UKTV Launches New Lifestyle Channel “Really” Brand Campaign

Today: UKTV has unveiled the new on-air branding campaign for Really, the newly rebranded UKTV Gardens channel. The “pop art style” brand campaign is supported by Really’s new end line, “You couldn’t make it up”. UKTV’s new lifestyle channel offers an honest insight into people’s lives. Targeting predominately women aged 18-35, Really offers a point of difference with feisty, straight talking and good natured programming.

New television ads will air across the UKTV network, Virgin TV and Sky channels.

Update 19 May: Due to the large number of visitors, emails, and comments asking about gardening related programming, it should be noted that the gardening content previously aired when it was called UKTV Gardens, has now been absorbed by sister channel Home, previously named UKTV Style.

The channel aims to bring glamour, attitude, and fun to viewers, starting with tonight’s premier of Rachel Zoe Project. I have to admit, I love that show- top of my season pass list on my DVR in Los Angeles. Love her or hate her, Rachel Zoe is something to behold. (And an absolute hoot to work with).

A national survey of 2,000 Brits was specially commissioned to mark the launch of new TV channel,  uncovering the lies people tell over a lifetime as well as those told on a daily basis to provide a compelling insight into Britain in 2009.

The findings reveal that age is the No.1 lifetime lie – suggesting that Brits simply can’t resist playing fast and loose with the statistics when it comes to telling people how old they are.  36% of Brits admit that they have regularly lied about their age. Unexpectedly, the survey also reveals that men are the biggest gossips, with 20% admitting that they generally can’t keep a big secret for more than one day compared with a mere 6% of women.

Clare Laycock, Really Channel Head states, “Our findings prove that we are a sensationalist nation and Brits love to share a secret about others, but tend to lie in order to protect their own image. Really is bang on trend, giving an insight into the lives of the British public through smart, straight talking programmes and stories that you just couldn’t make up”

Designed to depict those “Really moments” of transformation or empowerment for women, the channel branding package, created by Red Bee Media, launches with a new logo, four idents, endboards, break bumpers, a full on-screen presentation system and promotional kit plus a 60/30/10 second launch promo. The bright pop art style provides a lush framework to the channel’s glamorous programming lineup.

Special thanks to Denise Wild, UKTV’s talented Lifestyle Marketing Manager who sent me all of the idents seen today, including which could be the first gay kiss animated or otherwise in a television ident as seen here:

Hasbro / Discovery to Launch New Kids Network

Breaking News: My Blackberry went a buzzin’ last week when the rumors we were all hearing were substantiated and made official. The iconic company behind GI Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony is partnering up with Discovery Communications in a $300M deal to take on Viacom’s Nickelodeon, Walt Disney’s Disney Channel, and Time Warner’s Cartoon Network in the very lucrative children’s TV market.

The joint venture will see a major rebranding effort of the 60M home Discovery Kids channel, creating new shows based on brands such as GI Joe, Scrabble and Cranium. Each company will hold 50 percent in the venture.

Apparently all the gloom chatter from earlier in the year is being mitigated by a flurry of channel launches and rebrands both in the US and the UK. I’ve seen a noticable uptick in briefing and agency exploration meetings. It’s an incredibly exciting and busy time in our business. Thank goodness for that!

UKTV History channel Rebrands as Yesterday

Today, the past has become present:  UKTV History channel has rebranded as Yesterday, culminating in the last of UKTV’s factual channels to be renamed and rebranded. Yesterday targets upmarket 30 plus couples, placing serious history in the form of Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain and Auschwitz in the same schedule as The Alan Clark Diaries, House of Cards and Antiques Roadshow.

In other big UKTV news, the whole company got into spirit and dressed up in 80’s gear to celebrate the launch of the channel.  I’ve managed to get my hands on some photographic evidence. Extra thanks to my super-secret inside source! Don’t they look cute? I’m digging the pink. (btw, what’s Hugh Jackman doing working at UKTV?)

