Are they owned by sky? If so, no chance.

What was in the announcement?

Have alook at the DS article, Channel One has been scrapped by Sky - should be off-air by the end of the year.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcas...annel-one.html

However, it's looking like Challenge TV may launch on Freesat as it is to be made FTA, but no one can confirm yet if it will on Freesat.

IMO theres no chance whatsoever Challenge will be fta on dsat - its only been a couple of weeks since one of the high up bods at Sky announced they would not be launching any more fta channels from Sky as they believed in the paywall model.

And dont forget these articles are written by journos who cant even get the distinctions between fta/ftv or dtt/dsat correct

If Sky. as the dominant player in a market was to do that in the US (Buy out a competitor and then immediately shut them down.) they would find themselves in the Anti-Trust court so fast your head would spin.

Is this pay off time for News Corp's support of the Tories in the election.

Any examples of that happening?

As for the suggsetion that we could sub to one channel at a time, can't ever seeing that happen in relaity
1) Too expensive, and 2) Many channels including some of the so called big names would fold within a year.

As someone said if you sub to a package all the channels that are part of it, get a slice, even if you don't watch, making them stand alone would force the price up for each channel, as they have to make a profit, and thus charge about £5 min for each channel. (at a guess, could be more!)

Can't see anyone (or many anyway) liking that, that much

Well the 2D transponder that we all thought was going to be possibly used for FIVER and FIVE USA is now filled, with Nickelodeon and Sky Sports Active tests. Unless they are placeholders for the Channel 5 family of channels, but I doubt it. We will just have to wait longer then for more FTA channels on Freesat.

I mailed them and coincdentally they just released this :

ELECTRIC SOFA ANNOUNCES MAJOR NEW CONTENT DEAL WITH ITN PRODUCTIONS

New broadcaster Electric Sofa has announced a major deal with leading UK content provider ITN Productions to produce its first original UK commissions in time for the early 2011 launch of its three new free-to-air channels.

Electric Sofa is a brand new Omni-media business committed to acquiring, commissioning and broadcasting the very best in films and entertainment. Its strategic partnership with ITN Productions will initially involve the delivery of daily content and three weekly, half hour programmes spanning showbiz news, video games reviews and the latest movie releases.

Joint-MD of Electric Sofa, Andrew Burns said: “We are very pleased to announce this strategic partnership with ITN Productions. Their ability to produce a broad range of dynamic, affordable and quality content for online clients, mobile platforms and traditional broadcasters is unmatched – the initial tranche of programmes are fresh, innovative, and above all entertaining, and we are sure that they’ll be a big hit with our viewers.”

Ursula Adeane, Electric Sofa joint-MD commented: ”The response from the independent sector to the Electric Sofa proposition has been incredible, and we’ve been inundated with programme proposals which is fantastic. We’re delighted that one of the UK’s most famous broadcasting brands will be providing the first tranche of original programmes for us, and we see this as being the start of what we are sure will turn into a long term and innovative relationship.”

Steve Carsey, Chief Creative Officer at ITN Productions added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Electric Sofa on the launch of its new channels. We will be delivering a range of daily and weekly content, largely in the areas of showbiz and celebrity but also exploring and celebrating other aspects of popular culture, from Silicon Valley to Hollywood.

“Electric Sofa's decision to commission the bulk of their original commissions from us is a fantastic endorsement of our cross-platform programming strategy - a strategy which is driven by the multi-skilled and very talented team here at ITN Productions. We hope this will be a relationship that grows and grows in the years to come."

The Electric Sofa channels will premiere on the digital satellite (Sky) platform, as well as other platforms and online, from Early 2011. The three channels – including the UK’s first-ever channel dedicated to British films, FilmGB, will feature exciting movies and first-play entertainment for everyone:

- FilmGB, a film channel exclusively devoted to recent British-funded and/or produced features, as well as some rarely-seen gems from the archives.
- A general movie channel screening international blockbusters, premieres and classic releases, targeting 16-34 year old viewers
- A general entertainment channel featuring a wealth of original in-house, commissioned, and acquired programmes.

They also confirmed in the mail that they will be on Freesat, and that their launch had been delayed by a couple of months by a key team member being taken ill suddenly. They also said they'd be announcing some of the key launch programmes over the next few weeks, which would include a major American chat show, and a major American soap. All sounds promising.

Thats excellent news, some reckoned Electric Sofas springs had already sagged. The launched date has been shoveled back though. Still better to get it right later than rush to air half-cocked. (hello Bluebird tv!)

The only thing freesat is needing is all the channels that freeview has and more hd channels

And the only thing that Freeview needs is....Blah Blah Blah