Trouble (TV channel)

Trouble
Trouble's final logo, used from 2005 to 2009
Launched	3 February 1997
Closed	1 April 2009
Owned by	Virgin Media Television
Picture format	16:9, 576i (SDTV)
Website	www.trouble.co.uk
Availability (at time of closure)
Satellite
Sky Digital	Channel 172
Cable
Virgin Media	Channel 159
UPC Ireland	Channel 622 (ex-Chorus only)

Trouble was a free-to air television channel operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland that was owned and operated by Virgin Media Television. It fully replaced sister channel The Children's Channel serving Northern Europe on 4 April 1998, prior to the start of Sky Digital.

Trouble had a key demographic of young adults and teenagers, aged between 15 and 24. The channel aired primarily American and Australian imports, with only a small margin of programmes being British. A website was launched called Trouble Homegrown that showcased British programmes.

Trouble's 1-hour timeshift channel named Trouble +1 (formerly Trouble Reload) closed on 5 February 2009 to make way for the launch of Living2 +1.

The idea of Trouble was originally influenced by the now-defunct Northern European television channel The Children's Channel's late afternoon scheduling for teen audiences, branded "TCC". When Bravo was revamped in 1997 to become a channel targeting a male audience (marketed as "an altered species of television"), The Children's Channel started airing only during the evenings and nights, with Trouble occupying its channel space during the day. It then closed down British and Irish operations on 3 April 1998, leaving Trouble to expand as a full 24-hour channel, targeting teenagers and young adults. Its programming consisted more of popular sitcoms, rather than the cartoons The Children's Channel originally aired.

By 2003, Trouble had begun shifting its focus from teen shows in its early days to family-oriented sitcoms such as My Wife and Kids, One On One, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, That '70s Show and Grounded for Life.