Gamers (TV series)
| Rapture TV | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Launched | 22 November 1997 |
| Owned by | UK Television Ltd |
| Audience share | 0.5% weekly reach (w/e 05/11/06, [1]) |
| Website | www.rapturetv.com |
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Availability
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| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 193 (until 19 March 2007) |
| Streaming media | |
| Website | rapturetv.com |
Rapture TV was a previously free-to-air satellite television station (although now an exclusively online channel) operated from the United Kingdom, founded in 1997. Focusing mostly on electronic dance music and extreme sports, it is notable for the number of times it has "failed" financially only to be relaunched.
The channel was initially launched by the United Business Media group as a cable television channel on 22 November 1997. Due to common UBM ownership, the channel shared facilities with and was broadcast from the Anglia Television studios in Norwich. The channel was later carried free-to-air on the analogue transponder of FilmFour on Astra 1A at weekends, and eventually used this transponder full-time, until closing its analogue service on 12 December 1999. Very shortly before this, on 27 October 1999, the channel had moved to digital broadcasting via Sky Digital, where it launched as a general entertainment channel on EPG channel 187.
A notable feature of the station during this time was its "Mouse Cam" [2], broadcast as a time filler when the station was off-air. This featured some mice in a Habitrail-like setup, with shots changing between cameras. The station also featured one of the first SMS-based request shows during this era. A launch to ITV Digital was planned at this time, but never came to completion. [3]
The channel had never been profitable, and its average audiences were in the region of 100,000. UBM placed the channel on the market in 2001, was unable to find a buyer, and closed on 31 October 2001, with the loss of 46 jobs and debts estimated at £12 million, notably playing "Rapture" by iio as its final track over pictures of the station staff. During this time, it had refocused almost entirely on dance music, and was moved to EPG channel 458 in the music section.
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