Satellite/Cable/Digital > Comedy / Drama

Advantages: okay if you have amnesia and forget you've see it seven times before!
Disadvantages: too many repeated repeats

UK Gold? Golden Oldies? They're certainly not joking. I was really disappointed in this channel and its partner, UK Gold 2. What really annoys me about these is that you get strings of 'repeated and twice repeated repeats'. Recently there have been different series of the same very old comedies running on different channels. I do get annoyed when Sky subscribers are paying for UK Gold and then the same programmes appear on BBC1 and 2. Viewers can ...
...to get bored. Basically, UK Gold is another of those cheaply run channels that dishes up a diet of 'repeated repeats.' There are far too many repetitive adverts on this channel too. Some of them have really started to annoy me and I cringe when they come on. The other bug bare for me is the running of clips from forthcoming programmes. These are shown so often that I start to think that perhaps I won't bother watching the full programme as I'm ... Read review

Advantages: (mostly) fresh line-up, funny shows
Disadvantages: some bad choices that flopped (Stacked, Committed), awful shorts, repeating ad breaks

Email to Paramount Comedy Channel: Hi, I'd like to register my disgust with you personally, since you've followed the Travelodge/Virgin Atlantic customer service method of being too chicken-arsed to have a telephone number staffed by undersexed clubbing teens. If you're reading past that rather disparaging first sentence, congratulations - your attention span has superceded my own rather generous expectations. Why did I think your attention span ...
...refer your attention to the maddeningly incessant repeat of the same two adverts every advert break, which does not stop its merciless mind-raping until either the special event it advertises is long dead, or you managed to buy old repeats of a once-new show that's already in DVD bargain bins (like The Office). Only a channel imaginative enough to recycle the same two Eddie Murphy movies into its "movie week" can be held responsible for blitz-advertising ... Read review

Advantages: what they do show is great
Disadvantages: repeats, repeats, repats, and current ABC hits are on Living, Sky, anywhere but ABC1

...history certainly provides no clue. ABC1 was launched by Disney as a UK sister channel to the US' ABC. Initially it was exclusive to Freeview, and uuencoded. Then a few months later it was picked up by NTL's digital cable service, and a 2005, nearly a year later, it leapt to Sky. On Freeview and cable, it is unencrypted, but on Sky it is encrypted and only available as part of a package. Go figure. In the beginning, it limited its broadcasting hours ...
...large blocks of repeats from its back catalogues and none of its current hits. All the shows were available to watch on other channels people were already familiar with, so not much of a draw there. After a year, they introduced some of their Playhouse Disney programmes such as Higgly Town Heroes and JoJo's Circus, which brought these shows to the non Disney subscribing audiences for the first time. In 2006, this all changed again to back to back ... Read review

Advantages: The odd good comedy
Disadvantages: Not much music, too many reviews and too much news

...only music/comedy channel in the UK was really set to take off but the comedy isn't great and there isn't enough music. Half of the time when I turnover there's interviews, reviews or adverts. The comedy aspect features shows such as 'The Royle Family' and 'The Fast Show', the comedy shows usually don't air until eight/nine o'clock at night with the majority of shows overall focusing on music. I didn't really request UK Play but I recieved it as ...
...it out - it was no where near the quality that channels such as MTV and KISS boast. It's not free of course but available as part of a basic channel package from most TV service providers. There are a few reasonably entertaining shows such as 'Top Of The Pops' with guests and new music. The channel name recently changed name to 'Play UK' probably just to get noticed again by viewers - the programming schedule is still the same though. I don't recommend ... Read review

Advantages: A superb selection of good programmes, from years back and the more recent past.
Disadvantages: Not a whole lot!

...owned by the TV station Granada and Sky themselves. And ever since I discovered ‘Granada Plus’, I have been spending an absolute fortune on videotapes, and doing my level best to wear out the motor on my old Philips VCR. The reason? Simple. Here I can watch again (and tape) literally dozens of the programmes that were my favourites over the last four decades of watching the old ‘goggle box’. Maybe it’s just me, and ...
...~ ~ ~ ~ Granada Plus offers an eclectic mix of programmes, ranging from old comedy series, to detective and cowboy stories, drama series, and the occasional brilliant old movie thrown in for good measure. I can’t possibly list them all, as my opinion would be rejected as too lengthy by Ciao, but there’s a good website which will give you all the background to the different programmes on offer, and much more interesting information to ... Read review