International Channels UK has launched its first free to air entertainment channel, YourTV, which will provide viewers with content including the reality series Don’t Tell The Bride, true-life crime series Snapped: Killer Couples, and international legal drama, Shark.
YourTV is primarily aimed at women and will air for 20 hours each day across the UK, from 7am until 3am, on Freeview, YouView, Freesat and Sky. The channel will be broadcast in SD, providing national coverage across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from the Arqiva national commercial multiplex.
The announcement builds on a long-standing relationship between Fox UK and Arqiva, which began in 2010. Arqiva provides the company with a managed service for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) capacity, contribution (the physical link for the delivery of the playout signal to the Freeview network), and playout.
“We are thrilled to be working alongside Arqiva to announce the launch of YourTV,” said Jeff Ford, managing director Fox International Channels UK. “The move not only marks our first free-to-air channel but an exciting next step in the evolution of our UK brand portfolio. Our previous experience of Arqiva’s reliability, credibility and expertise has inspired us with the confidence to approach this new TV landscape. With the ability to manage the whole launch process for us meaning all we have to do is provide the content Arqiva’s service was the ideal choice to help us establish YourTV as a fresh new destination for entertainment in the UK.”
Mike Finchen, director, DTT muxco at Arqiva, said: “We’ve been working with Fox UK for many years to deliver a reliable managed service for playout and infrastructure services across a number of their pay channels. The launch of YourTV onto the UK’s free-to-air market is a key strategic move for Fox and we are delighted that it has recognised our ability to deliver the full end-to-end service required to make it a success. We are committed to taking the customer’s content and doing the rest for them, and the Fox UK and Arqiva relationship is testament of this.”