A Media Octoberfest! 

30 September 2007 tbs.pm/66

Usually, October is a quietish month when it comes to the world’s media. The new Autumn/Fall season programmes have debuted and things tend to quieten down for a bit.

But not this time!

In global media terms, we truly have an Octoberfest coming up.

First, NPR launches a new morning drive-time show, The Bryant Park Project, to attract a younger audience than listens to Morning Edition. Now, rest easy fans of Morning Edition, that show is not being replaced. BPP is designed to be complementary to Morning Edition, rather than competitive, even though both air at the same time. The Bryant Park Project launches on October 1st 2007.

Later that same day, in the UK, Virgin 1 launches. replacing FTN. Virgin 1 will be a 24 hour channel on satellite and cable, unlike FTN was which was only 12 hours a day. There is talk going on about how soon it will be before Virgin 1 goes 24 hour on Freeview, but my suspicion is we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks for that at least.

Also the same day, Diva TV launches on Sky Digital channel 282. Although there is no official website yet, I advise you to check the link here on a regular basis.

Later on in the month, UKTV BrightIdeas will closedown for the final time. UKTV History will become a part time channel on Freeview (7am to 6pm) and UKTV G2… sorry, Dave, will come onto Freeview as a full time channel starting on the 15th October.

On the same day in the US, Fox Business Network will launch on US cable systems. At the moment, it is not known whether a simultaneous UK launch will occur on Sky Digital, although it seems likely to launch here in the future. It is also considered to be launching soon in Australia, home of the Foxtel digital satellite service, also owned by NewsCorp.

Other channels and services are also due for launch during this time, although specifics are rather hard to come by. But as you can see, for those of us in the media and the media commentary business, it is going to be a busy time.