Challenge is a British digital TV channel owned by Virgin Media Television. Originally known as The Family Channel, and later as Challenge TV, the station relies heavily on gameshows taken from a variety of sources. Most are repeats of programmes acquired from the terrestrial channels' archives, but a few are original productions commissioned by Challenge itself. Challenge is a common English word that is used generically for many different named competitions and for things that are inbued with a sense of difficulty and victory. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Virgin Media Television (formerly known as Flextech) is a British television company and is entirely owned by the British cable company Virgin Media (previously known as NTL and Telewest) and acts as its television programme production arm. ... 4:3 is a ratio. ... 576i is the shorthand name for a video mode. ... ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For a wider corporate history and profile, see British Sky Broadcasting. ... Virgin Media Inc. ... WightCable is a provider of commercial and residential cable television, telephone and broadband internet services in the United Kingdom. ... Virgin Media Television (formerly known as Flextech) is a British television company and is entirely owned by the British cable company Virgin Media (previously known as NTL and Telewest) and acts as its television programme production arm. ... Quiz show redirects here. ...

The channel also has interactive features for digital cable and satellite viewers watching certain shows, enabling them to play along at home.

Challenge acquires programmes which have usually previously been shown on UK terrestrial channels.

Challenge now broadcasts 24 hours a day. In its early years, it timeshared with The Children's Channel and then later with TV Travel Shop. During this, Challenge would usually begin at 5pm and run until around midnight, with a teleshopping service filling up the early hours when both them and either TCC or TV Travel Shop weren't broadcasting. The Childrens Channel was an early cable channel which began broadcasting on September 1, 1984 in the United Kingdom. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand the article to establish its notability, citing reliable sources, so as to avoid it being considered...

History

Family channel come about in the UK in September 1993 when International Family Entertainment Inc. brought over TVS programme archive, in January of 1993. The Programme archive included a lot of US dramas which where included via MTM Enterprises. This meant that a lot of Programmes where available to be used for the channel, and also meant there owned the right to show which made it possible for New programmes like Family catchphrase. The International Family Entertainment Inc. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The 1990s MTM logo. ...

In 1997 International Family Entertainment Inc. was sold to Fox, and in the UK the station and the sky slot was brought up by Flextech “Maidstone broadcasting” and re-branded as Challenge tv. The company then was brought over by Virgin. The International Family Entertainment Inc. ...

Themed programming

In recent times Challenge has begun to theme its daily schedule. Gameshow repeats typically play in the daytime, action gameshows are shown in early evening, and now reality and casino-based programmes have been introduced late at night. This has drawn criticism to the channel but in return has attracted a whole new audience. ^{[citation needed]}

In late 2004 Challenge introduced the Gameshow Gods slot during weekday evenings, in which two vintage episodes hosted by well-known gameshow presenters such as Bob Monkhouse, Bruce Forsyth and Ted Rogers were shown each night. They would then be replaced with another two gameshows the following month. This re-introduced many gameshow favourites from years gone by. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bob Monkhouse presenting Celebrity Squares (Image copyright British Film Institute) Robert Allen Monkhouse OBE (June 1, 1928 – December 29, 2003) was an English entertainer in the traditional sense, though primarily known as a comedian and game show host. ... Bruce Forsyth, CBE (born Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson on 22 February 1928) is a British showman and entertainer who achieved celebrity on the show Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and became a household name in the UK, going on to present the television shows The Generation Game, Play Your... Ted Rogers (20 July 1935 – 2 May 2001) was a fast talking English comedian and light entertainer (who originally started his career as a red coat entertainer). ...

In the summer of 2005 Challenge showed Old-School Saturdays, featuring popular Saturday-evening programmes of years gone by. This was followed in the autumn by Tea Time Takedown: popular action gameshows, namely The Crystal Maze and Gladiators, were shown in the early-evening slots on weekdays. This theme of programming continues at those times, albeit without the Teatime Takedown label. Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Crystal Maze was a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. ... For other uses, see Gladiator (disambiguation). ...

From spring 2006 Challenge began a Quiz Frenzy on weekday afternoons, playing such quiz shows such as Fifteen to One. Fifteen to One is a popular general knowledge quiz show on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, that ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 that had a reputation for being the toughest quiz on TV. Repeats of the final series used to be shown on Challenge. ...

In summer 2006 Challenge continued its line of themed programmes with Threesomes every weekend. Three classic gameshows such as Catchphrase and Family Fortunes were shown three times a day, back-to-back. This did take a break for a brief time shortly after its introduction but has recently been re-introduced.In March 2007 Fully Loaded was introduced showing double-bills of certain gameshows on weekday mornings. This also brought in the introduction of the short-lived ITV daytime show Cash Cab. Dale's Supermarket Sweep will be joining this line up from August 2007. A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ... Family Fortunes is a long-running British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. ... Cash Cab is a game show originating in the United Kingdom in which passengers in a specially designated taxi cab are offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of trivia questions on the way to their destination. ... Dales Supermarket Sweep is UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format. ...

