Men & Motors
Encyclopedia
Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel
in the UK
. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television
(now part of ITV plc
) and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting
in 1996. Although ITV plc is now the sole owner of GSB (since re-named ITV Digital Channels Limited), Sky will receive 49.5 per cent of any proceeds (net of liabilities) if Men & Motors is sold.
A possible merger with ITV4 had been on the cards, but in September 2007, ITV confirmed that it plans to dispose of Men & Motors. Men & Motors closed on 1 April 2010 to make way for ITV1 HD on Freesat, Sky Digital and Virgin Media.
, a Digital terrestrial television
service part-owned by Granada. When ONdigital closed, Men & Motors left DTT and became available only through satellite and cable. On 1 November 2004, ITV took full control of GSB and shut down Plus, which only averaged 0.7% of its audience share before ITV3 replaced this ill-fated channel.
The channel really took off after the appointment of Gary Shoefield
as director of programming.He quickly set about changing the presenters and the look and feel and took responsibility for both the acquisitions and the newly produced programmes.
The channel was split into 2 distinctive halves with Motors content before 11pm and Adult content thereafter.
Shoefield brought Jordan (Katie Price) to the Adult part of the Channel along with Jo Guest
, Catherine McQueen
, Mike Reid
, Roy "Chubby" Brown, Garry Bushell
and James Whale
.
Names that joined the motors team included Gary Numan
, Vanilla Ice
, Gilly Buckley, Jon Inverdale and Princess Tamara.
The Channel saw huge growth under Shoefield's control and Men and Motors became a household name until November 2004, when ITV aqcuired GSkyB and rebranded Plus as ITV3.
Many years after the closure of ONdigital, ITV (the company formed by the merger of Carlton Television
and Granada) successfully bid for a slot on digital terrestrial (DTT) multiplex D. It was announced that Men & Motors would be launched on Freeview on 2 May 2005. To coincide with this launch, the channel was re-vamped, and its late night, risqué adult content was replaced by archive drama, comedy and documentaries. The channel also dropped its Videoguard
encryption on Sky Digital on 1 July 2005, switching to free-to-air
status.
ITV's plans to launch a channel aimed at men (the target audience of Men & Motors) were considered by many to be the end for Men & Motors. It seemed logical that Men & Motors would simply "become" ITV4, with much of the channel's programming simply being shown under the ITV brand. With capacity on the Freeview platform limited, and to avoid being in competition for the same genre of viewers, this seemed the inevitable conclusion.
However, available to a much wider audience, Men & Motors enjoyed a (slightly unexpectedly) sharp increase in viewing figures. ITV were faced with the conundrum of replacing a channel with a well-known brand and enjoying a new popularity with a new, seemingly identical channel. ITV4
instead replaced the ITV News Channel
on Freeview (between its broadcasting hours of 18:00 to 06:00), with Men & Motors still available on its own 24-hour slot. The News channel closed soon after, due to major competition from Sky News
and BBC News 24 and heavy financial losses. It was replaced fully by ITV4 and the CITV Channel.
After less than a year on Freeview, Men & Motors had now been replaced. At 06:00 BST
on 12 April 2006, Men & Motors ceased transmissions on digital terrestrial television. This was to allow ITV to launch the "participation television" channel, ITV Play
, which has since been closed down itself. With limited bandwidth on the platform, and a desire to keep the entire ITV "family" (i.e. all channels carrying the ITV brand) on the free platform, Men & Motors was only available on satellite and cable television at the time of its closure.
On 2 April 2010, ITV1 HD launched on Sky Digital channel 178, replacing Men & Motors. As a result, Men & Motors closed on 1 April at 6 a.m. on both Freesat and Sky Digital. On Virgin Media, Men & Motors was removed from the EPG on 25 March 2010 for "operational reasons" in order to add a ITV1 HD launch information screen. Most of the programmes that were shown on Men & Motors will move to ITV4.
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
(now part of ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
) and satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
in 1996. Although ITV plc is now the sole owner of GSB (since re-named ITV Digital Channels Limited), Sky will receive 49.5 per cent of any proceeds (net of liabilities) if Men & Motors is sold.
A possible merger with ITV4 had been on the cards, but in September 2007, ITV confirmed that it plans to dispose of Men & Motors. Men & Motors closed on 1 April 2010 to make way for ITV1 HD on Freesat, Sky Digital and Virgin Media.
Carriage
From its launch, Men & Motors was only available with subscription television services. Men & Motors was part of the original line-up (as a "primary channel") for ONdigitalITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...
, a Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
service part-owned by Granada. When ONdigital closed, Men & Motors left DTT and became available only through satellite and cable. On 1 November 2004, ITV took full control of GSB and shut down Plus, which only averaged 0.7% of its audience share before ITV3 replaced this ill-fated channel.
