| Type | Limited Company Subsidiary - AURELIUS AG |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Bid Shopping Sit-Up House 179-181 The Vale London. W3 7RW, UK |
| Key people | Wendelin Mueller, Chief Executive Clive Bradshaw - Director of Information Systems Joe Barry, Director of Operations Bryan Crenol - Director of Finance |
| Products | Shopping Television Channels |
| Revenue | Unknown |
| Employees | 766 (As of 31 December 2005) |
| Website | Bid Shopping company website |
Bid Shopping (formerly known as Sit-Up Shopping or commonly Sit-Up) is a UK based broadcaster which launched in 2000.
To over 12 million homes, it delivers a portfolio of falling price shopping television channels. On 1 April 2009 it was announced that Sit-Up Ltd had been sold by Virgin Media to AURELIUS AG. The purchase price or terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.[1][2] Virgin Media had previously owned the company - this followed partial ownership prior to May 2005. Bid Shopping runs the channels Bid, Price Drop and Speed Auction each day from 7.45 am through to 1.30 am. The downtime is covered by their rolling advertisement arm, Screenshop. The channels are designed to sell consumer products via digital TV (currently carried by digital satellite, cable, and terrestrial) or the Internet.
On 1 August 2011, 'Sit-Up' was renamed 'Bid Shopping', with 'Bid TV', 'Price-Drop TV' and 'Speed Auction TV' becoming 'Bid', 'Price Drop' and 'Speed Auction' respectively.[3]
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Bid (formerly known as Bid-Up.TV until 21 January 2005 and as Bid TV until 1 August 2011) is a television shopping channel. It was the first auction channel of its kind in the UK.
The channel was launched on 5 October 2000. It started by broadcasting 12 hours a day, many of which were pre-recorded, with auction graphics overlaid so people could bid although the video itself was pre-recorded. It now broadcasts live for almost 18 hours a day from 07:45 to 01:30. bid is available on Freeview 23, Virgin Media 745, Sky 654, Freesat 802 and Wightcable 704
Price Drop (formerly known as Price-Drop.TV until 21 January 2005 and as Price-Drop TV until 1 August 2011) is a television shopping channel that focuses on falling price auctions. Price Drop's channel format was the first of its type in the UK, using a falling price dynamic.
The channel was launched on 11 June 2003, broadcasting live between 16:00 to midnight, Wednesdays to Saturdays. It now broadcasts live for almost 18 hours a day from 07:45 to 01:30. Price Drop is available on Freeview 37, Virgin Media 741, Sky 645, Freesat 801 and Wightcable 706
Speed Auction (formerly known as Speed Auction TV until 1 August 2011) was launched on 27 July 2005, featuring rising price auctions lasting around 4 minutes. However, from 26 March 2008, speed auction "flipped the arrow" and started selling all its products using a falling price dynamic, matching its sister channels Bid and Price Drop.
Speed Auction broadcasts live Wednesdays to Mondays from 07:45 to 01:30 and Tuesdays 13:30 to 01:30. Speed Auction is available on Virgin Media 746, Sky 665, Freesat 814
Pricedropper.co.uk launched on 25 August 2010 and is Bid Shopping's online-only channel, which focuses on fixed-price 'auctions', which aim to beat the high street. Pricedropper.co.uk outlived its online sister channel Dibbing.com
Screenshop is an infomercial-based shopping channel. It broadcasts during Speed Auction's downtime of 01:30 to 07:30 a day the Sky 680 and during the hours of 01:30 to 07:45 during Bid Shopping's downtime on its other channels, Bid and Price Drop. A deal in July 2004 meant that Vector Direct will now broadcast their presentations exclusively on the channel, this has led to the channel being striped of its identity, it is now broadcasts under Vector Direct own band 'TV Warehouse', but is still owned by Bid Shopping.
In early January 2005, it was announced that Sit-Up would launch two free-to-air movie channels called Real-movies.tv and Movies On 333. Real-movies.tv was to be female orientated with an emphasis on true stories, whilst Movies On 333 (intended for Sky Digital channel 333) would focus on western and niche films.[4]
However, another company would launch their own free-to-air movie channel just ahead of Sit-Up's in the 333 slot; True Movies was also female orientated with an emphasis on true stories. Sit-Up changed their original channel proposals, with Matinee Movies and Bad Movies emerging as their new channels (details below), which both launched in 25 April 2005.[5]
Matinee Movies was a part-time movie channel owned by Sit-Up Ltd. It was then on Sky Digital channel 336 and ran daily from 9 am-9 pm. The last hour of the channel was occupied by some of Sit-Up's shopping auctions, such as Speed Auction TV.
The channel was aimed for families, showing classic and rare black & white British films such as Love in Pawn and the Frankie Howerd bequest comedy A Touch of the Sun. Films on the channel were introduced by film critic Paul Ross. As an interlude, or at the start of the broadcast day, there were showings of a film magazine programme called Sprockets (not to be confused with the SNL sketches with Mike Myers.
In under a year, the channel and EPG slot was sold to Dolphin Television who rebranded it as a 24-hour channel called Movies4Men in 1 February 2006. sit up have no involvement with this channel.
Bad Movies was a part-time movie channel owned by Sit-Up Ltd. It was then on Sky Digital channel 339 and ran daily from 9 pm-9 am. The first three hours however showed Sit-Up's shopping auctions, so Bad Movies content did not actually appear until midnight.
The channel was aimed at a young adult audience, showing a variety of cinematic "turkeys", though some of the content was increasingly from matinee movies, especially after 5am. Films included Tomboy starring Betsy Russell, Glen and Randa, Plan 9 From Outer Space and Revenge of the Cheerleaders starring David Hasselhoff. The channel also featured introductions by Paul Ross and episodes of Sprockets.
As per Matinee Movies, the channel and EPG slot was also sold to Dolphin Television who rebranded it as a 24-hour channel called ACTIONMAX (later rebranded as Movies4Men 2) on 1 February 2006. sit up have no involvement with this channel.
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