Fox (British and Irish TV channel)

Fox (stylised as FOX) is a British pay television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Fox Networks Group, a unit of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. It launched on 12 January 2004 and was originally known as FX (in line with the American channel of the same name). Featuring a mix of comedies and drama series, the channel's age demographic is adults aged 18 to 35 years old.[1]

Fox
CountryUnited Kingdom
Ireland
Slogan
  • 'First on Fox'
  • 'The best. First.'
  • 'Funny as Fox.'
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift serviceFox +1
Ownership
OwnerFox Networks Group
(Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International/Disney UK & Ireland)
Sister channels
History
Launched12 January 2004
Former namesFX289 (2004–05)
FX (2005–2013)
Links
Websitewww.foxtv.co.uk
Availability
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 157
Channel 158 (+1)
Channel 199 (HD)
Virgin Media IrelandChannel 126
Channel 166 (+1)
Channel 176 (HD)
Satellite
SkyChannel 124 (SD/HD)
Channel 224 (+1)
Channel 821 (SD)
IPTV
TalkTalk TVChannel 316
BT TV (via Now TV)Channel 349
eir VisionChannel 124
Channel 188 (HD)
Streaming media
Sky GoWatch live (UK and Ireland only)
Now TVWatch live (UK and Ireland only)
Virgin TV Anywhere (UK)Watch live (UK only)
Virgin TV Anywhere (Ireland)Watch live (Ireland only)
TalkTalk TVWatch live (UK only)

History

FX289 (2004–05)
FX logo (2011-2013).

The channel launched in January 2004[2] branded as FX289, in reference to its Sky EPG number.[3]

FX (2005–2013)

In April 2005, the channel was rebranded as FX as it moved in the Sky EPG.[2][3] As FX, the channel targeted a demographic of mainly males.[3] Unlike FX in the USA, it promoted both Fox-produced and non-Fox-produced shows. It had a similar format to its American sister channel, with a schedule consisting largely of Fox-produced shows, including comedies such as Arrested Development, Family Guy,[4] American Dad! and King of the Hill, and dramas such as Millennium, The Shield, The X-Files, and NYPD Blue. Non-Fox-produced shows rerun or receiving their UK premiere on the channel include The Walking Dead,[4] Falling Skies,[4] Babylon 5, Carnivàle, Highlander, JAG,[4] NCIS,[4] Sleeper Cell, E-Ring and Huff, Nip/Tuck, Generation Kill, True Blood,[4] Mob City and Dexter.[4] FXUK also produced original content such as the Sketch show No Signal![5]

Fox (2013–2021)

The channel was rebranded as Fox at 9:00 p.m. GMT on 11 January 2013 with the beginning of the 10 season of NCIS.[4] The target demographic of Fox is both men and women aged between 18 and 35 years old.[1] New programmes added to the schedule included Louie, The Ricki Lake Show, Men at Work, Da Vinci's Demons and the second season of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, while many of the programmes that featured on FX continued to broadcast such as The Walking Dead, Dexter, True Blood, Falling Skies, Family Guy, and NCIS. Fox also plan to commission up to 50 hours of original UK content by the end of the year, expecting to spend between £5m and £10m.[6]

Fox was removed from the BT YouView platform on 1 March 2016, BT stated in an e-mail to customers that Fox had "changed the way they offer their TV channels to TV providers."[7] Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, including Fox Networks Group International, the channel falls under ultimate ownership of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International.

In February 2019, the channel rebranded for the first time in more than 4 years. The rebrand included a new on-air identity which is more modern compared to earlier logos and idents

Star Channel (2021-present)

Due to a limited licensing agreement with Fox Corporation (after the merger with its predecessor 21st Century Fox), Disney will gradually replace the Fox brand outside the United States with Star, which also used in its Indian subsidiary as well as the upcoming international general entertainment streaming hub within Disney+.

The change will take effect in 2021 starting in Latin America, followed by other countries.