The channel really took off after the appointment of Gary Shoefield
Gary Shoefield
Gary Shoefield is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur.Shoefield was portrayed in the 2006 film 'Alien Autopsy' by Ant McPartlin having been involved with the now famous footage from the very beginning with business partner and friend Ray Santilli.-Career:Shoefield has had...
as director of programming.He quickly set about changing the presenters and the look and feel and took responsibility for both the acquisitions and the newly produced programmes.
The channel was split into 2 distinctive halves with Motors content before 11pm and Adult content thereafter.
Shoefield brought Jordan (Katie Price) to the Adult part of the Channel along with Jo Guest
Jo Guest
Joanne Guest is an English former glamour model and media figure.- Glamour career :Born and raised in Chesterfield, north east Derbyshire, England, Guest got her start in modelling when she came across an advertisement for it while on a catering course at her local college...
, Catherine McQueen
Catherine McQueen
Catherine McQueen , is a Scottish model, part-time actress, TV presenter and DJ.-Biography:Educated at Edinburgh Academy with a degree in Law and Business from City University London. She completed the Legal Practice Course at The College Of Law, London...
, Mike Reid
Mike Reid
Michael or Mike Reid may refer to:*Mike Reid , English comedian and actor, best known for his role as Frank Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders*Mike Reid , American golfer...
, Roy "Chubby" Brown, Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Oi! band The Gonads and manages the New York City Oi! band Maninblack. Bushell's recurring themes are comedy, country and class...
and James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
.
Names that joined the motors team included Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
, Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...
, Gilly Buckley, Jon Inverdale and Princess Tamara.
The Channel saw huge growth under Shoefield's control and Men and Motors became a household name until November 2004, when ITV aqcuired GSkyB and rebranded Plus as ITV3.
Many years after the closure of ONdigital, ITV (the company formed by the merger of Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
and Granada) successfully bid for a slot on digital terrestrial (DTT) multiplex D. It was announced that Men & Motors would be launched on Freeview on 2 May 2005. To coincide with this launch, the channel was re-vamped, and its late night, risqué adult content was replaced by archive drama, comedy and documentaries. The channel also dropped its Videoguard
VideoGuard
VideoGuard , produced by NDS, is a digital encryption system for use with conditional access television broadcasting. It is used on digital satellite television systems - some of which are operated by News Corporation, which owns about half of NDS...
encryption on Sky Digital on 1 July 2005, switching to free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
status.
ITV's plans to launch a channel aimed at men (the target audience of Men & Motors) were considered by many to be the end for Men & Motors. It seemed logical that Men & Motors would simply "become" ITV4, with much of the channel's programming simply being shown under the ITV brand. With capacity on the Freeview platform limited, and to avoid being in competition for the same genre of viewers, this seemed the inevitable conclusion.
However, available to a much wider audience, Men & Motors enjoyed a (slightly unexpectedly) sharp increase in viewing figures. ITV were faced with the conundrum of replacing a channel with a well-known brand and enjoying a new popularity with a new, seemingly identical channel. ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
instead replaced the ITV News Channel
ITV News Channel
The ITV News Channel was a 24-hour television news channel in the United Kingdom which broadcast from 1 August 2000 to 23 December 2005. It was available on Sky, NTL:Telewest, Freeview and analogue cable, presenting national and international news plus regular business, sport, entertainment and...
on Freeview (between its broadcasting hours of 18:00 to 06:00), with Men & Motors still available on its own 24-hour slot. The News channel closed soon after, due to major competition from Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
and BBC News 24 and heavy financial losses. It was replaced fully by ITV4 and the CITV Channel.
After less than a year on Freeview, Men & Motors had now been replaced. At 06:00 BST
British Summer Time
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in the following places:* the Canary Islands* Portugal * Ireland...
on 12 April 2006, Men & Motors ceased transmissions on digital terrestrial television. This was to allow ITV to launch the "participation television" channel, ITV Play
ITV Play (channel)
ITV Play was a 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued on the ITV Network until December 2007....
, which has since been closed down itself. With limited bandwidth on the platform, and a desire to keep the entire ITV "family" (i.e. all channels carrying the ITV brand) on the free platform, Men & Motors was only available on satellite and cable television at the time of its closure.
On 2 April 2010, ITV1 HD launched on Sky Digital channel 178, replacing Men & Motors. As a result, Men & Motors closed on 1 April at 6 a.m. on both Freesat and Sky Digital. On Virgin Media, Men & Motors was removed from the EPG on 25 March 2010 for "operational reasons" in order to add a ITV1 HD launch information screen. Most of the programmes that were shown on Men & Motors will move to ITV4.