Rapture TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rapture TV | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Launched | 1997 |
| Owned by | Rapture Television PLC |
| Audience share | 0.5% weekly reach (w/e 05/11/06, Source:[1]) |
| Website | www.rapturetv.net |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 193 |
Rapture TV is a free-to-air satellite television station operated from the United Kingdom, founded in 1997. Focusing mostly on dance music and extreme sports, it is notable for the amount of times it has "failed" financially only to be relaunched.
[edit] History
The channel was initially launched by the United Business Media group as a cable television channel in 1997. Due to common UBM ownership, the channel shared facilities with and was broadcast from the Anglia Television studios in Norwich. The channel was later carried free-to-air on the analogue transponder of FilmFour on Astra 1A at weekends, and eventually used this transponder full time, until closing its analogue service on December 12, 1999. Very shortly prior to this, on October 27, 1999, the channel had moved to digital broadcasting via Sky Digital, where it launched as a general entertainment channel on EPG #187.
A notable feature of the station during this time was its "Mouse Cam" [2], broadcast as a time filler when the station was off-air. This featured some mice in a Habitrail-like setup, with shots changing between cameras. The station also featured one of the first SMS-based request shows during this era. A launch to ITV Digital was planned at this time, but never came to completion. [3]
The channel had never been profitable, and its average audiences were in the region of 100,000. UBM placed the channel on the market in 2001, was unable to find a buyer, and closed on October 31, 2001, with the loss of 46 jobs and debts estimated at £22 million, notably playing "Rapture" by iio as its final track over pictures of the station staff. During this time, it had refocused almost entirely on dance music, and was moved to EPG #458 in the music section.
In April 2002 the channels assets were bought by Edinburgh based independent production company Power TV, who had previously produced some shows for the channel. A temporary relaunch occurred - to EPG #232 - in June 2002, and lasted until August of the same year, when problems caused it to close again.
It was again relaunched in May 2003, on EPG #265. Recurring financial issues, aggravated by the technical failure of a premium-rate SMS service on the channel which would have brought in funding, and various other problems, left the channel in a precarious state. By April 2004 it was running on an almost autopilot, having moved (again) to EPG #205, with a somewhat randomised playlist of a few videos, reruns of old club nights over night, and extreme sports in the day.
In July 2004, the channel ran out of money terminally, a potential purchase by Video Interactive Television fell through and the channel ceased to broadcast and was removed from the Sky EPG. Plans for its relaunch were kept active, however. Its named holding company, Rapture TV (Scotland), which was incorporated in 2002, was wound up in 2005.
The story of Rapture TV has been a defining one for the birth of digital satellite. With the increase in capacity, and lower cost base, a whole host of such channels were launched, with most languishing at unpopular EPG locations, or even outside the EPG. Although the satellite TV became "cheaper" to enter, many operators rushed onto the scene without a viable business plan that would make money. Unlike other such channels, Rapture TV has refused to disappear.
[edit] 2005 Relaunch
The channel relaunched on Sky Digital broadcasting from Eurobird 1 on 14 November 2005, after some time awaiting an EPG number from Sky - a period of time which was deemed excessive enough to warrant a complaint to Ofcom by the channel.
The re-launched Rapture TV shows clubbing and extreme sports, programming that the channel is well known for, as well as new programmes from genres such as comedy and drama. In addition, programmes focusing on computer games and technology, including Cybernet (previously seen on ITV1) and G@mers, an in-house production have been added to the lineup. The channel also broadcasts feature films. Dance music content, which made up much of the channels output on previous editions, has been retained, with the addition of Underground, a hardcore dance show presented by Jon Doe of CLSM.
The channel launched a broadband simulcast in March 2006, and claims to be the first UK based entertainment channel to launch such a service.
In September 2006, Rapture lodged a complaint with OFCOM against BskyB, claiming "BSkyB is charging excessively high fees for the supply of a EPG service on the UK's only DSat platform".
