| Gems TV Extra | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 25 July 2008 (online) 1 December 2009 (TV) 2 January 2011 (as Gems TV Extra) |
| Owned by | The Colourful Company Group Limited |
| Picture format | 576i (16:9, SDTV) |
| Slogan | "Your auction family jeweller" (2010) "14 jewellery collections, 1 shopping channel" (2008-2010) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Warwickshire |
| Formerly called | Rocks TV (2008-2011) |
| Replaced | Travel Deals Direct |
| Sister channel(s) | Gems TV Jewellery Maker |
| Website | www.gems.tv/extra |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Sky | Channel 656 |
| Freesat | Channel 818 |
Gems TV Extra is a British reverse auction jewellery shopping channel. The channel is available on Sky, Freesat and online. The channel operations are based at Eagle Road Studios in Redditch, near Birmingham. The channel currently broadcasts live from 7am to 1am.
Contents |
Gems TV Extra originally launched as Rocks TV and was founded by the formation of The Coloured Company Group Limited in 2008 by Steve Bennett, his brother John and his wife Sarah. Steve had already had experience in the field of jewellery and shopping television as he was one of the original founders of Gems TV, of which he left a year prior to the launch of Rocks TV.
On 7 December 2010, it was announced on the channel that Rocks TV would be rebranded as Gems TV Extra [1] and would merge with sister channel; Gem Collector. As a result, the channel moved from Sky 647 to Sky 656 and on 1 January 2011, its EPG slot on 647 was sold to Retail Therapy TV.
Gems TV Extra was added to Freesat channel 818 on 1 February 2011.
Rocks TV started out as an online only based shopping 'Television channel'. The channel started a 3 day beta testing on 25 July 2008, which was exclusively available for friends of the company and members at ShoppingTelly.com.[2] The official launch of the channel was on 28 July 2008 and was initially live between 5pm and 11pm.
On 1 December 2009, Rocks TV successfully acquired an EPG slot on Sky 647 from Travel Deals Direct and started broadcasting pre-recorded shows throughout December until 6 January 2010, when the company returned from the Christmas break and started broadcasting live on TV and online. Its broadcasting hours have since been extended since the online launch in July 2008.[3][4]