Timeshift

Fox operates a one-hour timeshift named Fox +1. The channel originally launched as a two-hour timeshift service, as FX +, and was joined on Sky by FX +1 on 10 December 2007. The branding of sister timeshift channel FX + had not been changed to reflect this, causing confusion due to the two being very similar in name (FX +, FX +1), with viewers assuming a mistake or a double-over of the channel.[8]

On Monday 28 April 2008, FX +1 ceased broadcasting and its slot was replaced with FX HD. On 1 September 2008, to coincide with Sky's EPG reshuffle, FX + became a 1-hour timeshift. The channel was rebranded as Fox + on 11 January 2013, in line with the main channel. The channel was renamed to Fox +1 on 18 March 2017.[9] (The channel's former name, Fox +, is not to be confused with the Latin American group of premium channels now known as Fox Premium, which used the name "Fox+" from 3 November 2014 until they were rebranded to the current name on 11 March 2017.)

Fox HD

Fox HD is a high definition television channel, which launched on Monday 28 April 2008 at 10:00pm in the UK and Ireland as FX HD. It initially broadcast a completely separate schedule from the standard definition channel, with only HD content and without ads.

FX HD was originally due to launch on 21 April 2008,[10] but as stated on the FX Forums the date was pushed back to 28 April 2008 due to "technical problems at the transmission end".[11]

On 24 April 2009, FX HD become a simulcast of FX, broadcasting HD content when possible but only broadcasting between 7:00pm and 2:00am every day. On 5 January 2010, FX HD increased it broadcast hours to match its SD counterpart.

The channel also joined Virgin Media's digital cable TV lineup on channel 158 on 30 July 2009.[12]

The channel was rebranded as Fox HD on 11 January 2013, in line with the main channel.[13]

Funny As Fox

Similar to Fox's Animation Domination in America. Funny as Fox is a programming block which airs shows similarly to its American counterpart, such as: Family Guy and American Dad!. The block name is the same as Fox's slogan. Funny As Fox used to air People Of Earth until late 2019.

Funny As Fox airs, on some days, from 9pm to 4am. This is regularly not the case as some premieres shown on Fox are shown around 9pm to 11pm so the block normally airs from 11pm to 4am, The main slogan for this programming block is 'Late Night, Every Night... Literally!.'.

Programming

As well as British and American programming, the channel has aired a number of international programmes. These include Last Man Standing and The Nominees from Australia; Jo from France; Charlie Jade, a co-production between Canada and South Africa; and the Flemish series Matrioshki, which was shown with subtitles.

Original content has also aired on the channel, including No Signal! which aired from February to April 2009.

For several weeks from 5 December 2005, FX carried a strand of programming from the Fox-owned American channel Fuel TV. The strand was identified as FX Presents Fuel TV, and made use of Fuel TV's US branding graphics. The strand ran for an hour from 10:00a.m., and was repeated in the early hours of the following morning. In August 2015, Fox announced that a variety of Adult Swim programming would air on the channel including adult animated sci-fi comedy Rick and Morty, starting Thursday, 10 September of that year.[14] On 10 September 2015, Adult Swim moved to Fox along with truTV, airing Rick and Morty and Mr. Pickles as its first day line up.[15] As of 2016, it aired on Fridays from Midnight to 1:00 a.m.

Current programming

Former programming

References
  1. "FOX". Fox International Channels. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  2. Jay, Alan (14 April 2005). "FX moves EPG positions on Sky". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  3. Chapman, Iain (7 September 2004). "FX289 to undergo design revamp". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  4. Martinovic, Paul (11 January 2013). "FX becomes FOX: New promo video, idents released". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/media/organgrinder/2009/feb/06/first-night-no-signal-fx
  6. White, Peter (10 January 2013). "Fox to spend millions on original UK content push". Broadcast. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  7. "BT loses 'The Walking Dead' after FOX pulls out".
  8. "fox +1 – Entertainment Interactive". www.entertainment-iuk.com. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  9. https://overnights.tv/public/content/News.aspx
  10. Welsh, James; Wilkes, Neil (8 April 2008). "FXHD to launch this month". Digital Spy.
  11. "FX HD to launch on the 21st? Is this correct please?". FX. 4 September 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012.
  12. "Virgin Media and Channel 4 bring 4HD to millions of TV screens". Virgin Media. 29 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  13. "FX rebrands as FOX for 2013". Digital Spy. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  14. "Rick and Morty are coming to FOX UK". 5 August 2015.
  15. "Adult Swim UK's First Official Night On FOX UK HD Continuity," on YouTube
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