BBC Prime

BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe and the Middle East from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment. It was funded by subscription available either as part of a satellite package or as a stand-alone channel. As it carried advertisements in some world regions, it was not available in the United Kingdom as, under the terms of the BBC's Charter, its domestic services could not show advertising. The channel broadcast drama, comedy and lifestyle programmes via satellite and cable, which it repeated on a monthly basis. Once, it allocated six hours per day for educational programmes from BBC Learning (shown in the European small hours); this practice was abandoned in August 2006 "with the intention of improving the relevance and appeal of the channel to the widest audience". When it first launched, BBC Prime also carried programming from the former ITV company Thames Television, as BBC Worldwide had a joint venture, known as European Channel Management, with Thames's parent company, Pearson. This venture was later dissolved, and programmes like The Bill were no longer carried. Owing to rights issues, much of the programming on BBC Prime was from the Corporation's archive. The channel's emphasis on archive programming caused considerable annoyance to many British expatriate viewers, who had much preferred the mix of BBC One and Two previously offered by BBC TV Europe and BBC World Service Television. However, the BBC has defended the inclusion of older programmes in the schedule, on the grounds that "for the majority of our viewers, this is the first chance to see these programmes, and often the only way to view them". Consequently, many people in mainland Europe bought viewing cards to receive full broadcasts of BBC One and Two from the UK, when they became available on satellite in 1998. This prompted GBC in Gibraltar to end terrestrial retransmission of BBC Prime in 1999. Even after the BBC switched to broadcasting unencrypted on a satellite with a much weaker signal, many people in Spain and elsewhere could still receive these signals, particularly those who already had large satellite dishes. BBC Prime was broadcast alongside BBC One and BBC Two in the Netherlands and Belgium, which have long been available on cable television locally, together with BBC World News. It was also available on digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the Netherlands, as well as in Malta. In Turkey, BBC Prime was broadcast by Türksat Cable TV and Digiturk. In Italy it was carried by SKY Italia. In order to cater to a wider audience, who do not have English their first language, BBC Prime carried subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew and Serbian. BBC Prime was launched in South Africa in March, 1999, with some programmes different from the European service, as many had already been licensed to South African broadcasters, for example, such as BBC Learning. It was replaced by BBC Entertainment on September 1, 2008. A version of BBC Prime was launched in Asia on 1 December 2004. This had a completely different programme schedule, to take account of time zones and cultural differences, and offered subtitles in local languages like Chinese, Thai, and Korean. BBC Prime's Asian service was available in Hong Kong (on Now TV's Channel 529), Thailand (on TrueVisions', Singapore and South Korea . On October 6, 2006, it was replaced by BBC Entertainment. A similar channel, called BBC Japan, launched in Japan on 1 December 2004, but ceased broadcasting on 30 April 2006 owing to problems with its local distributor.