Fuel TV is a sports-orientated

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previo ...

and

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 ...

action sports channel owned by FUEL TV Global, S.A. The channel is focused on the culture of extreme sports such as

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

, FMX and is available in many countries including Portugal, China, North Africa and the Middle East. Originally, Fuel TV was launched as a weekly regional music and extreme sports television series in September 2001 by video producer Chris Braly and aired on American WB affiliate

WFLI-TV WFLI-TV (channel 53) is a television station licensed to Cleveland, Tennessee, United States, serving the Chattanooga area as a dual affiliate of The CW and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA ...

(channel 53, now a CW affiliate) in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

in the Saturday evening programming slot. In July 2003

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

began negotiations to buy out the Fuel TV trademark and concept from Chris Braly and make it a part of their Fox-Sports Network. As a rebranded cable and satellite channel, Fuel TV featured extreme sports programs ranging from original series, exclusive events, licensed films and creative interstitials. In 2007, News Corporation sold Fuel TV to Portuguese-based FLUID Youth Culture, S.A. after an agreement was reached in order to acquire Fuel TV in Portugal with the rest of the international operations being later acquired in 2014. In 2008, Fuel TV was launched in Portugal in partnership with the network service provider MEO. Between 2010 and 2014, Fuel TV expanded their business to the EMEA region with the channel being launched in over 40 countries in the EMEA region, reaching 8 million households. The American Fuel TV channel was re-branded as

Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 2 (branded on-air as FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in ...

in August 2013 following the seamless transition of

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

. The network continued overseas, most prominently as an online streaming service and FAST channel available on different platforms.

History

Origin

Chris Braly originally conceived and developed an independently produced television series named "Fuel TV" in February 2000. Braly was a video producer and the president of BIG Studios and he used a paid programming approach with the WB affiliate network WFLI-TV to air Fuel TV as a regular weekly series on channel 53. Fuel TV launched on the network on September 8, 2001, as a regional music and extreme sports weekly broadcast that aired Saturday nights at midnight for four seasons. The series' appeal, particularly with younger viewers, and the subsequent rise of extreme action sports programs in the early 21st century, led to the independently produced series becoming very popular in the

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and catching the attention of the networks.

Fox Sports takeover

After seeing the increasing viewership of Fuel TV, and with the intent of expanding the coverage of extreme sports to a wider audience, CJ Oliveras, a producer at

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

, eventually approached Braly and negotiated a buyout of the concept and trademark. Braly produced the final episode of his Fuel TV series on WFLI in September 2003, becoming a full-time satellite and cable channel on

Fox Network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

once FOX had finalized the buyout from BIG Studios. From 2003, Fuel TV aired numerous original reality programs, including FirstHand, Drive Thru Australia, Camp Woodward and many more, which documented extreme sport stories and events. The television channel on Fox also aired live sporting events such as

X-Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moor ...

, Supercross 450 and namely the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). In 2011, Fuel TV became the official cable home of the UFC as part of a broader agreement between Fox and The Mixed Martial Arts Promotion. By mid 2012 Fuel TV's programming consisted solely of combat sports such as

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, as well as fighting analysis shows like '' UFC Tonight'' and ''The Undercard,'' and reruns of reality programs from Fox's sister channel Speed. It also showed live coverage of all ASP World Tour men's surfing events. It was also used as an "overflow" channel for Fox Sports Australia when all three main Fox Sports are being used for other obligations and they have a fourth, motorsport/extreme sport obligation, which get shown on FUEL TV live, and delayed on Fox Sports. By 2013 Fuel TV had moved away from its original concept as an extreme action sports outlet towards a mainstream, worldwide live-sports channel. The 2012-13

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

was aired on Fuel TV along with English Super League (

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

) matches.

Shift to streaming

In early 2013 the Fox Network made the decision to rebrand both its sport channels to "better align with its future growth goals". Fox's primary sport channel, Speed, was rebranded as Fox Sports 1 simultaneously with Fuel TV's rebranding as Fox Sports 2. The Fuel TV cable channel in Europe was unaffected by this change, and is offered on local cable and IPTV services such as Vodafone TV.

