Challenge tv coming on Feb 1st

Bit of a strange one. Challenge is to launch on Saorview in February https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/challenge-to-launch-on-saorview/

I noticed it today when flicking through. Nice to see [I]something[/I] else for a change after only about 11 years. Hopefully it's in 1080 /s

Retune on my Hitachi shows it as a hidden channel under number 8

10 when you add +1

More choice is always good. Even those sorts of channels for people who like to watch them.

Anything to be said for them buying where in the world and know your sport!

The Chase,The Chase, The Chase, followed by The Chase and then we'll have The Chase.

It’s fairly cheap filler for RTE when they have nothing else to show.

Awful lazy scheduling when both stations are showing exactly the same thing and could be easily remedied.

ITV 41, crikey how many channels has itv 🤓🤓🤓

While (almost) any addition to the Saorview TV channel line up is to be welcomed, IMO Challenge is a pale shadow of a channel from what it was 5-10 years ago though if you can't get enough of The Chase on the VM outlets, then there's one more for you soon! I guess that these repeats must be good ratings performers and/or cheap to be shown so often. The days of Challenge taking risks in scheduling some old game show episodes that haven't seen in years if not decades and putting them in a prime time spot has long been over.

As for comments concerning capacity, there's still really at least a bit of room on both muxs - the SD channels on Saorview are running with plenty of bitrate headroom for MPEG4 544x576 vision in comparison to the bitrates for channels both on satellite & UK Freeview which are running a lot of channels with the same resolution but with lower bitrates and using (mostly) MPEG2 as well. Given that the original three slots that Sky had for the original Freeview launch has evolved into broadcasting Sky News, Pick & Challenge, at this stage I wouldn't be surprised if Pick gets added to the Saorview line up in the near future.

I remember that time period alright, around 2012/13. They were showing early series of Fifteen to One, Blockbusters and Countdown in prime time. As a fan of those 80s/90s shows I loved it. But the first I knew something was wrong when they pulled a 1991 series of Countdown mid series. When questioned on Facebook (not by me) they initially said there was an issue with the tapes but eventually admitted that it wouldn’t be back because they weren’t getting the audience for it.

I’m really tired of The Chase. Overplayed and (in my opinion) not that above board either. I had Challenge since the analogue Sky days and it’s nowhere near as good as back then.

Challenge tv coming to Saorview .RTE missed out there .They could have been the first platform to offer Challenge in HD

The Saorview network is a (relatively) open one. If a broadcaster has an appropriate licence from the BAI or another similar EU based authority, that 2RN say that they have capacity to accommodate them (either in SD or HD) and they are willing to pony up the cost towards broadcasting on the platform, then they can appear on the platform. 2RN don't chase after broadcasters for content, they simply provide technical "window space" for them.

Otherwise, with some very odd exceptions like Sky Kids (largely thanks to Sky's partnership with Viacom ending regarding Nickelodeon) and That's 60's (music channels aimed at older adults are still getting notable audiences), the days of launching new linear channels - and especially those delivering original content that has not had a place on a linear channel before - are pretty much over. On Demand & streaming is the growing game in town. Events like certain sport(s) competitions that never had a real presence on linear TV have started either adopting their own online PPV models or use the likes of YouTube to stream live or upload coverage of games that have taken place. Same goes for a lot of niche content which not only has a much more comfortable relationship with the internet as a platform, but whose content would be unlikely to ever be profitable from broadcasting.

As for talk concerning the opening of another Saorview multiplex, the chances of that are very slim let alone any talk of a fourth. Take a look at the DTT stats for Saorview on digitalbitrate.com (there's two Irish sites, one for Three Rock & Kippure and another for Clermont Carn) and you can largely see that the SD channels have an average video bitrate of 2-3 Mbit/s (the exception is the Oireachtais channel, which doesn't need much head room for its content). Compare that to 5 Select & TBN on the PSB3 multiplex on Freeview which like the Saorivew SD channels ('xcept Sky News) are 544x576 resolution with MPEG4 video - they're running average video bitrates of 0.6-0.7 Mbit/s!😲. I reckon after Challenge is added, 2RN could if needed squeeze another 1-2 SD services on both multiplexes before opening a third multiplex would need to be considered, without affecting the picture quality of the current TV channels on the platform much. And if a third multiplex is being considered, there's a complication of the BAI approved cost model for how much broadcasters are charged that makes the potential cost of a channel launching on a new multiplex fairly expensive unless there are other broadcasters willing to add channels to it as so to spread costs.

The recent additions of Sky News & (soon to be) Challenge have been nice surprises. But nobody should be getting their hopes up of Saorview suddenly exploding with content any time in the future.