Gold

Gold is a classic comedy channel from the UKTV network, broadcasting to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 1 November 1992 as UK Gold, before, in 2008, it was split into Gold and current flagship UKTV channel, Watch, with comedy based programming now airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on Watch and Quiz shows and more high-brow and male based comedy airing on Dave. The channel is currently available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV, terrestrial subscription via Top Up TV and from later in 2012, will be streamed over BT Vision. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC and other broadcasters. The channel's main rival is the ITV plc owned ITV3, which mainly airs the archive ITV programmes, and has a higher audience share than Gold. Another rival is More4 which also has a higher audience share than Gold. This is perhaps because they are free-to-air channels whereas Gold is subscription based.

History
The channel launched on 1 November 1992 as a joint venture between the BBC, through commercial arm BBC Enterprises, and outgoing ITV London weekday franchisee Thames Television. The channel, named UK Gold, was to show repeats of the 'classic' archive programming from the two broadcasters. The rights to the BBC programmes previously were held by the BSB entertainment channel Galaxy, prior to the merger with Sky Television plc to form BskyB in November 1990. The channel was initially broadcast on an analogue transponder from an SES satellite at 19.2°E which was less well suited for UK reception. As a result, the channel used to be notorious for being marred with interference, known as 'sparklies', in large parts of the UK. Another initial drawback was the cutting of programming down to fit commercial time slots, and the intensive use of commercial breaks. Reception improved however with the channel added to BSkyB's basic subscription package in 1993, and the launch of the channel on cable services. In 1993 Flextech gain its first stake in the station after acquiring Tele-Communications' (TCI) Tv interest in Europe. In 1996 its started discussions about increasing its stake, to gain full control, at that point, Flextech held 27% with Cox (38%), BBC (20%) and Pearson (15%), by the Auttum Flextech held 80% of UK gold ,.

Flextech main reason for increasing it stake in UK gold was in participation of new talks with the BBC, which were launch on 1 November 1997, consisting of three other channels: UK Arena, UK Horizons and UK Style, focusing on the arts, factual and lifestyle programmes respectively. The UKTV network expanded to include numerous more channels as the years progressed. The UK Gold brand was expanded in October 1998 with the launch of the digital only channel UK Gold Classics, broadcasting some of the older comedy serials that were being lost from the UK Gold schedule, as the channel moved towards more modern programming. UK Gold Classics was not to last however, and was rebranded as UK Gold 2 on 2 April 1999, which acted as a time shift of the original channel, showing the daytime programmes from UK Gold in the evening on UK Gold 2. In 2003 however, UK Gold 2 was rebranded and repositioned as UK G2, with some programming transferring to the new channel. On 8 March 2004, the channel was rebranded as UKTV Gold in line with the other channels in the UKTV network. At approximately the same time, Granada run archive channel Granada Plus closed to make way for ITV3. The channels had always been the main rivals to Gold due to the direct mix of archive BBC and ITV programming. ITV3 currently has a higher viewer share; often put down to the fact that the terrestrial platform Freeview shows ITV3 but not Gold.

Gold began transmitting in widescreen on 31 January 2008, although some programmes made in 16:9 format are screened in the compromise 14:9 semi-letterbox ratio for a short while, before the 16:9 format became standard later in the year. The channel has been criticised by some, particularly in recent years, for featuring many recent programmes as opposed to 'classics' as was the original concept, with some shows appearing on the channel mere months or weeks after their first television broadcast.

In 2008, UKTV began a process of rebranding and expanding its channels, removing "UKTV" from their name, following the rebranding of UKTV G2 as Dave in October 2007. On 7 October 2008, UKTV Gold became G.O.L.D., exclusively showing comedy, both old and new. This is reflected by its new slogan, which now represents Gold as a backronym—"Go On Laugh Daily". Unlike the complete name change for Dave, the Gold name was retained as having a resonance with viewers. The same day also saw the rebranding of UKTV Drama as Alibi, and the launch of a new channel, Watch. In Spring 2010, the channel dropped the acronym and is now known simply as Gold. In October 2011, Virgin Media, owner of half of Gold and the rest of the UKTV network, sold their share to Scripps Networks Interactive, with the remaining half still retained by the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

Huge programming investment
In February 2012, it was announced that UKTV was to invest millions into producing its own original shows. According to the trade magazine, Broadcast, Gold "has secured a budget running into "double-digit millions" to create a raft of new comedy shows over the next two years." the article went on to say "the channel is looking to develop a mix of panel shows, sketch shows, sitcoms and comedy dramas." This move means Gold will follow its sister, Dave, which has resurrected Red Dwarf and produced numerous different panel and entertainment shows, and BSkyB, who have invested £600m into original comedy for Sky1 and Sky Atlantic. The first set of new shows for Gold are expected to be broadcast in the latter half of 2012.

