Rewind TV (British TV channel)
 | |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | British English |
| Picture format | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rewind TV Ltd[1] |
| History | |
| Launched | 23 May 2024 |
| Links | |
| Website | RewindTV.co.uk |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview UK | Channel 95 |
| Streaming media | |
| Freely | Channel 125 |
Rewind TV is a British free-to-air television channel specialised in vintage television series and programmes, mainly from the ITV network. It launched on Sky on 23 May 2024 and on Freeview on 18 September 2024. Its competitors are Talking Pictures TV from Hertfordshire and That's TV's network of local channels. The channel is presided over by Oscar Beuselinck and Johnathan Moore (both born 1969), who have long time experience in the video and DVD publishing industry.[2]
History
[edit]Rewind TV started test transmissions on or before 7 May 2024, initially launching on Sky from 23 May. The surge in nostalgia-based channels came after the original channels drifted more towards programming produced post-2000.[3] At launch time, Rewind TV promised an "antidote" to the current status of British television, especially the state of current dramas and how streaming platforms commission "by algorithm" in order to attract more viewers. Such older series, like many films of earlier times, displayed attitudes towards women and ethnic minorities which are currently generally seen as "unacceptable", so, instead of banning them from broadcast or censoring them, they are only shown after the 9pm watershed.[2]
Initially, Beuselinck and Moore planned to start the channel before the pandemic in 2020, but technical delays and the advertising crash complicated matters. The channel was set up at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds for archival programming on the cheap, but the ownership of certain programmes as of the time of founding got more complex for the founders to track down.[2]
By late August 2024, Rewind TV was hinting at a possible Freeview launch, following the shutdown of TalkTV and Seen on TV, and the spare capacity left by its closures. On Twitter, the channel posted an announcement hinting at an 18 September launch date.[4] This was confirmed in Freeview's September update,[5] with sitcom Watching becoming the first series seen.[6] Its launch on the platform enabled Rewind to better compete with similar archive TV channels.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ REWIND TV LIMITED
- ^ a b c How a new channel dedicated to golden oldies is shaking up TV
- ^ New classic TV channel Rewind TV to launch on Sky this month
- ^ New channels poised to join Freeview
- ^ Rewind TV to launch on Freeview channel 95
- ^ Three new channels added to Freeview in September Update
- ^ How Nostalgic TV is all the rage on Freeview
External links
[edit]
- 2024 establishments in the United Kingdom
- Classic television networks
- English-language television stations in the United Kingdom
- Mass media in Sheffield
- Organisations based in South Yorkshire
- Television archives in the United Kingdom
- Television channels and stations established in 2024
- Television channels in the United Kingdom