[VMPhil]

Okay, one day late - but the TV channel Dave launched 15 years ago yesterday on 15th October 2007.

I only note this because this channel has had a slightly interesting history. It started out as UK Gold Classics in 1998, a channel so short-lived with such limited availability that there is no recorded footage of it anywhere on the internet AFAIK.

It was replaced with UK Gold 2, a curious channel, in that it simply repeated UK Gold's morning/daytime schedule but from 6pm in the evening, because UK Gold's daytime schedule (including soaps like Neighbours) appealed to a different audience.

Meanwhile, UKTV had another channel, UK Play (later Play UK), again a curious mix of music in the daytime and comedy in the evening - I believe this was down to limited space on ONdigital/ITV Digital where it had less competition than the number of music channels on Sky. As well as BBC repeats the channel also had some homegrown comedy with people who would go on to become household names - the likes of Lucas & Walliams, Mitchell & Webb, Russell Brand.

In 2002, after the closure of ITV Digital, Play UK closed too - but UKTV seem to have regretted this (I'm not sure where the likes of HIGNFY and Buzzcocks turned up on the UKTV network in the period after Play closed - UK Gold?) - as in 2003 they replaced UK Gold 2 with UK G2, pretty much the spiritual successor to Play UK's comedy side (even some Play original productions like Rock Profile turned up in the G2 launch schedule).

At some point the channel started broadcasting in the daytime too - beginning a tradition of Top Gear repeats, the programme that would become to define the channel really.

G2 suffered the worst in my opinion from UKTV's baffling decision in 2004 to change the prefix on all their channels from "UK" to "UKTV". UKTV G2 is not a snappy name.

The decision to relaunch the channel as Dave at the same seemed a little baffling, but of course in hindsight, was a genius decision. The unusual name, cleverly positioned branding and not forgetting a well publicised launch on Freeview pretty much made the renamed channel an instant success.

Branching into more original programming has also been a success for Dave - some shows even being successful enough to make the leap to mainstream television.

But of course the main reason we go to Dave is for comfort television - the likes of Top Gear, HIGNFY, QI, Would I Lie to You. Happy birthday Dave and long may you continue to be "the home of witty banter".

[James2001]

(I'm not sure where the likes of HIGNFY and Buzzcocks turned up on the UKTV network in the period after Play closed - UK Gold?)

I seem to remember UK Horizons repeated HIGNFY for a while, strangely. I think they actually started at the beginning and worked through the run.

[Kojak]

(I'm not sure where the likes of HIGNFY and Buzzcocks turned up on the UKTV network in the period after Play closed - UK Gold?)

I seem to remember UK Horizons repeated HIGNFY for a while, strangely. I think they actually started at the beginning and worked through the run.

Was it on UK Horizons? I do remember it being on UKTV People when that launched (and as you say, they started at the beginning and went through the whole lot).

[Allanbuzzy]

I think Dave is an estimate to how TV can't exactly die with its viewers. I've noticed that the channel has slowly, if not slightly, started to target a similar BBC Three audience, probably down to the fact that the older viewers are now shifted over to other channels like Yesterday, and repeats of shows like Red Dwarf have similarly moved over, if not rarely aired on Dave.

Not to mention the fact that a portion of BBC Three's programming has aired on Dave. But all else fails, Dave will always be known as the channel for Top Gear reruns, a la Challenge with The Chase, Adult Swim with their Rick and Morty and E4 for their Married at First Sight. It does make me wonder what the future might hold for a channel like Dave, as now they seem to focus more on their original programming and rightfully so, as have Sky done as they realise the rights to the shows may inevitably disappear (even if BBC's commercial sector owns UKTV outright).

[Steve in Pudsey]

As much as the programming on Dave and BBC Three has a significant overlap I Dave skews to a slightly older audience, it's not trying to be cool and relevant and it's very self aware, not afraid to parody itself. As somebody in my mid 40s I'll happily watch Dave but am likely to skip past BBC Three.

This thread should probably have a mention of Taskmaster - the show that went on to be a huge hit that no other channel would take a punt on.

[James2001]

(I'm not sure where the likes of HIGNFY and Buzzcocks turned up on the UKTV network in the period after Play closed - UK Gold?)

I seem to remember UK Horizons repeated HIGNFY for a while, strangely. I think they actually started at the beginning and worked through the run.

Was it on UK Horizons? I do remember it being on UKTV People when that launched (and as you say, they started at the beginning and went through the whole lot).

Might have been UKTV people... I'd actually forgotten that channel even existed. People was spun off from Horizons though, could explain why I got mixed up.

[nwtv2003]

G2 was an odd bit of branding, certainly the channel had the right formula but the packaging was all wrong. Dave had the potential to wrong, but it didn’t and long may it continue.

I believe daytime programmes on G2 started in 2006. They also took on BBC coverage of the World Cup that year albeit with their own studio coverage. I’m not sure what the rationale was behind it.

You could probably argue that Dave was the first major Freeview channel to be big that wasn’t a BBC, ITV or Channel 4 spin off. And kudos to UKTV for developing original content beyond its original remit, or not being another outlet solely dependent on BBC repeats.

Even if there’s not a lot on to watch generally, I’ll always have a glance at Dave, there’s virtually no other channel I do that with.

[all new phil]

I think my favourite thing about Dave is how comfortable it is in its own skin. Fair to say that many back in the blue place didn’t ‘get’ it originally and didn’t see the value in the branding, but ditching the UKTV prefix was the best thing they could have done.

[London Lite]

Like others, I really didn't understand why UKTV were going down the route of using a name for a television channel, but in an era of multi-platform broadcasting, Dave really does stand out as a distinctive entertainment channel which led to UKTV removing the company branding from the rest of their portfolio and giving them single named brands.

When there is so much dross on Freeview/Freesat that is basically scheduled 80s programming that really shouldn't have got a repeat run, Dave is the FTA channel that continues to innovate and super-serve their audience.

[Rex]

Dave was one of the few pay TV channels that really helped Freeview to come on its own. The name was genius and the entire selling point of the channel worked well, and not to mention, it was a far better offering than what UKTV previously had with Bright Ideas. It also slowly but surely was a sign of pay TV companies realising that Freeview was not something to be taken for granted and with a larger audience further down the line, so too will the content change to meet higher expectations.

The most important legacy it's had is that it changed UKTV's approach to branding its channels and its success made them realise that a strong channel identity actively benefits the channel and its sister services in the long term.

On a personal level, it's one of the few channels (alongside BBC Three, the News Channel and a few of the Sky channels) that I actively keep an eye on when checking the channels on Freeview/Now TV, it's consistently had a healthy schedule of programmes from its launch in 2007 all the way to today.

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You could probably argue that Dave was the first major Freeview channel to be big that wasn’t a BBC, ITV or Channel 4 spin off. And kudos to UKTV for developing original content beyond its original remit, or not being another outlet solely dependent on BBC repeats.

Looking back it has actually stood the test of time as far as Freeview channels are concerned, not many services aside from the main PSBs will have been as consistent and as popular as Dave has been. In the time since Dave launched I'd argue Quest and Drama have come close to it