Home Video Channel (HVC) was a British

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

channel that began operating in 1985, broadcasting

low-budget film A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a film, motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studios, major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream ci ...

s between 8:00p.m. and midnight. Film genres included horror,

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, and

erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...

. In 1992, a second channel, The Adult Channel, was launched by HVC's owner, Home Video Channel Limited (HVCL). It broadcast erotic films and softcore pornography. In 1994, HVCL was acquired by Spice Networks, a television channel group owned by

Playboy Enterprises PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focus ...

. In 1998, HVCL was merged into Playboy TV UK, a Playboy subsidiary that had been broadcasting

Playboy TV Playboy TV (originally The Playboy Channel) is a pay television channel based in the United States. History The adult-oriented, commercial-free premium channel Bravo! launched in the summer of 1979. Bravo! aired two PG or R-rated B movies t ...

in the UK since 1995. Playboy TV UK ceased transmission of the HVC channel in 1999, but it continued to broadcast the Playboy TV channel on the

Sky UK Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...

digital satellite platform. In 2011, Playboy TV UK was sold to Manwin (later

MindGeek Aylo is a Canadian multinational Pornography, pornographic Media conglomerate, conglomerate owned by Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners. It is primarily involved in internet pornography, operating a number of video sharing web ...

), and Playboy TV ceased broadcasting in the UK in 2018.

Early years

The service started on 1 September 1985. It was created by Ealing Cable as one of two channels introduced to help build up content and viewership. The other was Indra Dhnush, a subscription-based Asian channel launched in May 1986 devoted to

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

and

television programmes A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

with some material in other Indian languages. During its early years in operation, HVC purchased many movies as cheaply as possible, making copies via low-band

U-matic U-matic, also known as -inch Type E Helical Scan or SMPTE E, is an analog recording videocassette format developed by Sony. First shown as a prototype in October 1969 and introduced commercially in September 1971, it was among the earliest vi ...

tapes and distributing the films to other cable operators (along with a paper-based schedule) to play within their own local cable areas using a semi-automated system. In March 1987, HVC was sold to one of its rivals,

Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

, and the new owner continued with the channel's existing operational model including the distribution of tapes, and increased its broadcasting hours to 7:00pm–7:00am. In 1989, HVC was sold to a private consortium which expanded its operation by switching to a system of direct broadcast to British and European cable operators instead of sending out tapes, transmitting on the Astra satellite system.

The Adult Channel

The company started a pornographic network called The Adult Channel which was launched on 31 January 1992, a satellite-delivered

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...

service that feature cable-related versions of

adult movies An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

(with softcore content) and top quality erotic programmes as well as various selection of short stories from

Teresa Orlowski Teresa Orlowski (born 29 July 1953) is a former Polish-German performer in and a current producer of adult films in Germany. She was one of the biggest European porn-stars of the 80s. Early life She was born as Teresa Orłowska in Wrocław, Pol ...

. The Adult Channel broadcast for four hours a day commencing at midnight, and was available to approximately two million cable and four million (direct-to-home) satellite households in the United Kingdom. The Adult Channel was also broadcasting throughout continental Europe and had subscribers in over 40 countries. HVC continued to operate during the evening with its movie service showing science fiction, erotica, action, adventure and horror films (especially the uncut versions where available) during the pre-midnight period. The two services were offered to cable operators as a seamless 8.00pm to 4.00am programming service at a single package price. In January 1995, the station transmission was moved from the

Astra 1B Astra 1B was the second of the Astra communications satellites launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites) to add extra capacity to the satellite television (direct broadcasting) services from 19.2° East, serving Germ ...

satellite to the new

Astra 1D Astra 1D is a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1994 by the Société Européenne des Satellites ( SES). , the craft remains in service for occasional use. Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last Astra communic ...

, the channels used frequencies that were not available on the original Sky receivers as they were outside the original BSS band. Sky issued viewers with frequency shifters (known as "ADX Plus Channel Expanders") comprising small boxes as the size of a cigarette packet, with a single switch and an on/off

LED circuit In electronics, an LED circuit or LED driver is an electrical circuit used to power a light-emitting diode (LED). The circuit must provide sufficient current to light the LED at the required brightness, but must limit the current to prevent damag ...

connected between the dish and powered by the receiver, these allowed viewers to switch manually between the

Astra 1A Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), launched in December 1988. During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite origi ...

and Astra 1D frequency bands with a difference of 250 MHz. Several factors were believed to have contributed to this decline by the launch of two competing pornographic services in 1995 – including

Television X Television X (TVX) is a series of adult pay-per-view television channels in the United Kingdom owned by Aylo Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited. Until 2020, it was owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of Richard Desmond's publishing ...

