Autumn rebrand for UKTV set

UKTV is to name its October 7 entertainment launch ‘Watch’ as part of a rebranding exercise that will see the UKTV brand disappear from channel identities by early 2009. At the same time UKTV Gold will become GOLD, reinventing itself as a channel that will showcase the best of British comedy, while UKTV Drama becomes crime channel Alibi.

Speaking to the Broadcasting Press Guild, UKTV chief executive David Abraham described the changes as a “radical rebrand of the way we present ourselves”. Abraham said that despite the rise of on demand channels the potency of linear television would remain. “When you get it right the viewers thank you for the content where as it might otherwise be dispersed to the four winds”

Watch is being positioned as a linear catch-up TV service, although it will continue to have to wait up to six months for much of its programming, secured through a multi-year deal with the BBC.

Watch will also be the home of former daytime hosts Richard & Judy following their departure from Channel 4. The husband and wife team will look to pull together different elements from the schedule as well as continuing features such as their popular book club.

The single word names build on the success of Dave, the male-skewing channel positioned as ‘the Home of Witty Banter’, which has won plaudits for the BBC Worldwide-Virgin Television venture. After the rebranding of the entertainment genre channels, UKTV will turn its attention to its bachelor and lifestyle channels, completing the process early next year.

Abraham said the new channels would capitalise on UKTV’s block of numbers on the first page of the Sky EPG. Addressing Broadband TV News he said it did not make sense for timeshifted channels to be carried in such a prominent position on the guide.