General International TV Channels Thread

[JulianRO]

Eurosport Pan-Euro continuity from October 2008:


Interesting how at 2:06 and 5:43 there is a mobile games ad in which there are announcers in English, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, and Spanish.

 

[RandomMe]

Eurosport Pan-Euro continuity from October 2008:


Interesting how at 2:06 and 5:43 there is a mobile games ad in which there are announcers in English, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, and Spanish.

I remember when Eurosport International aired that kind of commercials

 

[JulianRO]

This morning Moldova TV aired the 1943 MGM short "One Ham's Family":

With the dub made by Empire, obviously.

 

[Francisque]

I remember when Eurosport International aired that kind of commercials

Especially common back in the late 90s/early 2000s

 

[RandomMe]

Especially common back in the late 90s/early 2000s

My first contact was on VIVA on Bragatel in 2004, not long after, the big guns (Movilisto, Jamba etc) appeared on SIC and TVI.

These commercials ended in late 2008 (Natta was the last here) amd they continued in Latin America for a couple more years. Just remember that the Super Zig "João, te ligam" commercial appeared on SBT in Brazil in 2009, by then, such commercials had disappeared from Portuguese TV.

 

[Markus]

Not with Friends dominating the schedule all day.

Albeit popular it needs more variety, they have loads of series, why not use them.

If it ain't broke, don't fix. That's logic. Friends also spams here on Star Channel but they also have marathons of other shows all day at least. Although only limited to Friends, Futurama, The Simpsons and Moderm Family.

I also haven't checked Star schedule in a while. Apparently they have lost rights to Two and a Half Men. That used to air marathons of that as well.

 

[Francisque]

To be fair, Comedy Central (UK) has premieres at night.

Daytime has become rather comfort zone for most channels, and I can't blame them too much, honestly.
Even efforts by generalist channels like TV8 and Nove over here (in Italy) to build a stronger daytime schedule have failed.

Simply said, channel ratings have got much lower than they used to be, channels have to "survive" and to rely on staples, I can understand it.

Friends is indeed overplayed there, but it tends to rate very well and had a great exposure and success back in the day.

Going back to the original topic, if Paramount were to move Comedy Central UK from pay TV to free TV I would be a bit surprised because the channel is still one of the most watched on British pay TV (but relatively so, since free TV gives them more exposure), but it isn't undoable.
It does not offer a "premium" feeling at all (au contraire) and could be future proof, with declining pay TV linear viewership

But they would still have to look for a DTT/Freeview slot, which could be hard

 

[RegularMan]

I think a move like this could encourage them to kick Friends entirely and get new sitcoms, since it's already on 5. I don't think the 90s Show is airing anywhere on DTT, for example.

 

[Francisque]

I think a move like this could encourage them to kick Friends entirely and get new sitcoms, since it's already on 5. I don't think the 90s Show is airing anywhere on DTT, for example.

It will never happen, one has to be realistic, Friends rates well, and would continue to rate well on Comedy Central FTA

Maybe such a move would introduce some new sitcoms in the morning (some from Comedy Central Extra), but I expect the afternoons to 9pm to remain Friends-frenzy.

Plus, why does it have to be removed? Maybe reduced yes, but many people like it, it's the way it is (independently from the personal affection/hatred one has towards this show)

5 only shows it sporadically, compared to Comedy Central. After all, 5 has to remain a public service broadcaster

 

[themidnightlore]

Then, we're certain that a FTA Comedy Central in UK would not do the same end of Spike, Paramount Network and Smithsonian Channel?

 

[Francisque]

Then, we're certain that a FTA Comedy Central in UK would not do the same end of Spike, Paramount Network and Smithsonian Channel?

Absolutely no

Comedy Central is a well known brand in the UK, and many people actively watch it, especially with Friends on it.
These mentioned channels barely had that much visibility.

CC is also backed by 5 , more importantly

 

[themidnightlore]

Absolutely no

Comedy Central is a well known brand in the UK, and many people actively watch it, especially with Friends on it.
These mentioned channels barely had that much visibility.

