The Children's Channel
| The Children's Channel (TCC) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 1 September 1984 |
| Closed | 3 April 1998 October 1998 (UK cable) October 2000 (Nordic) |
| Owned by | Flextech |
| Broadcast area |
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Benelux Scandinavia (Nordic version) |
| Replaced by | Trouble |
| Website | Wayback Archive |
The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Benelux nations (with Dutch voiceover) and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech. It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984.
The Children's Channel launched in 1984, almost exclusively to cable households owing to the low proliferation of domestic satellite dishes in the UK and Europe at the time, and originally operated by Starstream who were backed by British Telecom, DC Thomson, Thames Television and Thorn EMI.
"The Children's Channel is a satellite delivered service which is destined to delight children everywhere, every day of the week. Already an established success in the UK, it is available to cable operators in Northern Europe from December 1986. The Children's Channel brings together the best programmes from around the world for young people, linked into magazines with top presenters who have long experience in children's television. Content is aimed directly at school and pre-school children carefully scheduled to suit their various viewing times. From animation to drama features, The Children's Channel offers a range of entertainment that is second to none. The Channel also provides a variety of learning opportunities in language, science, computers, social studies and many other areas. A central policy of The Children's Channel is to help children become active viewers rather than passive ones, and to involve other members of the family as well."
The channel shared its slot with The Entertainment Network, before sharing with Mirrorvision. In 1986, it started broadcasting on satellite from 0500 for 10 hours. In January 1987, Central Independent Television acquired a 22% stake in Starstream, within days of buying FilmFair, allowing the channel to add new programming including Paddington Bear.
In March 1989, the channel started airing free-to-air on Astra 1A, airing between 05:00 and 10:00 on weekdays and between 05:00 and 12:00 on weekends, time-sharing with Lifestyle. Following the launch of the Astra 1B-satellite in 1991, the channel expanded to broadcast until 5pm each day, time-sharing with JSTV. In 1990, Flextech acquired its first stake in the company, beating United Artists Cable International to gain a stake. Within a year, United bought its own stake in The Children's Channel and won the management contract to run it. In autumn of 1993, Flextech held talks with Tele-Communications (TCI) and acquired TCI's European programming business in exchange for shares, giving TCI a 50%-60% stake in the enlarged Flextech group. The deal was completed which resulted in Flextech increasing its stake from 50.1% to 75%.
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