UKTV executive Jane Rogers stated to Broadcast that the commissions would be high-quality, as "they'd need to sit confidently alongside classics such as Only Fools And Horses and The Vicar Of Dibley." She also added that "Gold is well entrenched in the UK's psyche as the home of national treasure comedies, so we cannot afford to look cheap next to those programmes. It's important that anything we order continues that love and feel, but we don't want to look back; we want a contemporary stamp on the channel." Commissioning editor Sarah Fraser commented that "there's never been a better time to invest in homegrown comedy. Comedians are selling out arena tours, being cast in the West End and on the big screen here and in the US."

The first programme announced as part of the investment is a reboot of classic BBC sitcom, Yes, Prime Minister, to be based on the popular 2010 stage show and is to be written by original writers, Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Flynn. The reboot will be the second classic BBC sitcom to be ressurected by a UKTV network, following the two Dave-commissioned series of Red Dwarf. News about other new commissions for the channel is expected during the summer.

Timeshift
Alongside the main channel, a time shift channel is also operated: Gold +1. The channel, previously named UK Gold +1 and UKTV Gold +1 when corresponding to the name on the main channel, shows all programming from the channel one hour later. The channel UK Gold 2 also used to be a time shift, showing the daytime schedule from UK Gold in the evening prime time slot. This service ended in 2003.

Identity
For the first few years, idents on UK Gold featured an animated golden retriever mascot named "Goldie" posing with the UK Gold logo. Goldie was never name-checked as such on air, possibly owing to the death of the Blue Peter dog Goldie some weeks before launch, although the late-night music video slot "Dog House" was originally listed as "Goldie's Video Bites" in initial pre-launch listings. The Goldie idents were kept until 1993, when they were replaced with a form-up of the first logo against a blue background. A re-branding in 1994 saw UK Gold adopt a more fitting identity: idents were based on the forging of gold bars, with the station's logo appearing to have been stamped into gold. Variations on this theme were used until 1997, when the channel received a revamp as part of the formation of the UKTV network.

The new network's corporate identity saw all its channels logos simplified to a boxed "UK" followed by the name (e.g. "Gold") in the Gill Sans font, which had also been adopted by the BBC. The new network-wide ident theme would involve the splitting of the screen for different purposes. UK Gold's new idents depicted objects such as apples or leaves falling through the top half of the screen, with only the gold coloured ones reaching the bottom half of the screen. These idents were briefly adopted for UK Gold 2 when it launched in 1998.

In April 1999, the theme changed again, this time with idents featuring fireworks making shapes in the air. The fireworks theme was carried on in a new set of idents, alongside another network-wide re-branding of the logo in 2001, adopting a bolder font and merging UK into a single composite character. A range of live-action idents showing everyday activities from unusual perspectives appeared in 2002.

In August 2003 the idents showed were changed to channel hopping viewers with their TV set "off stage" being brought to a halt by the appearance of a golden light accompanied by the channel's ident jingle. This new identity also featured a series of shifting yellow, orange and red blocks which suggested a gold bar at the centre of the screen. On 8 March 2004 the channel name was changed to UKTV Gold to bring it in line with all other UKTV channels, with the ident being updated. On 4 April 2007, UKTV Gold unveiled a new on-air identity centred around a branded golden space hopper, playing to contemporary trends toward 1970s nostalgia, and emphasising the station's re-run content. 12 new live action idents featured the branded space hopper, either with people on them bouncing around normally serious scenes, or let loose to bounce around the natural environment.

On 7 October 2008, following the rebranding, Gold’s current presentation debuted, featuring cartoon objects making a giant chain, in Heath Robinson fashion, which triggers an event to herald the next programme. The Gold logo features in the centre, with the channel slogan usually appearing alongside in the sequence. Programmes are announced by sole channel continuity announcer David Flynn, who has had the position since June 2009.

Current
The output of the channel is mainly British comedy programmes including repeats of BBC shows and sometimes feature length films.


