC One	1983–1989
Bush Pilots	Dave	2012
Carpool	Dave Online series	2010–2011
Crackanory	Dave	2013–present
Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish	Dave	2013-present
Dave's One Night Stand	Dave	2010–2011
Extreme Fishing with Robson Green	Channel 5	2008–2011
Have I Got News for You	BBC One BBC Two	1990–present
Him & Her	BBC Three	2010–2013
Hoff the Record	Dave	2015–present
Ice Road Truckers	Channel 5	2007–present
The Indestructibles	Dave	2015
Idris Elba: King of Speed	Dave	2014
The Last Man on Earth	Fox	2015–present
Lizard Lick Towing	truTV (United States)	2011–present
Mock the Week	BBC Two	2005–present
Never Mind the Buzzcocks	BBC Two	1996–2015
Not Going Out	BBC One	2006–present
Only Connect	BBC Four BBC Two	2008–present
Parks and Recreation	NBC (United States)	2009–2015
QI	BBC Four BBC Two BBC One	2003–present
Red Bull Soapbox Race	Dave	2013–present
Red Dwarf	BBC Two Dave	1988–1999 2009, 2012–present
Rocket City Rednecks	National Geographic Channel	2011–2013
Room 101	BBC Two BBC One	1994-2007 2012–present
Russell Howard's Good News	BBC Three BBC Two	2009–present
Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets	Channel 4	2011
Storage Hunters	truTV (United States)	2011–2013
Storage Hunters UK	Dave	2014–present
Suits	USA Network	2011–present
Taskmaster	Dave	2015–present
The Last Man on Earth	FOX (United States)	2015–present
Top Gear	BBC Two	2002–present
Traffic Cops	BBC One	2003–present
Undercover	Dave	2015–present
World's Most Stupid Criminals	Channel 5	2003
Would I Lie To You?	BBC One	2007–present

Previous

Name of show	Original channel(s)	Original run
10 Things You Don't Know About	H2 (United States)	2012–2014
24 Hours to Go Broke	Dave	2014–present
Ace of Cakes	Food Network (United States)	2006–2011
Al Murray's Barrel of Fun: Live	Dave	2011
Al Murray's Compete for the Meat	Dave	2011
Alan Davies: Life is Pain	Dave	2014
Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask	Dave	2011–2013
Anyone for Pennis?	BBC Two	1995–1997
Argumental	Dave	2008–2012
Beverly Hills Pawn	Reelz (United States)	2013–present
Black Books	Channel 4	2000–2004
Bottom	BBC Two	1991–1995
Bottom Live	Dave	1993
Bottom Live: The Big Number Two Tour	Dave	1995
Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island	Dave	1997
Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity	Dave	2001
Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour	Dave	2003
Coupling	BBC Two BBC Three	2000–2004
Danny Bhoy Live: Subject to Change	Dave	2012
Danny MacAskill's Imaginate	Dave	2013
Dara Ó Briain: School of Hard Sums	Dave	2012–2014
Dragons' Den	BBC Two	2005–present
Driving Wars	Dave	2011
Dynamo: Magician Impossible	Watch	2011–2014
Eddie Izzard: Force Majeure	Dave	2013
Extras	BBC Two BBC One	2005–2007
The Fast Show	BBC Two	1994–2000
Fifth Gear	Channel 5 Discovery History ITV4	2002–present
Filthy Rich & Catflap	BBC Two	1987
Flip Men	Spike (United States)	2011–2012
Frank Skinner - Stand-Up! Live from Birmingham's National Indoor Arena	Dave	2008
Frank Skinner's Opinionated	BBC Two	2010–present
The Gadget Show	Channel 5	2004–present
Game of Arms	AMC (United States)	2014
Gavin & Stacey	BBC Three BBC Two BBC One	2007–2010
Greg Davies Live – Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog	Dave	2011
Hardliners	Fox8 (Australia)	2010–2011
Harry Enfield's Television Programme	BBC Two BBC One	1990–1998
Haye V De Mori: The Countdown	Dave	2016
Hyperdrive	BBC Two	2006–2007
India with Sanjeev Bhaskar	BBC Two BBC One	2007–2010
The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson	BBC One	2009–present
It's Only TV...but I Like It	BBC One	1999–2002
Jo Brand's Big Splash	Dave	2011
The Lakes	BBC One	1997-1999
Later... with Jools Holland	BBC Two	1992–present
Lead Balloon	BBC Four BBC Two	2006–2011
Lee Mack Live	Dave	2007
Live at the Electric	BBC Three	2012–present
Man v. Food	Travel Channel (United States)	2008–2011
Meat Men	Food Network	2012
MegaTruckers	A&E (Australia)	2012–present
Men Behaving Badly	ITV BBC One	1992–1998
Money Pit	Dave	2015–present
Mongrels	BBC Three	2010–2011
Operation Good Guys	BBC Two	1997–2000
Peep Show	Channel 4	2003–2015
Problems	ABC (Australia)	2012
Ray Mears' Bushcraft	BBC Two	2004–2005
Ray Mears Goes Walkabout	BBC Two	2008–2008
Ray Mears' Northern Wilderness	BBC Two	2009
Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series	Dave	2012–present
Red Bull Rampage	Dave	2008–present
Red Bull X-Fighters	Dave	2008–present
The Rob Brydon Show	BBC Two	2010–2012
Russell Howard - Dingledodies	Dave	2009
Russell Howard Live: Right Here Right Now	Dave	2011
Russell Kane: Smokescreens & Castles Live	Dave	2011
Scrapheap Challenge	Channel 4	1998–2010
Shameless	Channel 4	2004–2013
Shooting Stars	BBC Two BBC Choice	1993–2011
Spaced	Channel 4	1999–2001
Steve Coogan: The Inside Story	BBC Two	2009
That Mitchell and Webb Look	BBC Two	2006–2010
The Thick of It	BBC Four BBC Two	2005–2012
This Life	BBC Two	1996–1997
Three Men in a Boat	BBC Two	2006–2011
Total Wipeout USA	ABC AXN	2008–2014
Trawlermen	BBC One	2006–2010
Tribe	BBC Two	2005–2007
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps	BBC Two BBC Choice BBC Three	2001–2011
Wild Britain with Ray Mears	ITV STV UTV Eden	2010–present
World's Most Dangerous Roads	BBC Two	2011–2013
The Young Ones	BBC Two	1982-1984