Click for Full 80's Effect

**Updated**

2:05pm Added more pictures
12:36 Added Idents:Wright Brothers, Suffragettes, and Debutantes
09:18 Added Ident: Hoodies
09:15 Added Ident: War
09:05 Added Ident: Football

Yesterday Ident: Football

The site http://www.visityesterday.co.uk has also launched.

Yesterday Ident: War

Yesterday’s Channel Head, Richard Kingsbury, adds, “Alongside classic history content which continues to be hugely popular there will be a new emphasis on living history. Our programming will cover everything from world changing events to fondly remembered moments of popular culture. The whole point of Yesterday is to make history feel more immediate and more personal.”

The new channel proposition and name was developed in-house at UKTV following a process that first began by identifying the channel’s target audiences before devising a positioning and creating the content offering.  The pay TV broadcaster’s marketing team worked closely with Red Bee to develop Yesterday’s on-screen identity, which includes 15 different variations on its logo and will be unveiled shortly.

Yesterday Ident: Hoodies

Matthew Littleford, UKTV’s controller, explains: “We realized that because we had strong content we needed to have kick-ass brands that would stand out,” he says, stressing the importance of UKTV’s access to BBC programming.” The figures are impressive: six months of research, 32 focus groups, consultation with 120 staff members and 3,500 online respondents, £250,000 spent. Littleford adds, “All of the research about History was that people who came to watch it would be interested in 20th-century history and war. The history channel isn’t just about that,” he says. “We wanted a brand that stretched wider.”

Yesterday Ident: Wright Brothers

Yesterday Ident: Suffragettes

Yesterday Ident: Debutantes

Check back soon for more updates from today’s launch.

New UK channel- “Blighty” launch details emerge

Update: Blighty has launched:
https://dennytu.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/uktv-channel-rebranded-as-blighty-launches/

In what seems to be a very busy week of channel launch and relaunch news…

Details of UKTV’s second factual channel relaunch (behind this week’s Eden), and soon to be relaunched Yesterday were announced beginning with the launch time of Tuesday February 17 at 9AM (get your watches ready!).  The channel which is described “to unashamedly celebrate all that is great, unique and inspirational about Britain today” is targeted at young couples in their 30s and 40s. In 2007, UKTV committed to a long-term project to realign its entire portfolio of TV channels and “future proof” the business.

Blighty’s new, fun slogan is “One nation under a channel”. The on-air branding is being developed by UKTV’s marketing team in partnership with Red Bee. And with a logo like that, I for one, can’t wait to see the campaign idents and adverts roll out.

Does anyone else think that it would look REALLY GOOD hanging outside my West Hollywood home? Yeah- I think so too.

More details on launch of new US premium network, Epix

More details are emerging about the new cable channel TV venture dubbed Epix. The new premium cable network backed by content powerhouses Viacom, Lionsgate and MGM, will launch a broadband offering of on-demand services (via cable and sat) in May, with a full channel launch slated for October 2009. Mark Greenberg shared details about the new channel at NATPE on Tuesday, but apparently no carriage agreements are yet in place.

The launch of a new premium cabler behind HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, and the Movie Channel in the midst of 2009 economic unease? You have to hand it to Greenberg and team. Although the channel launches with a strong library of pics including Ironman, good ol’ Benjamin Button, and Indiana Jones, there are confirmed reports that the network will pick up at least one pilot for an original series within the 4th quarter. Greenberg is no doubt taking a page from Showtime’s strength in the original series category: the deliciously excellent likes of Weeds, Dexter, and The L Word (which spin-off is in the works).

Apparently, the epix on-demand offering (which sources say might be complicating carriage talks) has already created some initial consumer buzz and interest. After having personally spent 4+ months launching the brand campaign for Disney’s on-demand offering, Moviebeam, a few years ago (remember that one? Alas.)  I’d like to believe that time for another sustainable, on-demand premium movie service has come.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this project. There is no-doubt already interest brewing amongst the channel branding sect (who wouldn’t want to tackle this exciting brand brief?).

Best of luck to team Epix-

(Hey Mark, I’ll call you!)