 * 2point4 children
 * All Creatures Great and Small
 * 'Allo 'Allo!
 * A Bit of Fry & Laurie
 * A Close Shave
 * A Grand Day Out
 * Absolutely Fabulous
 * After You've Gone
 * As Time Goes by
 * Bewitched
 * Blackadder
 * Black Books
 * Bottom
 * Bread
 * The Brittas Empire
 * Butterflies
 * Citizen Smith
 * Comedy Connections
 * Dear John
 * The Dick Emery Show
 * Dinnerladies
 * Ever Decreasing Circles
 * The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
 * The Fast Show
 * Fawlty Towers
 * First of the Summer Wine
 * French and Saunders


 * Game On
 * Gavin and Stacey
 * Gimme Gimme Gimme
 * The Good Life
 * The Green Green Grass
 * Green Wing
 * Harry Enfield and Chums
 * Heroes of Comedy
 * Keeping Up Appearances
 * Last of the Summer Wine
 * The Lenny Henry Show
 * The Likely Lads
 * Little Britain
 * Little Britain USA
 * The Liver Birds
 * May to December
 * Men Behaving Badly
 * Murder Most Horrid
 * My Family
 * My Hero
 * The New Statesman
 * The Office
 * The Old Guys
 * The Omid Djalili Show
 * One Foot in the Grave
 * Only Fools and Horses
 * Open All Hours
 * Outnumbered


 * Porridge
 * Rex the Runt
 * Roger and Val Have Just Got in!
 * The Royle Family
 * Smack the Pony
 * Solo
 * Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
 * Sorry!
 * Starstruck Classics (Gold Commission)
 * Steptoe and Son (only series 7-8)
 * Sykes
 * The Thin Blue Line
 * To the Manor Born
 * Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
 * The Two Ronnies
 * The Vicar of Dibley
 * Vic Reeves' Big Night Out
 * Victoria Wood as Seen on TV
 * Waiting for God
 * Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
 * When Were We Funniest? (Gold commission)
 * The Worst Week of My Life
 * The Wrong Trousers
 * Yes, Minister!
 * Yes, Prime Minister!
 * The Young Ones

Previous
Programming of classic general entertainment now unused or superseded on 7th October 2008 except comedy and sitcom.


 * 100 Years of Horror
 * The A-Team
 * A Life of Grime (now on Blighty and Watch)
 * A Question of Sport (now on Dave)
 * A Word with Alf
 * After Henry
 * The Afternoon Play
 * Alas Smith and Jones
 * Alistair McGowan's Big Impression
 * All Gas and Gaiters
 * Angels
 * Animal Park (now on Watch)
 * Are You Being Served?
 * Ask the Family
 * Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (now on ITV4)
 * Ballykissangel (now on ITV3)
 * Bangkok Hilton
 * Baywatch
 * Beggar-My-Neighbour
 * The Ben Elton Show
 * Bergerac (now on Alibi)
 * Between the Lines (now on Alibi)
 * Big Break (now on Challenge
 * Big Deal
 * The Bill (now on Watch)
 * Birds of a Feather (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Blake's 7
 * Blankety Blank (now on Challenge)
 * Bless This House (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Blue Peter
 * The Blue Planet (now on Eden)
 * The Bob Monkhouse Show
 * Bob's Full House
 * Boon
 * Brookside
 * Brush Strokes
 * Bugs
 * Bullseye (now on Challenge)
 * Button Moon (now on Nick Jr.)
 * Canned Carrott
 * Carrie's War (1974 version)
 * Carrott Confidential
 * Carrott's Lib
 * Casualty (now on Watch)
 * The Catherine Tate Show (now on Watch)
 * Chancer
 * The Changes
 * Charlie's Angels
 * Colditz (now on Yesterday)
 * Colin's Sandwich
 * Commercial Breakdown
 * Common as Muck
 * Cool It!
 * Crapston Villas
 * Crime Traveller
 * Crossroads
 * Dad's Army (now on BBC Two)
 * Dallas (now on CBS Drama)
 * Dancing with the Stars (now on Watch)
 * Dangerfield (now on Alibi)
 * Danger UXB
 * Defenders of the Earth
 * Degrassi Junior High
 * The Detectives (Now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * DIY SOS (now on Home)
 * Doctors (now on BBC One)
 * Doctor Who (now on Watch)
 * Don't Wait Up (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Driving School
 * The Duchess of Duke Street
 * Due South (now on Alibi)
 * Duty Free (now on ITV3)
 * Dynasty (now on CBS Drama)