The next theme as from July 2007 is breakfast action showing RollerJam, The Crystal Maze and Fort Boyard on weekday mornings between 7am and 10am. RollerJam was a roller blade derby which was televised on TNN. It is now cancelled. ... The Crystal Maze was a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. ... Fort Boyard, as seen from the sea. ...

Player

On March 2, 2006, Challenge's parent company Flextech Television launched a new channel called Player. Previously Challenge had aired a late-night block under the Player name (featuring gambling programmes such as Celebrity Poker Club, Casino Casino and the World Poker Tour), which was a great success. ^{[citation needed]} The new full-time Player channel used the same ident as Challenge's Player strand but in a different colour (from red to yellow). The channel was renamed Bravo 2 and has become a sister channel of Bravo rather than Challenge. is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Celebrity Poker Club is a British television show featuring celebrities playing poker. ... The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a series of poker tournaments featuring most of the worlds professional players. ... Bravo 2 is a British TV channel that launched as Player on March 2, 2006. ... Bravo is a British television channel, owned by Flextech. ...

Current Programming

• 8 Out of 10 Cats
• Bullseye
• Cash Poker
• Catchphrase
• Classic Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
• Dale's Supermarket Sweep
• Don't Try This At Home
• Eggheads
• European Poker Tour
• Extreme Dodgeball
• Family Fortunes
• Fear Factor
• Gladiators
• Ninja Warrior/Women of Ninja Warrior
• Nortonland
• Play Your Cards Right
• Showbiz Darts
• Strike It Rich
• Takeshi's Castle
• Take It Or Leave It
• The Crystal Maze
• The Generation Game
• The Price Is Right
• The Ultimate Gambler
• Trivial Pursuit
• Ultimate Poker Challenge
• Weakest Link
• Wheel of Fortune

8 out of 10 Cats is a comedy panel game made by Zeppotron (a subsidiary of Endemol) for Channel 4. ... Bullseye is a British television programme. ... Catchphrase was a game show based on a short lived American game show of the same name. ... For other uses, see Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (disambiguation). ... Dales Supermarket Sweep is UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format. ... Dont Try This At Home was a reality show produced by LWT (In association with Golden Square Pictures) for ITV between 1998 and 2001. ... Eggheads is a BBC quiz game show presented by Dermot Murnaghan. ... The European Poker Tour (EPT) began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold em popularity. ... Extreme Dodgeball is an American television show that debuted on Game Show Network in 2004. ... Family Fortunes is a long-running British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. ... This article refers to the American television show by this title. ... For other uses, see Gladiator (disambiguation). ... See Sasuke (disambiguation) for other meanings. ... Kunoichi romanized as KUNOICHI in Japan) is a womens obstacle course competition held in Japan and broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. ... Nortonland is a British television show that airs on digital channel Challenge, and is based on games played on Graham Nortons Channel 4 show V Graham Norton. ... Play Your Cards Right was a British television game show based on the American show known as Card Sharks. ... Showbiz Darts was a British televised celebrity darts tournament which first aired on October 2, 2006 on the digital television channel Challenge. ... Strike It Lucky was a popular British television game show of the 1980s and 1990s, produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore. ... The 1986 cast of Takeshis Castle Takeshis Castle , literally Operation! Takeshi Castle) was a Japanese game show that aired from 1986 to 1989 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. ... Take It Or Leave It is a gameshow produced and aired on Challenge. ... The Crystal Maze was a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. ... The Generation Game is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two (usually people from the same family, but different generations) compete to win prizes. ... The Price Is Right The Price Is Right in the UK has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Bob Warman, Bruce Forsyth, and Joe Pasquale, plus Ant & Dec and Vernon Kay in the Gameshow Marathon specials. ... Trivial Pursuit is a game show loosely based on the board game of the same name. ... The Ultimate Poker Challenge (UPC) is a series of weekly poker tournaments acting as super-satellites into the series semi-finals. ... Weakest Link (early episodes had the on-screen title The Weakest Link) is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000. ... Wheel of Fortune was a British television gameshow which ran from 1988 to 2001, produced by SMG Productions (Scottish Television) for the ITV network. ...