Online platform

Television consumption began to change in the mid-2010s with the rise of online 24/7 streaming channels allowing consumers to access shows on demand and without a traditional television set. In early 2014 Fuel TV launched an online website, "fuel.tv", with 24/7 streaming content of all its original reality shows as well as live sports coverage of extreme action sports events including Cape Fear Surfing, Free ride world championships and many more. The platform features 900 hours of new programming every year, of those 700 hours being Live Events and 200 hours of exclusive high-quality content from 20+ Original Series,

Documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

Talk Shows A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (20 ...

and

Branded Content Branded content (also known as branded entertainment) is a type of entertainment product made or otherwise funded by an advertiser. They are designed to build awareness for a particular brand by presenting content that reflects its values and image ...

. It has an extensive library of over 5000 hours of award-winning programming, with the main goal of "inspiring and entertaining both action sports fans and viewers who are drawn to the sights, sounds, personalities and culture of the extreme action sport scene". There is also an option for Fuel TV + which is a paid subscription, costing $4.99 per month, where users can access ad-free and downloadable content.

7Plus partnership

As a now independent business, after splitting with the Fox Network, Fuel TV is seen in more than 103 countries, broadcast in 5 languages to more than 770 million homes each year. Following the channels switch to a purely online streaming website, Fuel TV Australia and The

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

signed an agreement in November 2019 that saw a 24/7 streaming channel running on the 7plus platform as well as dedicate block programming on 7mate. Fuel TV functions as a Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) channel under The Seven Networks on demand, online streaming network

7plus 7plus (also stylised as 7+) is a video on demand, catch-up TV service run by the Seven Network. The service became available on 27 November 2017. 7plus also offers online live streaming of Channel 7, 7two, 7mate, 7Bravo, 7flix, Racing.co ...

. The FAST channel is also available in other countries through the streaming service Plex. The Seven Network's coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games combined with the addition of action sports such as Skateboarding and Surfing to the games allowed Fuel TV to play a key role in distributing sports content to Australians. During the games, reruns of significant matchups in surfing and skateboarding heats were played on Fuel TV allowing those who were unable to watch the event live could re-live the action. An example of this is Australian surfer Owen Wright's Bronze medal final which was replayed 14 times on Fuel TV throughout the games.

Original programming

Reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

was at the forefront of television viewership across the world in the early 2000s, particularly in the US with shows such as Big Brother and Survivor. In 2001 survivor was ranked 6th on the primetime television series of the 2001–02 season, one place above

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

. Celebrity lives, dating shows and extreme sports documentary's present non-actors in legitimately natural settings and situations working without a script. Reality TV stakes its claim with viewers to regard its depictions as unadorned and spontaneous truthful documentation of natural reality and it was this changing television culture that gave rise to its popularity. Coinciding with the rise of reality TV was launch of Fuel TV in the early 2000s who ultimately released many original series documenting the lives of extreme sports stars. These shows, which were in most cases the first of their kind, ran for many seasons and became the core programming structure of Fuel TV.

Firsthand

Firsthand is a Fuel TV original series with its premiere season airing in 2003 on the Fuel TV cable network on the Fox Network. Running its 13th season this year, Firsthand brings viewers up close and personal with the daily lives of today's top action sports athletes. Documenting athletes competition preparation and performance as well as laid back free-sessions and daily life away from sport, Firsthand offers exclusive footage of world-class pros pushing the limits of their riding. With between 16 – 18 episodes per season going for an average of around 22 minutes, Firsthand has boasted a number of all-time legends in their respective sports. Some notable guests include Owen Wright, Australian pro surfer and as of 2021, Olympic Gold Medallist.

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s ...

, a 4-time Rally America Supercross Champion and multiple X Games Gold Medallist. Ryan Sheckler, an American professional skateboarder who was ranked 5th in Fox Weekly's "15 Most influential Skateboarders of All Time".