 * EastEnders (now on BBC One and BBC Three)
 * Eldorado
 * The Equalizer
 * Euromillions: Boom! Bang a Bang!
 * Every Second Counts
 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (now on Home)
 * Fairly Secret Army
 * Family Fortunes (now on Challenge)
 * Father Dear Father
 * Filthy, Rich and Catflap
 * Fresh Fields
 * French Fields
 * Full House (UK series)
 * The Generation Game
 * George and Mildred (now on ITV3)
 * Get Some In!
 * Gingerbread Girl
 * Give Us a Clue
 * Going for Gold
 * Goodnight Sweetheart (now on ITV3))
 * Grace and Favour
 * Hamish Macbeth (now on Alibi)
 * Happy Ever After
 * Happy Families
 * Harbour Lights
 * Harry Enfield's Television Programme
 * Heartbeat (now on ITV3)
 * Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (now on Alibi)
 * Hi-de-Hi!
 * Holby City
 * Home to Roost (now on ITV3)
 * The House of Eliott (now on ITV3)
 * Howards' Way
 * The Imaginatively Titled Punt & Dennis Show
 * I'm Alan Partridge! (now on Dave)
 * In Justice
 * In Loving Memory
 * In Sickness and in Health
 * Inspector Morse (now on ITV3)
 * It Ain't Half Hot Mum
 * It's a Knockout!
 * Ivanhoe
 * Jonathan Creek (now on Watch and Alibi)
 * Juliet Bravo
 * The Kenny Everett Television Show (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Kinsey
 * Kit Curran
 * Knots Landing
 * Kojak
 * KYTV
 * Live at Jongleurs
 * Lovejoy (now on Yesterday)
 * Love Thy Neighbour
 * Lytton's Diary
 * MacKenzie
 * Magnum PI (now on DMAX)
 * Maisie Raine (now on Alibi)
 * Man About the House (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * The Man from Auntie
 * The Mary Whitehouse Experience
 * MasterChef (now on Good Food and Watch)
 * Mastermind
 * Match of the Day
 * Miami Vice (now on ITV4)
 * Middlemarch
 * Minder (now on ITV4)
 * Monarch of the Glen (now on ITV3)
 * Monty Python's Flying Circus (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * The Morecambe & Wise Show
 * Murder, She Wrote (now on Alibi, BBC One and BBC Two)
 * Naked Video
 * Neighbours
 * Never the Twain
 * Never Mind The Quality Feel The Width


 * The New Adventures of Old Christine
 * Newman and Baddiel in Pieces
 * No Place Like Home (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Not the Nine O'Clock News (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * NYPD Blue
 * Odd Man Out
 * Odd One Out
 * Oh, Brother!
 * The Onedin Line (now on Yesterday)
 * Only When I Laugh (now on ITV3)
 * The Paradise Club
 * Parkinson
 * Pie in the Sky (now on ITV3)
 * The Pink Panther Show
 * Planet Earth (now on Eden)
 * Poldark (now on Yesterday)
 * Police Squad!
 * Pop Profile
 * Pride and Prejudice
 * Prison Break
 * Quantum Leap (now on Syfy)
 * Rab C. Nesbitt (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * Rainbow (now on Nick Jr.)
 * Record Breakers
 * Red Dwarf (now on Dave)
 * Rentaghost
 * Rhoda
 * Rising Damp (now on ITV3)
 * Robin Hood (now on Watch)
 * Robin's Nest (now on Comedy Central Extra)
 * The Rockford Files (now on ITV3)
 * Rock Goes to College!
 * Room 101 (now on Challenge)
 * Ruby Wax Meets...
 * Rutland Weekend Television
 * Seaside Rescue (now on Blighty and Dave)
 * The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
 * Selwyn
 * Shark (Now on FX)
 * Shelley
 * Shoestring (now on Alibi)
 * Shooting Stars (now on Challenge)
 * Silent Witness (now on Alibi)
 * Slinger's Day
 * Sons and Daughters
 * Spender
 * Spitting Image (now on Comedy Central Extra and ITV4)
 * Sports Anorak of the Year
 * Stars in Their Eyes
 * Stay Lucky
 * The Sullivans
 * The Sweeney (now on ITV4)
 * Taggart (now on Alibi and ITV3)
 * Take a Letter, Mr. Jones!
 * Tenko (now on Yesterday)
 * Terry and June (now on ITV3)
 * That's Showbusiness
 * This Life
 * Till Death Us Do Part
 * Top of the Pops
 * TOTP2 (now on Dave and Yesterday)
 * Traffic Cops (now on Dave, Watch and Blighty)
 * Tripper's Day
 * The Tripods
 * The Weakest Link (now on Challenge and Watch)
 * When the Boat Comes In (now on Yesterday)
 * Who Do You Think You Are? (now on Blighty and Yesterday and Watch)
 * Whoops, Baghdad!
 * Wogan: Now and Then
 * You Bet! (now on Challenge)
 * Walking with Dinosaurs (now on Watch and Eden)
 * You Rang, M'Lord?
 * You're Only Young Twice

Other ventures
An analogue teletext service known as GoldText used to be available on the channel, but has since closed down.