Channel 854, previously known as Channel 425, though actually William Hill TV but could not be referred to this name due to broadcasting rules, was a

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

in both Ireland and the United Kingdom broadcasting as a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

service on Sky Digital. Owned by William Hill and YooMedia, the channel launched on 6 October 2004 and replaced the previous occupant , which shared several programming features. Its main focus was on betting and gaming, showing mostly live

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

, electronic and presenter-hosted interactive game shows, and

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

. The channel briefly also showed live

Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country's national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...

, live

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, live

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

, and live daytime studio phone-in programming from

talkSPORT Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

radio station, known as talkSPORT TV. After much of the sports based programming left the station, the channel was moved from the sports section to the gaming section of the

EPG 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 ...

, and changed to being named as Channel 854 as a result. The poker element however retained the Poker 425 name. The remaining poker and live greyhound racing later ceased on 28 October 2006. The channel then only broadcast a promo for Monte Carlo Roulette 24-hours per day. The channel was removed from the EPG on 3 January 2007.

External links

Channel 854
Television channels in the United Kingdom Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Channel 854