[WillPS]

The Ftn shop window was probably a bit skewed towards Bravo and Living, or UK Living or whatever name it had at the time

As I say, it was always there, just probably not the content you'd have hoped for, and often not until after midnight either. Challenge always had less original content associated with it than Bravo, Living [TV] and Trouble, so there was quite possibly less by simple virtue of the fact there was less content to throw in the mix when scheduling.

A contemporary post elsewhere shows Defectors on the first night's schedule at 0450.

as I don't really remember much Challenge stuff on it until the final month or so.

Your mind has shrunk it down a wee bit. The Crystal Maze was on from the first week of Jan 2007, and between then and 9 months later when they bowed out/became Virgin 1 they had a constant stream of gameshows on. I think The Crystal Maze got some of the best ever ratings it'd had since airing on Channel 4 in this period.

In the context of a channel which only existed for less than 5 years, 9 months isn't insignificant.

They loved Most Haunted though. but I think they only aired Derek Acorah episodes, his subsequent being kicked off that show didn't seem to affect the repeatability of it.

Most Haunted didn't arrive until 2005 (I think), around the time Fort Boyard (Challenge version) was added.

The main schedule filler I remember from those early Freeview days was old series of Trouble's Cruel Summer/Winter/Holiday.