Jump to content

ITVBe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Absolutely Ascot)

ITVBe
Final logo used from 2022 to 2025
CountryUnited Kingdom
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift serviceITVBe +1
Ownership
OwnerITV plc
ParentITV Digital Channels
Sister channels
History
Launched8 October 2014; 10 years ago (2014-10-08)
Closed9 June 2025; 5 days ago (2025-06-09)
Replaced byITV Quiz

ITVBe was a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. Launched on 8 October 2014, the channel was positioned as a spin-off of ITV2 targeting a female audience, focusing primarily upon reality and lifestyle programmes.

In April 2025, ITV announced that ITVBe would close and be replaced by ITV Quiz. ITVBe closed on 9 June 2025, and ITV Quiz launched the same day.

History

[edit]

In February 2014, ITV announced that it would launch a new digital channel known as ITVBe by the end of the year. Positioned as a "companion" to ITV2, ITVBe would be focused primarily on reality and lifestyle programmes targeting young adult women, such as The Only Way is Essex (whose first-run episodes moved from ITV2 to ITVBe at launch) and The Real Housewives franchise. ITV director of television Peter Fincham explained that the new channel was "an opportunity to develop what is currently part of the ITV2 schedule—reality and non-scripted shows, which are very popular with young women and housewives with kids—into a distinct channel proposition, aimed more squarely at that audience."[1] In July 2014, ITV announced that the channel would launch 8 October 2014.[2]

A high-definition simulcast, ITVBe HD, launched on Virgin Media on 19 November 2014, along with a one-hour timeshift feed, ITVBe +1. Both channels were exclusive to Virgin until the ITVBe +1 service was made available on Sky and Freesat on 15 December 2014, and the ITVBe HD service on 12 December 2023.[citation needed] As part of a number of changes to ITV's broadcasting, ITVBe +1 was removed from Sky and Freesat on 13 April 2021.[3]

ITVBe introduced a new children's block, LittleBe on 3 September 2018. It was dedicated to preschool programming and aired daily from 9:00 a.m. to noon, with its slate including a reboot of long-time CITV series Sooty.[4][5][6] The strand quietly ended on 31 May 2024, despite ITV reassuring that it would be retained following the closure of the CITV channel.[7]

On 3 September 2020, new episodes of ITVBe programmes began to premiere first on the ITV Hub streaming platform ahead of their linear television broadcast the same day, branded as "EarlyBe".[8]

Closure

[edit]

On 16 April 2025, ITV announced that ITVBe would close and be replaced by newly-formatted game show channel to be known as ITV Quiz.[9][10] ITV Quiz launched on 9 June, and ITVBe's programming was moved to ITV2.[11]

Most watched programmes

[edit]

The following is a list of the ten most watched episodes of a series on ITVBe since the channel began broadcasting in October 2014. Figures are based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB.[12] The Only Way Is Essex was consistently the highest rated series on ITVBe.

Rank Show Viewers
(millions) 		Date
1 The Only Way Is Essex 1.36 9 November 2014
2 1.23 17 April 2016
3 1.22 14 October 2018
4 1.21 23 September 2018
5 1.19 10 April 2016
6 1.18 10 October 2014
7 1.18 30 October 2016
8 1.16 11 November 2018
9 1.16 2 November 2014
10 1.16 12 March 2017

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ITV announces free-to-air lifestyle and reality programming channel, ITVBe". The Drum. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  2. ^ "ITV confirms ITVBe launch date". The Media Leader. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  3. ^ "ITVBe +1 axed on satellite". RXTV. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. ^ "ITV Creative • littleBe". Bubble. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Sooty and Sweep are making a comeback!". Yours. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  6. ^ "ITV revives The Sooty Show". Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Broadcasting U-turns of 2024". RXTV. 1 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  8. ^ "ITV Hub launches EarlyBe". Broadband TV News. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Television channel ITVBe to become ITV Quiz, with The Only Way Is Essex moving to ITV2". BBC News. 16 April 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  10. ^ Butler, Clare (30 May 2025). "ITV Quiz launch date confirmed following ITVBe closure". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  11. ^ Moss, Molly (9 June 2025). "ITVBe closes as channel is replaced by new ITV Quiz". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  12. ^ BARB, via [1] Archived 18 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ITVBe&oldid=1295509982"