Quote:
Originally Posted by cheekyangus
I highly doubt it. Music channels operate on razor thin margins and are increasingly losing viewers to internet sources, usually Youtube. They can't afford a Main transmitter, especially when the price will likely be even higher than usual due to the temporary multiplexes shutting down in places already.
And there is space on the Main Freeview multiplexes. Sony moved True Movies and True Entertainment to the Local multiplex and moved Movies4Men to KeepItCountry's slot (the one that doesn't have Wales because of E4/S4C) when it couldn't afford to stay.
This left 3 Main transmitter slots open. So far only Together TV has taken one of them.
In related matters Sony closed True Crime and its +1 on the Manchester Mux to enable all these musical chairs by their other channels but kept its slot open. This started the clock on their channel numbers, their 12 weeks ends at the end of September. The Movies4Men and other True channels rebrand happens on the 10th so Sony could just sell the True brand after that and so indirectly sell their Freeview numbers (which can't otherwise happen due to Freeview rules, so the channel needs sold). So whoever is taking one of the two remaining Freeview Main transmitter slots could simultaneously buy the rump of the True business to get better channel numbers in the 2 weeks following the rebranding on the 10th.
All just a theory, but the Freeview status page says True Crime is not closed but is instead listed as Temporarily Off Air (see bottom of this page https://www.freeview.co.uk/service-u...june-2019.html ) . |
I'd forgotten about the spaces created by Sony. It makes you wonder why they haven't carried on broadcasting using this capacity, maybe they are waiting for another channel to move or close at the end of this month??
I doubt that money is the issue as Now 90's is the most popular music channel and it's owners have deep pockets.