CC is also backed by 5 , more importantly

Ah, the third rate FTA British channels theory strikes again.
Well, if CC does have its audience, then, I think it can work.

 

[Francisque]

Ah, the third rate FTA British channels theory strikes again.
Well, if CC does have its audience, then, I think it can work.

It would survive, and probably would get a bit stronger too.

Comedy Central UK is no Comedy Central Italy, so much it has Comedy Central Extra; the latter, these days, is just the same programming at different times; e.g. CC Extra having Friends after 9pm when CC stops having it

With the good advertising campaigns and good funding of a post-9pm schedule by 5.

Whether it's worth the effort, I don't really know, but it would not be the first British channel to go FTA

 

[Markus]

The channels have to spam certain shows nowadays so the ratings overall look great in their books. Without Friends, imagine the viewership going down. This is especially the case for most channels in the US. Law & Order on USA is a great example. It's airing 20 hours or so a day.

 

[Francisque]

And I know that I sound repetitive, but variety looks good on paper, but it doesn't help selling the channels anymore, with much lower viewership, at least at daytime

Plus, there's nothing that outsells as much as Friends in the UK, in terms of sitcoms Paramount UK owns: there aren't many sitcoms premiering on linear TV channels, and people are sometimes afraid sometimes at what is new airing at daytime, especially as I've seen online British people being rather defensive on some American sitcoms, definining them as "too American" or "American dross".

Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, cultured American comedy (e.g. what airs on Sky Comedy) and something else, are the exceptions.
Which are also global phenomena

 

[Markus]

You don't sound repetitive at all. You always add something fresh to your posts.

Too American or not, people love them some Friends even outside America. And it's not popular only in the UK. It even gets marathons over here which is saying a lot about it's popularity. It even had marathons on MTV (not the Paramount MTV) when they had the rights last year until they moved it to Star Channel which literally does the same thing.

 

[JulianRO]

Hallmark RU+CIS continuity from 2001:


The website promo was lectored in Russian, you can still hear the English audio behind.

 

[RandomMe]

@Francisque @themidnightlore from the Facebook page of an old friend (Cosmattia75vista from Turin) I found a meme that flew over me for a long time. I was aware of Ora Esatta and Wanna Marchi, but then again, this is child's play compared to what you see here



Presenting Giorno e Notte, the miraculous diet program, which was a scam, like most infomercial products. Local TV stations, with the fall of syndication networks, had to resort to infomercials, some only a few hours a day, others literally "day and night". And it just came to pass that some of these stations carried K2 (when it was a syndication network), so if you were, say, strapped for cash and without SKY, and you were a follower of K2, you haad to wait for the block to start and be subject to infomercials, but none with the hypnotic power of Giorno e Notte.

I only discovered it last Thursday night and I can't keep laughing and singing the jingle in my head

The product is still marketed but I think it no longer appears on TV. It's as if its days are done. Last night I found a few Giorno e Notte parodies too



This encapsulates everything: the local station, K2 and the feeling this came on after the infomercials

Upon discovering this "wonderful" product, I searched for evidence of it being a scam, which I suspected. And I was right lol

 

[Checkerboard]

Seems FashionTV CZSK quietly closed down

Česko-slovenské Fashion TV vypršela licence, přerušení vysílání zaskočilo i operátory

V naprosté tichosti zmizela z obrazovek českých a slovenských diváků před necelými dvěma týdny lokální verze módního a lifestylového kanálu Fashion TV.

www.mediaguru.cz

 

[RandomMe]

Seems FashionTV CZSK quietly closed down

Česko-slovenské Fashion TV vypršela licence, přerušení vysílání zaskočilo i operátory

V naprosté tichosti zmizela z obrazovek českých a slovenských diváků před necelými dvěma týdny lokální verze módního a lifestylového kanálu Fashion TV.

www.mediaguru.cz

I never knew it had a localized CZSK feed until now, and it closed