[WillPS]

I think it was only one particular cable company that did that. And it wouldn't have been appearing on a channel on anyone's boxes, would just have been a piece of equipment nobody had bothered touching (probably because analogue cable was in it death throes).

Yes. It was left broadcasting but delisted on the Nottingham headend (former Diamond Cable), which was one of the areas NTL had quite aggressively rolled out digital service in early on and essentially left the analogue service to rot; channels were not replaced upon closure. As you say the only way to see that slide after a few weeks was to tune in to it. The card was generated in Nottingham by NTL, not by Plus, GSB or whoever did their playout; that feed was permanently cut the moment they went off air.

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Maybe they’re preparing themselves for potential return of the channel?

If kids are going to watch stuff online, the first inclination would be to go to YouTube. ITVX is unlikely to be somewhere that kids actively seek out.

It's just a resource they have but don't have any further use for. At some point something will expire and it'll go dark and/or disappear entirely.