| Trouble | |
|---|---|
| Trouble logo | |
| Launched | 3 February 1997 |
| Closed | 1 April 2009 |
| Owned by | Virgin Media Television |
| Picture format | 16:9, 576i (SDTV) |
| Website | www.trouble.co.uk |
| Availability (at time of closure) |
|
| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 172 |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | Channel 159 |
| UPC Ireland | Channel 622 (ex-Chorus only) |
Trouble was a television station in the UK and Republic of Ireland, owned by Virgin Media Television. It fully replaced The Children's Channel from 4 April 1998, prior to the start of Sky Digital.
Trouble had a key demographic of young adults and teenagers, aged between 13-39. The channel showed a lot of American and Australian imports, with only a small margin of programmes being British, although a website was launched called Trouble Homegrown that showcased British programmes. The channel has had success in recent times, with acquisitions such as My Wife and Kids, One On One, Grounded for Life, Summerland, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, That '70s Show and How I Met Your Mother to name a few. It also showed some dramas such as Life As We Know It, Cutting It and The Secret Life of Us. It also showed some comedies including Teachers and No Angels.
The channel underwent a major rebrand in mid-2006, with the number placement of the channel changing on Sky Digital from Sky channel 607 in the kids section to Sky channel 201 in the entertainment section as a move to make it seem more teenage orientated, but keeping the same programming. Later, the channel moved on Sky again, this time to Sky channel 172.
Trouble's one hour timeshift channel named Trouble +1 (formerly Trouble Reload (a 30 minute timeshift channel)) closed on 5 February 2009 to make way for the launch of Living2 +1.[1]
Contents |
The idea of Trouble was originally influenced by the now defunct The Children's Channel's late afternoon scheduling for teen audiences; branded TCC, the channel's 5 PM to 7 PM slot targeted teenagers. When Bravo was revamped in 1997 to become a channel targeting a male audience (marketed as "an altered species of television"), it broadcast only during the evenings and nights, with Trouble occupying its transponder space during the day. The Children's Channel was closed in 1998, leaving Trouble to target teens and young adults. Its schedule consisted of popular sitcoms, rather than the cartoons The Children's Channel showed.
By 2003, Trouble had shifted the output from the generic teen shows it had from the early days to focus more on black programming including My Wife and Kids, One On One, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, white programmes remained in the mix with That '70s Show and Grounded for Life.
After The WB merged with UPN in 2006, their main sources of programming dried up, causing the channel ratings to decline, Trouble added new programmes including first run episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Kyle XY and classic black comedies including The Cosby Show and Desmond’s but failed to address the rot by Virgin/Bravo team group.
On 17 March 2009, Virgin Media Television indicated it would close Trouble and replace with a version of Living[2], the closure was blamed on declining viewing viewers and it was part of operational review at Virgin Media TV (which included the sad budget cuts at Challenge TV) which saw then being sold to BSkyB, Bravo and Virgin 1 (by then renamed Channel One) closed later after Virgin sale.
It was then revealed on 23 March 2009 that Trouble would close on 1 April 2009 and would be replaced by Living +2 (since replaced by Living Loves). Trouble aired the voice over announcing about the last night before ceased broadcasting on 1 April 2009 at 1.00am with the two hour timeshift version of Living launching at 7am on the same day. Living +2 itself the following year was replaced by Living Loves, which itself was rebranded as Sky Living Loves the following year, which itself will close on 24 January 2012.
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