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.^[20] Presented by Ben Shires, the podcast comprises interviews with comedians such as Russell Kane, Jo Brand, Adam Buxton, Paul Foot and Alex Horne along with occasional features.

References

1. Conlan, Tara (7 October 2005). "UKTV to launch sport channel | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
2. "Broadcasting – News – UKTV lands huge World Cup rights deal – Digital Spy". Retrieved 4 November 2007.
3. "It's Dave – not Bright Ideas and evening History – ukfree.tv – independent digital TV and switchover advice". Retrieved 4 November 2007.
4. Leigh Holmwood (20 September 2007). "UKTV to launch channel called 'Dave' | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
5. "Terrestrial – News – UKTV considers G2 Freeview launch – Digital Spy". Retrieved 4 November 2007.
6. "UKTV goes widescreen". UKTV. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
7. "Back To Earth Natterings".
8. Whaling, James. "When is the David Haye vs Mark De Mori fight? TV channel information here". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
9. "UKTV enters VoD market with landmark HD content deal with Sky". UKTV. 29 July 2011.
10. "Virgin Media sells £239m stake in UKTV". Financial Times. 15 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011.
11. "Virgin TV just got even bigger". Virgin Media. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
12. "UKTV launches Dave ja vu – Brand Republic". Retrieved 6 June 2009.
13. "UKTV secures free to air slot for Really, its cutting edge lifestyle channel". UKTV. 14 June 2011.
14. "UKTV secures additional DTT slot". UKTV. 22 November 2012.
15. "UKTV launches new Drama channel on Freeview". a516digital. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
16. "Dave Ja Vu reverts back to part time on Freeview". a516digital. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
17. "Dave Ja Vu back to 24 hours on Freeview". a516digital. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
18. Welsh, James (21 November 2007). "UKTV celebrates Dave's growth". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
19. "Television – News – New 'Red Dwarf' pulls in over 2 million". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
20. "The Dave Weekly Podcast on iTunes".

External links

• Official website
• Dave on Twitter