Pop (UK and Ireland)

Pop
Pop logo
Launched 29 May 2003
Owned by Sony Pictures Television
Picture format 16:9/4:3, 576i (SDTV)
Audience share 0.32%
0.03% (+1) (August 2018 (2018-08), BARB)
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Formerly called Toons & Tunes (May-June 2003)
POP! (June 2003-10)
Sister channel(s) Chart Show Hits
Chart Show TV
Movies4Men
Pop Max
Scuzz
Sony Crime Channel
Sony Crime Channel 2
Sony Movie Channel
Starz TV
Tiny Pop
TruTV
True Entertainment
True Movies
The Vault
Timeshift service Pop +1
Website popfun.co.uk
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 206
Channel 209 (+1) (Manchester only)
Satellite
Freesat Channel 603
Channel 606 (+1)
Sky Channel 616
Channel 625 (+1)
Astra 2F 11307 V 27500 2/3
11307 V 27500 2/3 (+1)
Cable
Virgin Media (UK) Channel 736
WightFibre Channel 100
Streaming media
FilmOn Internet Protocol Television
TVPlayer Watch live (UK only) (TVPlayer Plus subscription required)
Sky Go Watch live (UK & Ireland only)
Virgin TV Anywhere Watch live (UK only)

Pop (formerly stylised as POP!) is a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Sony Pictures Television Networks. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, facts and game shows on Sky, Freesat, and Freeview. Its target audience is 4 to 17-year-olds .[1]

History

The channel was launched on 29 May 2003, then known as Toons and Tunes for its first month on air. It was rebranded as Pop in June 2003.

The channel had two mascot which were a dragon named Rory and his cat Purrdy. Originally the dragon was called Tricky and was a host of a short lived Saturday Morning show of the same name that lasted for one series during the Autumn of 1997 on ITV.

The channel was originally mainly music videos until February 2004, when cartoons were first shown. Music videos were kept on the channel, but were dropped entirely during mid-2006. They were later revived in early 2007, but only during a 60-minute slot called "Pop Party."

In October 2006, a further change was added: The all capital letters ("!" included) of the logo became 3D and were shown dancing or chasing each other and eventually spelling out the logo "POP!". This ident was set to music very similar to the song Yakety Sax, though this was changed after a few months, perhaps due to the similarity.

In September 2008, Pop refreshed its logo to the colours purple and red.

Freeview

On 20 March 2014, Pop was launched on Freeview.[2] As a result, some pre school programming from its sister channel Tiny Pop started being broadcast on Pop. The pre school programmes would be broadcast between 9 am to 3 pm every weekday during school term, and they showed programmes such as Little Bear, The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, Numberjacks, Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs and Timothy Goes to School amongst other Tiny Pop shows. This ceased in February 2015 as a result of Tiny Pop having also become available on Freeview.

On 8 May 2014, Pop started to timeshare (6 am – 10 pm) with sister channel Chart Show TV (10 pm – 6 am) when this launched on Freeview, until 3 September 2014 when Chart Show TV migrated to Manchester-only service; as a result Pop now broadcasts 24 hours.

On 8 September 2014, the Freeview EPG stated on channel 126, that Pop +1 would commence broadcasting on Freeview in September, available from 3 pm to 7 pm daily on a nationwide multiplex (thus with wider availability than the core Pop service). Transmission began on 16 September from 3 pm. This arrangement was discontinued on 23 October 2014, whereby Pop +1 migrated to broadcast from a multiplex only available in the Greater Manchester area (the same multiplex broadcasting the sister channel Chart Show TV on Freeview.) In its new arrangement, Pop +1 broadcasts 24 hours a day. The former nationwide Pop +1 slot started to carry Tiny Pop from 3 pm to 7 pm daily, increasing to 21 hours a day (3am to midnight) in January 2015.

Prior to April 2016, Pop was only available in areas where there is a local TV channel. On 1 April 2016, Pop moved to a wider coverage nationwide freeview mux, becoming available to over 90% of the country.[3] The capacity vacated by Pop on the local multiplex was used to transmit Kix from 7 April 2016. Pop +1 moved to LCN channel 128, to release 127 for use by Kix, but was otherwise unaffected, continuing to broadcast locally to Manchester only.

Pop Party

"Pop Party" was a selection of music videos aired on Pop, usually in the form of a 30 or 60-minute programming block.

CSC Media licences the Pop Party name and brand for use on a series of pop music compilations released by Universal Music's compilations arm U.M.T.V.

Pop Junior

On 12 May 2008, a new block was introduced called "Pop Junior", which aired between 9 am and 12 pm every weekday during school term time. The block shows programmes aimed at the younger end of Pop's audience, such as Inspector Gadget or Fraggle Rock. The block was discontinued around Late 2010 or earlier.

Popfun.co.uk

Pop's website includes a TV guide and more features such as quizzes, art galleries, jokes, games and competitions. This was launched shortly after Tiny Pop's website.

Pop +1

A timeshift service called Pop +1 was available until 2008.

The AGB Nielsen Media Research website first announced that Pop+1 would close and would be replaced by a new channel called Klix!, however, this was a mistake and the channel was now in fact called Kix!. The correction was made with a new article being posted. It was stated that all the other details will remain the same of which was posted in the original article.[4] Pop+1 officially closed at 6.00 am on Monday 19 May, when it was replaced with Kix!.

Pop +1 returned on 14 July 2014, replacing Kix +.

Italian version

On 4 May 2017, Sony Pictures Television Networks launched an Italian version of Pop, being their first free-to-air channel in the country. It airs similar programming to the UK version and has the same logo.

Programming

Logos

See also

References

  1. ↑ "POP | Showreel | CSC Media". Cscmediagroup.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "New children's channel Pop launches on Freeview | Toy World Magazine". Toyworldmag.co.uk. 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "POP extends Freeview reach April 2016". Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  4. ↑
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