(2 June) and Playboy TV (1 November) – to increased

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, along with the channel's use of an

satellite transponder. By 1997, The Adult Channel had lost subscribers and much of its market share in the United Kingdom. In an effort to address these issues in 1998, the company restructured HVC's management and instituted a change in its transponder to allow it to broadcast on the

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers a ...

satellite from August 1998. The cost of the new transponder was less expensive and the changes were successful with the number of subscribers increasing. The Adult Channel was broadcast after the Sci-Fi Channel and

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

as two widely distributed networks. HVC also switched to the Sky encryption technology in October 1997 to curtail signal piracy. HVC also increased The Adult Channel's programming budget for 1998 with an added emphasis on European programming. The company also increased HVC's advertising budget and reallocated it to the UK DTH market in an effort to regain lost market share. On 1 May 1999, Home Video Channel has ceased transmission after 14 years on air with only the Adult Channel continuing to broadcast afterwards.

Spice Networks

In 1994, Home Video Channel Limited was acquired by Spice Networks, which expanded the distribution throughout the rest of Europe when it increased the number of authorised agents throughout Western Europe that distribute direct-to-home subscriptions through sales of

smart card A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

s. HVC entered into an agency agreement with Nuevas Estructuras Televisivas who had secured affiliation agreements in over thirty Spanish cable systems. The Adult Channel was also carried on the

Canal Digital Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications operator T ...

platform which served subscribers in Scandinavia,

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

and Germany (via

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

) which supplied 16 million homes via cable. In Eastern Europe, the channel was carried by cable systems in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia. One of the more promising programming arrangements was with

Metromedia Metromedia, Inc. (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio station, radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in ...

which operated cable systems in Romania and Russia. However, several of the Romanian cable systems ceased distribution of The Adult Channel as a result of the devaluation of the Romanian currency.

Playboy TV UK

In May 1995, it was announced that

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

's ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine, which had been producing

in the United States since November 1982, would start a new British television station in partnership with

Flextech Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech from 1988 before becoming a subsidiary of Virgin Media and renamed to Virgin Media Television. It was bought by BSkyB in 2010 and renamed to Living TV Group, after ...

(51%) and

(30%).

chairman and chief executive officer Christie Hefner said: David Chance, deputy managing director of British Sky Broadcasting, and Roger Luard, managing director of Flextech plc, jointly said: In November 1995, Playboy TV UK started broadcasting for the first time, running from 11:30pm to 4:00am on Mondays to Thursdays, and also from midnight on Fridays to Sundays. The channel offered a combination of programmes including live shows, comedy series, documentaries and films, as well as several well known stars including

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

Jenny McCarthy Jennifer Ann McCarthy-Wahlberg (' McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, television personality, and anti-vaccine activist. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named thei ...

, Kathy Lloyd and Jo Guest. In December 1998, HVC acquired the 81% interest in Playboy TV UK/Benelux from Flextech and British Sky Broadcasting Limited, and HVC and Playboy TV UK were subsequently merged. Playboy said that HVC would pay approximately US$9 million for the 81% interest and that the timing of the payments would be based on the network's future cash flows. Playboy TV and HVC continued to be delivered on Sky's satellite platform as well as via cable. Playboy Entertainment Group president Anthony J. Lynn said: In February 2005, Playboy TV UK was fined by

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

for broadcasting ''Sandy Babe Abroad'', a hardcore pornographic film, and said "it includes material which should not be transmitted at any time under any circumstance on British television". On 2 April 2009, the station again fined by Ofcom for breaches of its licence, by broadcasting "sexually explicit material unencrypted". In December 2011, Playboy TV UK was sold to the internet pornography company Manwin (later

) along with the rest of Spice Networks. In January 2013, Playboy TV UK was fined once again for failing to ensure that children were protected from potentially harmful pornographic material, they said "there wasn't a system in place on Playboy's on-demand programmes services and they didn't have acceptable controls in place to check that users were aged 18 or over". Playboy TV UK was also available in Finland and Scandinavia through

(in Norway also via Get), in Belgium through

Telenet Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lin ...

, in Switzerland through

Cablecom UPC was the largest cable operator in Switzerland with around 1.1 million residential and business customers and was formed in 1994 through the merger of several cable operators. UPC has been a subsidiary of Liberty Global from 2005 until its disc ...

, in Africa, and also in New Zealand through

Sky Network Television Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services, and broadband internet services. Sky had 1,0 ...

. In November 2017, Sky's EPG slot was bought for the Television X Pay-Per Night service owned by Portland TV. It was unavailable on

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited 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 ...

for two weeks but returned in mid-December 2017. The channel finally closed on Virgin Media in July 2018, with its slot being taken over by sister station XXX Brits. On 22 January 2018, Playboy TV UK/Benelux Limited was renamed MG Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited. On 14 August 2023, the company was renamed once again to Aylo Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited.

References

{{British pornography Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom Cable-only UK television channels Television channels and stations established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations disestablished in 1999 1999 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1994 mergers and acquisitions Movie channels in the United Kingdom Television pornography

Early years

The Adult Channel

Spice Networks

Playboy TV UK

See also

References