The Box

The Box can be a great music channel or it can be very ordinary. I think it really depends what is in the charts. As their play list is very limited they are forced to offer the most recent releases with few older records on offer. Indeed the older records are almost exclusive to the current flavour of the month. For example Westlife and Backstreet Boys feature quite heavily; not exactly bands you think of when it comes to older classics!

Having said that you know what you are getting. The Box is an excellent channel for occasional viewing but if you spend too much time in the one session you will often see videos 2 and 3 times. A particularly unfortunate side affect of watching the Box is I now know all the words to “Whole Again” by Atomic Kitten and often have to force myself to stop singing along.

The channel focuses almost exclusively on pop songs. Where other music channels will have an alternative hour, a rock night or a diva's weekend the Box is the same product 24/7. Having said that if a hard rock band are in the charts then the Box will feature them.

I get it free with my cable package. All other music channels require a higher subscription so I suppose that beggars can't be choosers.

I should also point out that it is the viewers that request all of the songs on the Box. Therefore, it is not the channels fault that the same video may be requested in quick succession. Having said that no-one knows when there request will be played so perhaps duplicate requests within the same half hour should be deleted as each caller will think that it is "their" song that is being played. To request a song you have to phone a premium rate line which can make it an expensive business especially as the average time for a video to be played is between 2 and 3 hours. This sounds a long time but when you consider each request will be about 3 mins long and there are adverts too then I don’t suppose a 2 hr delay is too bad (approx 40 songs in front of yours). However, I imagine most people wouldn’t put money in a pub jukebox if there was a 2 hour delay in hearing their songs.

The other thing is that the station owners appear to adopt a sensible policy when it comes to showing videos that other stations have banned. For example the current Madonna Single “What It Feels Like For A Girl” has been banned almost everywhere else but The Box show it after 10. I have not seen this particular video so I cannot comment on its content but I agree with the decision to limit what children can see but still to allow adults access to material unsuitable for children.

I also like the “Breaking out of The Box” feature, which shows new material up to a month before it is released in the charts. This gives the opportunity to see new videos in advance by your favourite bands and also to hear new music before it is available elsewhere.

There are other features such as “Boxtops” which is the current 10 most requested videos. This will give you a very good guide of what you are likely to be watching in the next hour and the following days. However the majority of the time is understandably spent showing the videos and these features are just small fillers.

All in I like the Box, it’s not the greatest channel out there but if you are between programmes you will always find a song you are familiar with. It may not be one of your favourites but you will certainly be familiar with it!