Flava (TV channel)

Flava
Launched	12 July 2004
Closed	1 November 2017
Owned by	Sony Pictures Television
Picture format	16:9, 576i (SDTV)
Audience share	0.01% (April 2017 (2017-04), BARB)
Formerly called	B4 (2004-08)
Sister channel(s)	Chart Show Hits Chart Show TV Movies4Men Pop Pop Max Scuzz Sony Channel Sony Movie Channel Starz TV Tiny Pop TruTV True Entertainment True Movies The Vault
Website	www.essentialflava.com (no longer active)
Availability (at time of closure)
Satellite
Sky	Channel 374
Astra 2G	11082 H 22000 5/6
Cable
WightFibre	Channel 96

Flava was a British hip-hop music television channel owned and operated by Sony Pictures Television.

It was launched in June 2004 and was formerly called B4 TV, a previous pre-launch music channel from CSC Media Group. Flava broadcast for 24 hours a day and played Hip Hop, Urban and R&B music from the 1970s to the early 2000s. The channel has occasionally played music from the 2010s. Since May 2, 2017 it has advertised itself as 100% Old Skool Hip-Hop and R&B 24/7. it also occasionally broadcast action films too such as xXx: State of the Union, though this is occasional. Flava was removed from Sky and ceased broadcasting on November 1st, 2017.

History

Flava launched on 12 July 2004 and started off as a pre-released Pop and Dance channel under the name of "B4". The channel used to play the latest pre release music videos from the biggest artists and groups around. It also had hours dedicated to playing the most recently requested music. The channel had advertised itself as both 'B4 It's A Hit' and 'B4 Everyone Else'.

The B4 logo was on screen in the bottom left-hand corner during music videos and the song information is shown in a white coloured bar at the start and near the end of each music video. The channels' identity was also seen before and after advert breaks when the B4 logo forms on screen in a white box shape on an orange background.

B4 was available 24 hours a day on Sky channel 357 and was part of a bouquet of music channels owned by CSC Media Group.

B4 was an early morning music video programme broadcast from 2004 on weekdays on Channel 4 at 7 am. It was normally broadcast as part of Channel 4's breakfast programming following children's programme The Hoobs and preceding a number of comedy programmes normally imported from America.

Produced by the firm behind ITV's The Chart Show, and spun off from their B4 music channel on satellite, the show featured around seven new upfront videos each day that were going to be released in the United Kingdom in the near future, normally within the next month.

The B4 rebrand to Flava first came to light by the Ofcom licence for B4 being removed and replaced by one under the name of Flava, this also reflected the EPG references of the term "Flava" being used to describe the programmes being shown, in late February/early March 2008.

On 26 March 2008, B4 was rebranded to an all-urban music channel Flava.

On 29 September 2009, Flava launched on Freesat channel 502, replacing Scuzz on the platform.

On 26 November 2012, Flava has used a new logo within a triangular icon, the gold colour logo had been abolished.

On 5 June 2013, Flava swapped positions with Scuzz on Sky. The channel moved from channel 367 to 374, while Scuzz moved from 374 to 367 (to sit next to Kerrang!).

On 21 July 2014, Flava, along with Bliss were removed from Freesat.

On 23 April 2017, Flava introduced a brand new logo, changed their programme graphics from blue to black (red in some programmes and yellow in "Remember The Year"), as well as later rebranding themselves to be a 100% Old Skool Hip Hop and RnB channel on May 2, 2017.

On 1 November 2017, Flava ceased broadcasting and closed down after 9 years on air (13 if B4 is included). The last video played on Flava was Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G. before the channel crashed and closed down 50 seconds into the video.

Closure

Flava ceased broadcasting at 11:15 on 1 November 2017 without warning, with "Juicy" by The Notorious B.I.G. the final music video to be played on the channel, Flava abruptly crashed and went blank in the middle of the video. The channel was then closed down and removed from the EPG abruptly and shortly after.

#PLAY was moved to Chartshow Hits, but it's now got a focus on recent chart/pop hits and music from Chart Show TV (due to being moved from Flava to Chartshow Hits.)

