Cellcast Group is a broadcasting company based in the United Kingdom. They operate channels (or have operated channels) on the Sky UK,

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ven ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. F ...

and

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

TV platforms in the UK and internationally via

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal See also * Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the ...

which consist of participatory television programming such as

phone-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

teleshopping Teleshopping may refer to: * Home shopping * Online shopping * Shopping channel * Infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea ...

and

quiz channel A quiz channel (also known as a participation television channel) is a television channel that focuses on phone-in quizzes. The quizzes usually focus on puzzles, such as filling in blanks, identifying subjects, or other forms of word puzzles. ...

s. They are also a provider of

software development Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development inv ...

services for the media industry such as

second screen A second screen involves the use of a computing device (commonly a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet) to provide an enhanced viewing experience for content on another device, such as a television. In particular, the term commonly refe ...

application development, production of digital on screen graphics,

mobile gaming A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA t ...

development, direct carrier billing and

internet marketing The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

History

* 2001 - The company is founded by Andrew Wilson and Bertrand Folliet and forms partnerships to distribute mobile content with companies such as

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

and AOL Europe., and becomes one of the biggest

ringtone A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...

sellers in Asia. * 2002 - Starts broadcasting interactive content on various existing channels on Sky Digital via

such as text in shows and competitions. * 2004 - The

Psychic Today Psychic Today is a satellite-based interactive television channel that offers direct access to psychics, mediums, astrologers & tarot readers. Psychic Today gives its audience direct access to predictions and readings through various means of li ...

UK TV channel is launched. Interactive TalkSport TV show is launched. * 2005 - The company is listed on the

Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...

of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

. The company launches a

Digital Pet A virtual pet (also known as a digital pet, artificial pet, or pet-raising simulation) is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet. Digita ...

like channel called 'Paddock'. * 2006 - Signs contracts with

Brazil Telecom Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, Telefonica and

RedeTV! RedeTV! () is a Brazilian television network owned by Amilcare Dallevo and Marcelo de Carvalho. It is the newest television network, among the five major networks in Brazil, being a relaunch of Rede Manchete in 1999. RedeTV! has modern producti ...

to broadcast

interactive TV Interactive television is a form of media convergence, adding data services to traditional television technology. It has included on-demand delivery of content, online shopping, and viewer polls. Interactive TV is an example of how new information ...

during football breaks. Launches

Sumo TV Sumo TV was a free-to-air television channel owned by Cellcast Group. On 1 July 2006, You TV was relabelled as Sumo TV. Sumo TV was officially launched on 28 November 2006, claiming to be the world's first user-content TV channel. Through the ...

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Launches Bid2Win TV show in India on

Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (19 ...

Sahara One Sahara One is an Indian Hindi general entertainment channel based in New Delhi. It is operated by Sahara India Pariwar. History Sahara One was launched as Sahara TV on 28 March 2000, which later in April 2003 was renamed as Sahara Manoranjan. ...

Zoom TV Zoom TV may refer to: * Zoom (Israeli TV channel) * Zoom (Ukrainian TV channel) * Zoom (Indian TV channel) * Zoom TV (Poland) Zoom TV is a Polish television channel, launched on October 25, 2016. Programming On the programming schedule cons ...

and

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription bus ...

. The company is appointed to handle regional voting for

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

. * 2007 - Launches

in Brazil on

TV Cultura TV Cultura or simply Cultura, is a free Brazilian public television network headquartered in São Paulo and a part of Father Anchieta Foundation, a non-profit foundation funded by the São Paulo State Government. It focuses on educational ...

. Launches a mobile portal in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

with

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow unde ...

SFR SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company. As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...

and

Bouygues Telecom Bouygues Telecom () is a French mobile phone, Internet service provider and IPTV company, part of the Bouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, after Orange and SFR, and before Free Mobile. Its headquarters, des ...

. The company wins 'best interactive show' at the

Indian Telly Awards The Indian Telly Awards is an annual award for excellence both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of Hindi-language television. Conceptualised and created by Anil Wanvari, the founder, CEO of media and services group, indiantelevision.com, they a ...

for their Bid2Win show. Signs a deal with

Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number of short-lived offerings, ...

to distribute

on its social networking website. * 2008 - The company sells two Sky UK

electronic programme guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information fo ...

slots for £1.4m to

Discovery Networks Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel ...

. * 2009 - Launches The Big Deal TV channel in the United Kingdom with programming consisting of

and

quiz shows. Acquires mobile content rights to the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as Tata Group, TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 cricket, T20 Professional sports league organization, franchise cricket Sports league, league of India. It is annually contested by ...

. * 2010 - Indian programming is expanded to include a variety of interactive TV formats including 'Sa Re Gaana', an interactive version of the show

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'' is an Indian Hindi-language reality singing television show. It started airing on Zee TV in 1995 as ''Sa Re Ga Ma''. It is the oldest running game show in India as well as the oldest show on private television in India. The ...

. *2013 -

is launched in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on the TV channel Telos. * 2014 - The company's

middle eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

operations are acquired by

BinBit Binbit is a provider of mobile entertainment serving Mexico and countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. History Binbit was founded in September 2005 in Monterrey, Mexico, delivering mobile entertainment services ...

. The Big Deal is sold to Sony Entertainment Networks for £2.98m. * 2019 - The company was sold as part of a management buyout to Com & Tel Media Limited currently owned by Craig Gardiner and Emmanuelle Erna Guicharnaud. Its investment operations are retained by Vintana Plc.

References

External links

cellcast.tv
Television broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-bcast-stub