Blighty (TV channel)

Blighty
Launched	8 March 2004
Closed	5 July 2013
Owned by	UKTV (BBC Worldwide/Scripps Networks Interactive)
Picture format	16:9, 576i (SDTV)
Audience share	~0.0% (November 2012, BARB)
Slogan	One nation under a channel
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom Ireland
Formerly called	UKTV People (2004–2009)
Replaced	UK Horizons
Replaced by	Drama
Sister channel(s)	Alibi Dave Eden Gold Good Food Home Really Watch Yesterday
Website	uktv.co.uk/blighty
Availability at time of closure
Satellite
Sky	Channel 534
Cable
Virgin Media	Channel 206
Smallworld Cable	Channel 534
IPTV
TalkTalk TV	Channel 118

Blighty was a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel originally launched on 8 March 2004, and relaunched to a new format on 17 February 2009. The channel was only available on Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media, and was not available on the digital terrestrial service Freeview.

The channel launched on 8 March 2004 as UKTV People, showing repeats of factual programming of a lighter nature, based on the people of the world with programmes such as Top Gear and the docusoap Airport. Much of this programming had come from the former channel UK Horizons, which had closed down the day before. The channel itself, along with UKTV Documentary, replaced this channel formally.

On 9 October 2008, UKTV announced plans to rebrand UKTV People and UKTV Documentary in early 2009. The news came just two days after UKTV's entertainment channels were rebranded to Watch, Gold and Alibi. They announced that UKTV People would be rebranded as Blighty and this rebrand took place on 17 February 2009. As part of the rebrand, some programmes were transferred to channels such as sister channel Dave, while the channel acquired some other programmes looking at British life.

The channel closed at midday on 5 July 2013, replaced by Drama on 8 July.

From launch until 18 April 2006, the channel ran a time shift service called UKTV People +1 with exactly the same broadcast on a one-hour delay. When the service closed, its bandwidth was taken by the newly launched UKTV Drama +1.