Camp Woodward

Camp Woodward is a world-class skateboarding and BMX facility located in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, US where many professional athletes go to train and compete against the best in the world. In 2007, Fuel TV followed a group of young skateboarders and BMX riders into their 3-month training camp at Camp Woodward. Director Dave Paine documents the extreme highs and lows of the young athletes pushing their limits in an attempt to impress their well rebound coaches which include the likes of Cody Davis, Hunter Bagent and Lary Schmidt. In 2022 Camp Woodward will be going into its 9th season, after being put on hold due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, with athletes coming from across the world including places like

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with ages ranging from just 10 years old all the way to 16 years old.

Drive Thru Australia

Premiering on March 7, 2009, on Fox Networks Fuel TV, a small crew of photographers follow pro surfers

Donavon Frankenreiter Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972) is an American musician and surfer. His debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Brushfire Records through Universal Music. Career Frankenreiter was born in Downey, California, United Stat ...

, Benji Weatherley and Pat O'Connell around Australia on their journey to find secluded beaches and untouched waves. Stopping at numerous campsites in their Britz RV, the trio travel from

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

all the way to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, meeting many interesting people and visiting many extraordinary places. After being received well by the Australian public, the Drive Thru crew came back for a second season in 2010 this time will infamous pro surfers

Andy Irons Philip Andrew Irons (July 24, 1978November 2, 2010) was an American professional surfer. Irons began surfing with his brother Bruce Irons (surfer), Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfbo ...

, Shane Dorian and Mark Ochilupo. Cruising up the

East Coast of Australia The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and the island state of Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory ...

the 13 episodes document the struggles of four wheel driving in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to the exhilaration of finding perfect barrels on the South Coast of New South Wales. The Drive Thru franchise has since expanded with seasons 3 – 6 located in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

respectively.

The Adventures of Danny and "The Dingo"

Initially airing on the Fuel TV cable television channel on the Fox network in early 2008, the Fuel TV original reality television series documents two-time Olympic silver medallist Danny Kass and snowboarder personality Luke "The Dingo" Trembath on a cross country trip across the U.S. in search of the next Grenade team member. The Fuel TV crew follows these two personalities as they participate in extreme sports such as

skydiving Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

, snowboarding and

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

, documenting the laughs, screams and pain of two goofy athletes. With its final season airing in 2012, the documentary series shifted to a global scale with their 5th season being filmed throughout Europe.

PULL

In 2004 Alliance, an American wakeboarding and

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

magazine, launched Fuel TV's premier reality television series PULL. It was originally a magazine style television show that introduced the sport, lifestyle and personalities of wakeboarding to millions of people outside the endemic circle. Being the first wakeboarding show of its kind, director Tony Smith, with his limited budget, documented 5 Alliance magazine athletes as they wake boarded across the world. PULL follows Bob Soven, Jimmy LaRichie, Jeff Langley, Mike Olson and Pat Panakos through the rivers of the Milton Sound in New Zealand all the way to the Monster Energy Wake Park in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, US as they compete amongst themselves and against other riders for the Triple Crown. Airing its 6th and final season in 2010, PULL paved the way for other reality television series on Fuel TV.

Other series

As of March 2024. * Action Sports Plus * Beyond the Bib * Breaking Trail * Bubba's World * Built to Shred * Camp James * Camp Woodward * Catch Up * Custom * Drive Thru Australia * Fresh Lines * FirstHand * Inside the Outdoors * Microdose * Pull * Riding Portugal * Setups * Shorebreak * Snowbound * Snowchef * Surfing Life TV * The Captain and Casey Show * The Great Ride Open * The Kickback * The Moto: Inside the Outdoors * The Standard Snowboard Show * Thrillbillies * Wave Crushers * Zion's Way

Availability

* Portugal: In Portugal it is available on cable, satellite and IPTV platforms. It covers national and international action sports events, including skate,

bodyboarding Bodyboarding is a water sports, water sport in which the surfing, surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the in ...

and

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

which are popular in Portugal. * Republic of Ireland: The channel launched in Ireland through Vodafone TV on 20 January 2016.

References

External links

* {{Portuguese television stations Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations established in 2008 English-language television stations in Australia Portuguese-language television stations 2004 establishments in Australia 2008 establishments in Portugal Fox Sports (Australian TV network) Sports television networks in Australia Television stations in Portugal Television channels and stations disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Australia Defunct television channels in Australia Fox Sports Seven Network Sports television in Portugal