13.06.02
UKTV
to close Play UK at the end of the year
UKTV,
the joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Flextech Television,
is to close Play UK, its music and comedy channel, at the end of
the year. Play UK is one of nine channels that makes up the UKTV
Network. The decision to close the channel comes in response to
the recent demise of ITV Digital.
Many
of Play's popular comedy programmes such as The Office, The Fast
Show and Shooting Stars, will appear on UKTV's flagship channel
UK Gold later this year. UKTV will also be launching a UK Gold plus
1 service in August.
All
other UKTV channels, which include UK Style, UK Horizons and UK
Drama and the recently launched channel UK Food, will remain unaffected.
Richard
Emery, Chief Executive Officer UKTV, says: "The closure of
ITV Digital has forced us to look closely at ways in which we can
cut costs while continuing to offer viewers the most popular channels.
With this in mind, we have decided to close Play UK and are currently
looking at new channel possibilities."
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