General L!ve TV during Janet Street-Porter's time

Rillington · 05-10-2021, 18:02

From June until October 1995, Janet-Street Porter ran L!ve TV. Output was a rolling mix of live broadcasting from its base on the 24th floor of London's Canary Wharf building. The output was orientated towards a rolling mix of celebrities, interviews, reviews, lifestyle features and reports from events and happenings across the UK.

Did anyone watch L!ve TV during this period and what memories do people have of those first few months of L!ve TV prior to when Janet left and Kelvin Mc Kenzie took over the channel?

heero_yuy · 05-10-2021, 18:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rillington

Did anyone watch L!ve TV during this period and what memories do people have of those first few months of L!ve TV prior to when Janet left and Kelvin Mc Kenzie took over the channel?

I used to watch the banger racing from stadia in Essex with Louise Brady comparing. She's a serious petrol head.

Rillington · 05-10-2021, 18:14

was that shown during Janet's time in charge of the station as I can't imagine sport of any kind being shown during this period.

heero_yuy · 05-10-2021, 18:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rillington

was that shown during Janet's time in charge of the station as I can't imagine sport of any kind being shown during this period.

IIRC yes. Together with topless darts and lunchbox volleyball.

Inactive Digital · 06-10-2021, 00:57

The BBC programme Trouble at the Top filmed behind the scenes of the channel's launch. You can view the programme here: https://youtu.be/wm9aC_Npqd8

**Chris** · 06-10-2021, 09:38

I’m pretty sure the only thing anyone remembers about L!VE TV is news bunny and topless darts. Whether you could receive the channel or not, that’s the press coverage it sought, and got.

ozsat · 06-10-2021, 15:36

I used to watch their darts and occasional ballet. There news was quite good too.

They use to have an afternoon paranormal show too - but there wasn't really much on then to get into.

Just fun to have on in the background.

I take you you have this book - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Live-TV-T...X%2C1845111702

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rillington

From June until October 1995, Janet-Street Porter ran L!ve TV. Output was a rolling mix of live broadcasting from its base on the 24th floor of London's Canary Wharf building. The output was orientated towards a rolling mix of celebrities, interviews, reviews, lifestyle features and reports from events and happenings across the UK.

Did anyone watch L!ve TV during this period and what memories do people have of those first few months of L!ve TV prior to when Janet left and Kelvin Mc Kenzie took over the channel?

Rillington · 06-10-2021, 19:00

Yes i do have that book - it's an excellent read and highly recommended.

---------- Post added at 19:00 ---------- Previous post was at 18:55 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

I’m pretty sure the only thing anyone remembers about L!VE TV is news bunny and topless darts. Whether you could receive the channel or not, that’s the press coverage it sought, and got.

I was somewhat annoyed somewhat when the first reply took this off-topic as I was wanting to discuss the first period of L!ve TV when L!ve was that rolling mix of live output from their base in Canary Wharf and from events and happenings mostly from across London. Topless Darts etc did not begin until after Janet had left.

I do take your point about what is likely to be 99% of all memories about L!ve being from after Kelvin McKenzie took over the channel, less than six months after it went on air.

ozsat · 06-10-2021, 20:16

This thing about some of these channels is that they tended to expand their cable coverage as they became popular elsewhere. So very few people even with cable would have had access in the early days.

Most cable companies at the time had very little capacity and so only the best/attractive were selected.

SnoopZ · 06-10-2021, 23:04

All I remember about live TV was boobs and paint!

Carth · 07-10-2021, 01:19

Can't honestly remember 'live TV' . . but I'll never forget Angela Rippons legs

Rillington · 08-10-2021, 19:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozsat

This thing about some of these channels is that they tended to expand their cable coverage as they became popular elsewhere. So very few people even with cable would have had access in the early days.

Most cable companies at the time had very little capacity and so only the best/attractive were selected.

So L!ve TV was only on a few cable systems, despite it being a cable-only channel? I'd have thought it would have been on most, if not all, cable systems.

OLD BOY · 08-10-2021, 20:26

Live TV was a great disappointment.

Rillington · 09-10-2021, 18:02

and I think that its owner, the Mirror Group, would have been in total agreement with that statement Old Boy.

What do people, think went wrong? After all, what Janet set up was something new - non-stop live television which went out and about to events and happenings, mostly in London, events which were not covered elsewhere, and never have been, alongside live content from their studio base. Yet it lasted less than six months.

OLD BOY · 09-10-2021, 19:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

All I remember about live TV was boobs and paint!

I don’t remember the paint…