Programming

• 99 Problems: Rap Anthems - We've got 99 rap anthems for you right now, so keep it Flava for Old Skool Eminem, Jay Z, Dr Dre, Snoop, 2Pac & more.
• A-Z of Hip Hop - The ultimate countdown of the best Hip-Hop videos from artists A-Z.
• Bass Believers - A collection of the best drum 'n' base tunes.
• Big Tunes Fo' Shizzle - Non stop variety of Hip Hop Music
• Block Rockin Beatz - A mix of big urban tunes.
• Brand New! This Weeks Hottest - Brand new music, and the biggest new hip-hop and R&B music.
• Breakfast Beats - Non-stop hip hop, rnb & drum 'n' bass music.
• Britain's Next Urban Superstar with Jordan Kensington - The nationwide talent search ran by Jordan Kensington.
• Charlie Sloth's Old Skool Takeover - BBC Radio 1Xtra presenter Charlie Sloth chooses his selection of old skool hip hop music.
• Dope Morning Beats - The latest urban music on a morning.
• Double Up - Back to back videos from the best urban artists around.
• Drum 'n' Bass - A mix of the finest drum 'n' base music.
• First for Flava - A collection of the newest urban music videos.
• Flava at the Flicks - The best hip-hop music from movies
• Freshest Beats - The latest urban music.
• Garage Anthems - The best in new and classic garage tunes.
• Godfathers of Hip Hop - The best music from male urban artists.
• Hip Hop Download Chart - A countdown of the weeks most downloaded Hip-Hop tracks.
• Hip Hop Number Ones - A collection of Hip-Hop number ones from recent years.
• Hip Hop Vs Garage - A mash up of Hip-Hop and garage music.
• Hip Hop Xplosion - A mix of the biggest Hip-Hop music.
• In The Mix - The biggest urban, hip-hop, pop and R&B tunes, in the mix!
• In The Mix: 90s Hip-Hop Anthems - Rap classics from the 90s, in the mix.
• Masters of Hip Hop - Music from the founders of Hip-Hop.
• Morning Rewind - Hip Hop from the 80s, 90s & 00s on a morning.
• Non Stop Flava - Non-stop R&B and Hip-Hop music.
• Official Flava Urban Chart - Get your daily fix of the hottest RnB, Hip Hop, grime and dance tracks in our massive Top 20 countdown.
• Party Flava - Classic urban party tunes.
• #PLAY - Interactive twitter block
• #PLAY: Eminem and Friends - A special edition of #PLAY reserved for songs by Eminem and his collaborators.
• #PLAY: Movie Soundtracks - A special edition of #PLAY featuring hip-hop music from movies.
• R&B Download Chart - A countdown of the most downloaded R&B songs each week.
• R&B Singles Chart - Countdown of the weeks' top R&B music.
• Scratch Masters - Back to back scratch tunes from the experts.
• Something for da Honeyz - The best music from male RnB/Hip-Hop artists.
• Straight Outta Old Skool - Hip Hop from the 80s, 90s & 00s
• The Jump Off - A collection of Hip-Hop music with the loudest beats.
• Top 10 Biggest Tracks Now - The latest top 10 hottest urban tunes.
• Top 20 Bad Boyz of Hip Hop - Countdown of the best male artists in Hip-Hop.
• Top 20 Buff Boys - We unleash 20 of the buffest boys in hip hop music!
• Turn Up The Flava - A collection of the best R&B music from the last two years.
• Urban Beats - The best new and classic R&B and Hip-Hop music.
• Urban Cutz - The latest R&B and Hip-Hop music.
• Wake Up wit Flava - A mix of the latest new music.
• Westwood TV - Interviews with artists from the hip hop scene
• xXx: State of the Union - See more.

On-air identity

The Flava logo was on screen in the top left-hand corner during music videos and song information appeared at the bottom of the screen at the start and end of each music video. The logo was also seen before and after advert breaks when it was shown in the middle of the screen. Flava closed down on 1 November 2017.

External links

• Flava - Official site
• CSC Media Group
• Official myspace