Former Programmes

• 888.com
• 100%
• 3-2-1
• All Clued Up
• Ballbreakers
• Banzai
• Battle Dome
• Beadle's About
• Big Break
• Blankety Blank
• Blind Date (Only shown during 2006)
• Blockbusters
• Bootsale Challenge
• Candid Camera
• Carnal Knowledge
• Cash Cab
• Cash Poker
• Casino Casino
• Celebrity Poker Showdown
• Celebrity Squares
• Crosswits
• Defectors
• Dog Eat Dog
• Drunken Businessmen
• Endurance UK
• Family Catchphrase
• Fifteen-to-One
• Fort Boyard
• Fort Boyard takes on the world
• Friends Like These
• Game Central
• GamesMaster (Series 1 only because of bad ratings)
• Give Us A Clue
• Glory Ball
• Going for Gold
• Going Straight
• Guinness World Records
• Hot Property
• House of Games
• I Dare You (Currently showing on Men & Motors)
• Ice Warriors
• Incredible Edible Challenge
• Interceptor
• iPlay
• Iron Chef
• It's A Gift
• It's a Knockout
• It's Anybody's Guess
• Karaoke Challenge
• Kenny vs. Spenny
• Knightmare
• King Of The Castle
• London's Hottest Properties
• Mastermind
• Monkey Buisness
• Motormouth
• Mystic Challenge
• Neon Rider (shown when known as Family Channel)
• New Faces
• Night Fever
• Name That Tune
• Perfect Match
• Poker Superstars
• Red Handed
• Robot Wars
• RollerJam
• Sale Of The Century
• Say the Word
• Soap Addicts
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Split Second
• Stakeout
• Stars in Their Eyes
• Strike It Lucky
• Sushi TV
• SWAG
• Telly Addicts (1990-1995)
• That's The Question
• The Amazing Race
• The Heat Is On
• The Moment of Truth
• The Pyramid Game
• TV Scrabble
• The Cooler
• The Games Room
• The Generation Game
• The Golden Shot
• The Krypton Factor
• The People Versus
• Through the Keyhole
• Treasure Hunt
• Under Offer
• Under Pressure
• Whittle
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? (US version on Five US and UK version on Dave)
• Winner Takes All
• Win, Lose or Draw
• World Series of Poker
• You Bet!

