Sound TV was 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 ...

television channel following the tradition of the

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

, which has not been popular in Britain since the 1980s. It aspired to give television exposure to acts (young and old) unable to acquire airtime on other channels. The

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the channel was

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

and

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Richard Digance Richard Digance (pronounced DYE-jance; born 24 February 1949) is an English comedian and folk singer. Early life Digance was born in Plaistow, East London. After his family moved to nearby East Ham, he attended Vicarage Lane Primary School ...

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

and

Mike Osman Mike Osman (born August 1959) is an English radio presenter, impressionist and entertainer. He was born in Millbrook, Southampton as the fourth of seven brothers. After leaving Millbrook Community Secondary School at 16, he was briefly an apprenti ...

were executives and associates and Cornish

Jethro Jethro is a male given name meaning "excellence". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Frankli ...

was a director. The channel was managed by Information TV, a factual channel which broadcast on the same frequency between midnight and 16:00. Sound TV's launch was delayed several times under its working title of ''The Great British Television Channel''.

Opening night

19:00

and

discussed the vision for the new channel, such as an opportunity to give

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

exposure and breaks to new talent. Digance commented that they could not financially compete with

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

, and therefore could not afford lavish productions such as ''Live at Her Majesty's''. They contrasted themselves to other

executives: if the turn didn't turn up, they said, then they themselves could do the gig.
19:30 ''Golden Moments''
20:00 ''The New Variety Show'' — From Jethro's club in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

22:00 ''Inside the Comedy Mind'' — Alan King meets

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

23:00 ''Classic Concert'' — Johnny Dickinson

Closure

resigned from the board of directors in August following creative differences and the station went off air soon after (because of cashflow problems).

Administrators Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Portland Business Solutions were called in on 3 October 2005. The slot reverted to Information TV.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sound Tv Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2005 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2005