Screenshop was a British strand of

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. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

-based

shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

programming and television channel, owned by Bid Shopping.

History

Screenshop was initially launched in October 1997 by

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 ...

, used as a filler service within the downtime of their owned networks, with intentions to expand to a standalone 24-hour digital network by 1998. It was intended to be the UK equivalent to HSN Direct, where it would show products from across the world from third-party companies. By 1998-1999, Screenshop launched an online store. In August 1999, Flextech revealed a £14 million loss from the launch of Screenshop and

TV Travel Shop TV Travel Shop was a British television channel that sold holidays. It launched in April 1998, primarily on satellite and cable, broadcasting between 6am and 5pm, sharing space with Challenge. In 1999, the channel began broadcasting 24 hours a ...

. In early December 1999, Flextech announced that they would merge with cable provider

Telewest Communications Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also onc ...

to create a £10.5bn media giant, with the deal finalising by April 2000. On 8 September 2000, a full 24-hour Screenshop network was launched on Sky Digital following many delays. On 6 March 2001, Telewest announced that they would sell Screenshop to Sit-Up TV, the owners of Bid-Up.TV, for £10 million in exchange for a 38% stake in Sit Up that was valued at a £14.8m cash injection. The sale would merge Screenshop into Bid-Up.TV's own operations. Following the sale, Screenshop began to broadcast on the station during it's downtime. On 29 August 2002, a second Screenshop channel, entitled Screenshop 2, was launched on Sky Digital. In July 2004, Sit Up signed a four-year deal with

Vector Direct Vector Direct was a direct response television company showing longform infomercials on the Freeview, Virgin Media cable service and Sky Digital platforms in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelan ...

to allow Vector to exclusively supply Screenshop's programming, as well as during the downtime on Bid Up and Price Drop. The deal was valued at £5 million. After the deal closed, Screenshop lost its identity with all products shown on the channel being those from Victor Direct. Screenshop's website closed at the same time and became a redirect to Victor Direct's online store. Beginning in November 2005, Screenshop began being supplied by TV Network under their TV Warehouse brand, with Screenshop's website transitioning into a redirect over to them. This was following Vector Direct's appearance on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

programme, which was due to the company charging unknowing customers £99.00 for entrance into a "Travel and Leisure" club, in which entry was automatic with every purchase.https://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/consumer_goods/consumer_20060314_2.shtml At some point, both Screenshop channels were removed from the Sky EPG, leaving them solely as filler on Sit-Up's other channels. On 3 March 2008, Screenshop 2 relaunched on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

channel 680, using the downtime of

Speed Auction Bid Plus (formerly Speed Auction) was a British television shopping channel owned by Bid Shopping. The channel ceased broadcast on 1 July 2013. History Early History In March 2005, Sit-Up announced that they would launch a third shopping chan ...

. The channel showed various items from 1.30am to 7.30am every night. Screenshop 2 closed on 29 April 2012.

References

External links

{{Bid Shopping Bid Shopping Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012 Television channels and stations established in 1997

History

See also

References

External links