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'Challenge' is a British digital TV channel owned by Virgin Media Television. Originally known as The Family Channel, and later as Challenge TV, the station relies heavily on gameshows taken from a variety of sources. Most are repeats of programmes acquired from the terrestrial channels' archives, but a few are original productions commissioned by Challenge itself.
The channel also has interactive features for digital cable and satellite viewers watching certain shows, enabling them to play along at home.
Challenge acquires programmes which have usually previously been shown on UK terrestrial channels.
Challenge now broadcasts 24 hours a day. In its early years, it timeshared with The Children's Channel and then later with TV Travel Shop. During this, Challenge would usually begin at 5pm and run until around midnight, with a teleshopping service filling up the early hours when both them and either TCC or TV Travel Shop weren't broadcasting.

Contents

Themed programming

Player

Programming

Current Programming

Former Programming

Programmes Taking A Break

Logos

External links

Themed programming

In recent times Challenge has begun to theme its daily schedule. Gameshow repeats typically play in the daytime, action gameshows are shown in early evening, and now reality and casino-based programmes have been introduced late at night. This has drawn criticism to the channel but in return has attracted a whole new audience.
In late 2004 Challenge introduced the ''Gameshow Gods'' slot during weekday evenings, in which two vintage episodes hosted by well-known gameshow presenters such as Bob Monkhouse, Bruce Forsyth and Ted Rogers were shown each night. They would then be replaced with another two gameshows the following month. This re-introduced many gameshow favourites from years gone by.
In the summer of 2005 Challenge showed ''Old-School Saturdays'', featuring popular Saturday-evening programmes of years gone by. This was followed in the autumn by ''Tea Time Takedown'': popular action gameshows, namely The Crystal Maze and Gladiators, were shown in the early-evening slots on weekdays. This theme of programming continues at those times, albeit without the ''Teatime Takedown'' label.
From spring 2006 Challenge began a ''Quiz Frenzy'' on weekday afternoons, playing such quiz shows such as Fifteen to One.
In summer 2006 Challenge continued its line of themed programmes with ''Threesomes'' every weekend. Three classic gameshows such as Catchphrase and Family Fortunes were shown three times a day, back-to-back. This did take a break for a brief time shortly after its introduction but has recently been re-introduced.In March 2007 ''Fully Loaded'' was introduced showing double-bills of certain gameshows on weekday mornings. This also brought in the introduction of the short-lived ITV daytime show Cash Cab. Dale's Supermarket Sweep will be joining this line up from August 2007.
The next theme as from July 2007 is breakfast action showing RollerJam, The Crystal Maze and Fort Boyard on weekday mornings between 7am and 10am.

Player

On March 2 2006, Challenge's parent company Flextech Television launched a new channel called Player. Previously Challenge had aired a late-night block under the Player name (featuring gambling programmes such as ''Celebrity Poker Club'', ''Casino Casino'' and the ''World Poker Tour''), which was a great success. The new full-time Player channel used the same ident as Challenge's Player strand but in a different colour (from red to yellow). The channel was renamed ''Bravo 2'' and has become a sister channel of ''Bravo'' rather than Challenge.

Programming

Current Programming

★ ''3-2-1'' (ftn only)

★ ''Big Break''

★ ''Bruce's Price Is Right''

★ ''Bullseye''

★ ''Catchphrase'' (Roy Walker (1994-1999) versions only)

★ ''Cash Poker''

★ ''Celebrity Poker Showdown''

★ ''Classic Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''

★ ''Dale's Supermarket Sweep''

★ ''Distraction''

★ ''Don't Try This At Home''

★ ''Extreme Dodgeball''

★ ''Family Fortunes'' (Les Dennis versions only)

★ ''Fear Factor''

★ ''Fort Boyard'' (Jodie Penfold versions only)

★ ''Gladiators'' (Also shown on ftn)

★ ''Going Straight''

★ ''Nortonland''

★ ''Play Your Cards Right''

★ ''Poker Superstars''

★ ''Pyramid Show''

★ ''Robot Wars'' (Series 3 & 4)

★ ''RollerJam''

★ ''So You Think You Can Dance' - Second Season

★ ''Strike It Rich''

★ ''Take It Or Leave It''

★ ''Takeshi's Castle''

★ ''That's The Question''

★ ''The Amazing Race''

★ ''The Crystal Maze''

★ ''The Krypton Factor'' (Also shown on ftn)

★ ''The Moment Of Truth''

★ ''The People Versus''

Former Programming

★ ''100%''

★ ''All Clued Up''

★ ''Battle Dome''

★ ''Beadle's About'' (Only The Best of Beadle's About which is shown as a slotfiller for Challenge and sister channel ftn.)

★ ''Blind Date'' (Two series were only shown during 2006)

★ ''Blockbusters''

★ ''Bootsale Challenge''

★ ''Candid Camera''

★ ''Carnal Knowledge''

★ ''Crosswits''

★ ''Defectors''

★ ''Drunken Businessmen''

★ ''Endurance UK''

★ ''Game Central''

★ ''GamesMaster'' (Series 1 only due to bad ratings)

★ ''Give Us A Clue''

★ ''Glory Ball''

★ ''Guinness World Records''

★ ''Hot Property''

★ ''House of Games''

★ ''Ice Warriors''

★ ''Interceptor''

★ ''It's A Gift''

★ ''It's Anybody's Guess''

★ ''Karaoke Challenge''

★ ''King Of The Castle''

★ ''London's Hottest Properties''

★ ''Motormouth''

★ ''Mystic Challenge''

★ ''Night Fever''

★ ''Name That Tune''

★ ''Perfect Match''

★ ''Red Handed''

★ ''Sale Of The Century''

★ ''Say The Word''

★ ''Split Second''

★ ''Stakeout''

★ ''Strike It Lucky''

★ ''Sushi TV''

★ ''Telly Addicts'' (1990-1995)

★ ''The Heat Is On''

★ ''TV Scrabble''

★ ''The Cooler''

★ ''The Games Room''

★ ''The Golden Shot''

★ ''Through the Keyhole''

★ ''Treasure Hunt''

★ ''Under Offer''

★ ''Under Pressure''

★ ''Whittle''

★ ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (US Version now shown on Five US)

★ ''Winner Takes All''

★ ''You Bet!''

Programmes Taking A Break

★ ''Ballbreakers''

★ ''Banzai''

★ ''Blankety Blank''

★ ''Cash Cab''

★ ''Celebrity Squares''

★ ''Dog Eat Dog''

★ ''Eggheads''

★ ''Fifteen-to-One'' (Starting on ftn later this month)

★ ''Friends Like These''

★ ''Going for Gold''

★ ''

★ ''It's a Knockout''

★ ''Kenny vs. Spenny'' (Canadian format of ''Ed vs. Spencer'')

★ ''Knightmare''

★ ''Mastermind''

★ ''Showbiz Darts''

★ ''The Generation Game''

★ ''The Weakest Link'' (Returning October)

★ ''Wheel of Fortune''

★ ''Win, Lose or Draw''

Logos

External links

★ challenge.co.uk