888. ... 100% is the name of a television game show which ran in the United Kingdom from the day after the inception of its host television channel, Channel 5 (31 March 1997, now more correctly known as Five) until July 2001. ... 3-2-1 was a game show, made by Yorkshire Television for ITV & ran 10 years between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988 and originally hosted by former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers who was the only host of the show. ... All Clued Up was a short-lived UK game show based The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime which aired from 1987 - 1992. ... Ballbreakers is a billiards gameshow that started on Game Show Network on July 18th, 2005. ... Banzai is a comedy gambling gameshow spoofing the Japanese gameshow and general television style. ... The Battle Dome is lead by Tucker [heath] the Dome ace of the battle frontier and his pokemon are swampert and arcanine. ... Beadles About was a British television programme hosted by Jeremy Beadle, where members of the public became victims of practical jokes behind hidden cameras. ... Big Break was a BBC game show combining quiz show questions with snooker, presented by comedian Jim Davidson and snooker player and later commentator John Virgo. ... Blankety Blank was a British game show based on the American game show Match Game. ... Blind Date was a British dating game show produced by ITV contractor London Weekend Television. ... A game in progress on the British Bob Holness-hosted version of Blockbusters. ... Candid Camera is a long-running television series, created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. ... Cash Cab is a game show originating in the United Kingdom in which passengers in a specially designated taxi cab are offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of trivia questions on the way to their destination. ... Celebrity Poker Showdown was a celebrity game show on the cable network Bravo. ... Hollywood Squares is a American television comedy and game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes. ... This article is about the British game show. ... Ulrika Jonsson, UK Host of Dog Eat Dog Dog Eat Dog was a reality British game show on the BBC hosted by Ulrika Jonsson, which ran from 2001 to 2003. ... Fifteen to One is a popular general knowledge quiz show on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, that ran from 4 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 that had a reputation for being the toughest quiz on TV. Repeats of the final series used to be shown on Challenge. ... Fort Boyard, as seen from the sea. ... This article is about the television series. ... Give Us A Clue is a televised version of charades hosted at different times by Michael Aspel and Michael Parkinson, with two teams: one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una Stubbs. ... Going for Gold Going for Gold by British band Shed Seven, see Going for Gold (album). ... Hot Property is a reality television series broadcast on Five The last two series were completely different to the first, having changed hosts and genre quite significantly. ... Men & Motors is a mens lifestyle television channel in the UK. It is the last remaining station operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and British Sky Broadcasting in 1996. ... Interceptor was a United Kingdom game show created by Jacques Antoine and produced by Chatsworth Television for Thames Television in 1989, and shown on the ITV network during that summer, with the last episode airing on January 1, 1990. ... Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai With the above words begins each edition of Iron Chef, a Japanese television program produced by FujiTV. The original Japanese title is Ironmen of Cooking ). It began airing on October 10, 1993 as a half-hour show and after 23 episodes, it was expanded to a... Its a Knockout was a popular British television gameshow that ran from 1966 to 1982, featuring teams in outlandish costumes (often large latex suits) competing to complete bizarre tasks in absurd games. ... Kenny vs. ... For other uses, see Knightmare (disambiguation). ... Mastermind is a British quiz show, well-known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness. ... Motormouth was a Saturday morning childrens television series that was produced by Television South and aired on ITV for four series (seasons), from 1988 until 1992. ... Neon Rider was a Canadian drama television series which first aired between 1990 and 1995. ... New Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s, presented by Derek Hobson. ... Name That Tune was a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. ... Perfect Match was an Australian dating game show in the same vein as The Dating Game and Blind Date. ... Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament is a series of no limit Texas hold em poker tournaments to determine who is the greatest superstar of poker. ... Robot Wars was a US based robot competition from 1994-1997, and is a British game show broadcast on BBC Two from 1997 until 2002, with a final series broadcast on Five in 2003. ... RollerJam was a roller blade derby which was televised on TNN. It is now cancelled. ... Countries which have their own version Sale of the Century is an international television game show format that has screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. ... Say the word is Namie Amuros 19th solo single under the avex trax label. ... There are several local versions of the reality television show So You Think You Can Dance: So You Think You Can Dance (US); to date there have been three seasons of the US version of So You Think You Can Dance: So You Think You Can Dance (Season 1) So... Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars. ... Strike It Lucky was a popular British television game show of the 1980s and 1990s, produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore. ... Sushi TV is a comedy clip show showing the best and funniest moments from Japanese gameshows over the years. ... Telly Addicts was a game show which ran from 1985 to 1998 on BBC1, hosted by Noel Edmonds. ... Thats the Question logo Thats the Question was a quiz game show on GSN, hosted by Bob Goen, which premiered in October 2006. ... This article is about the reality show format in general. ... The Heat Is On 1990-1994 This popular prime-time BBC talent show was a regular fixture on the Saturday night schedule during the early 1990s. ... The Moment Of Truth is the final episode of the series ÅŒban Star-Racers. ... This January 2007 does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... TV Scrabble is a UK television version of the popular board game (not unlike the American version hosted by Chuck Woolery. ... Bello, Baldwin, and Macy. ... The Generation Game is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two (usually people from the same family, but different generations) compete to win prizes. ... The Golden Shot was a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1967 and 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuss. ... The Krypton Factor was a British game show, produced by Granada Television and hosted by Gordon Burns, broadcast on ITV from 1977 to 1995. ... The People Versus was a television game show which aired on ITV from 2000 to 2002 in the United Kingdom. ... Through the Keyhole is a light-hearted BBC (originally ITV) panel game, where panelists have to attempt to identify the celebrity who lives in a house, after they are given a video tour of it. ... This article is about the UK television game show. ... Whittle was a game show hosted by comedian Tim Vine, made by Pearson Television for Channel 5 the show aired throughout the channels first two years 1997 & 1998. ... Whose Line Is It Anyway? (sometimes abbreviated to Whose Line? or WLIIA?) is a short-form improvisational comedy show. ... Five US is a free-to-view entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by Five, launched on October 16, 2006 It was the second digital channel to be launched by Five as part of their multi-channel strategy, the first being Five Life. ... Dave (previously UKTV G2, UK G2; UK Gold 2 and UK Gold Classics) is a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom, as part of the UKTV network of channels. ... Winner Takes All logo 1976-1980 Winner Takes All was a popular game show that was produced by Yorkshire Television and ran on the ITV network from 1976 until 1988 but returned in 1997 on the cable & satellite channel Challenge TV (now known as Challenge). ... Win, Lose or Draw was an American television game show that aired from September 1, 1987 to September 7, 1989 on NBC and in syndication from 1987 to 1990. ... The WSOP logo The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world. ... You Bet! was a British game show based around the format of the German show Wetten, dass. ...

Presenters

• Toby Anstis 2000-2002
• Andy Crane 1997-1998
• Kevin Duala 1998-2001
• Lisa Rogers 1998-1999
• Carryl Varley 1997-1998, 2000-2002

Toby In his CBBC days. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kevin can currently be seen presenting travel inserts for Thomas Cook TV and can be heard on the radio station BBC7 where he co-hosts a show called Big Toe, which is aimed at children/young teenagers. ... Lisa Rogers (born 7 September 1971 in Cardiff, Wales) is a British television presenter. ... Carryl Varley is a British singer and TV presenter, who has worked on Saturday morning childrens show Scratchy & Co, a presenter on Challenge TV, and also as a presenter on Quiz TV, and more recently on The Great Big British Quiz. ...

Logos

External links

• challenge.co.uk