Top Up TV launches

Top Up TV has launched on digital terrestrial television. The new pay-television service offers 10 timesharing channels – E4, UKTV Gold, TCM, UKTV Style, Discovery Channel, Discovery Home & Leisure, UKTV Food, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Bloomberg – for £7.99/month. The service is currently only available to owners of ONdigital set top boxes, as there are no compatible receivers (with card slots) on the market.

Cartoon Network begins testing

Cartoon Network has begun test broadcasts ahead of the official launch of Top Up TV on Wednesday. Other channels are still broadcasting the Top Up TV Promo video or other video tests.
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BBCi: The Genius of Mozart

Prompt on BBC Four after pressing the red button

Disney's "Daytime" begins testing

SDN have commenced test transmissions of the new non-subscription channel that is being launched by Disney. The channel was provisionally called "Daytime" - and the name has been seen on test broadcasts - however it is thought that Disney are now considering a new name. Digital Spy members have reported seeing the tests during the daytime hours on channel 25, which will be used in the evening and overnight by Top Up TV channel TCM from March 31. The new channel will have its own channel number but will timeshare with the subscription channel, and will not be available in Wales as the space is used by Welsh-language channel S4C2.
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Freeview "could outstrip Sky by 2007"

MediaGuardian is reporting that Freeview could be more popular than Sky by 2007, according to research carried out by ZenithOptimedia. Freeview is expected to be in ten million homes, compared to 8.9 million Sky homes, four years from now.
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EPG delayed... again!

Testing of the seven-day EPG on the Crystal Palace transmitter has hit unspecified technical problems, delaying full nationwide implementation of the service.
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Sky drop "Channel 6" plans

The Times reports that BSkyB boss James Murdoch has decided to abandon plans for the launch of a new entertainment channel on Freeview (a so-called "Channel 6") so that the company can focus on developing its pay-TV services. Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Travel will however continue to broadcast on Freeview but they will not receive significant increases in funding.
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Top Up TV channels appear

Top Up TV channels broadcast on multiplex A - that's all of them except E4, Boomerang and UK Food - have launched placeholders on the EPG today. The channels, rather than being grouped separately, are mixed in with the existing Freeview channels.
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