It’s official – ITV Quiz has launched today, taking over from ITVBe as announced back in April.
The new channel brings a dedicated home for quiz content to Freeview, Freesat and all major TV platforms, delivering on ITV’s promise to create a specialist destination for game show fans.
The channel is broadcasting quiz shows from 9am to 1am daily, giving trivia fans something to watch at almost any hour – though you’ll have to find something else to do in those early morning hours.
What shows can we expect on ITV Quiz?
The launch month lineup includes plenty of familiar faces and formats. You’ll find episodes of Tipping Point, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Lingo, Tenable, Deal or No Deal and Wheel of Fortune (Hosted by Graham Norton) in the schedule.
I’m particularly looking forward to seeing some of the Jeremy Clarkson Millionaire episodes again – his brutal reactions to contestants’ mistakes make for oddly compelling telly, even on repeat viewing.
The channel features shows hosted by Stephen Mulhern, Warwick Davies, and Mel Giedroyc too, so there’s quite a range of hosting styles across the different formats.
Where to find ITV Quiz
ITV Quiz has taken over ITVBe’s channel numbers across all platforms, starting today:
- Freeview: Channel 28
- Freely: Channel 22
- Freesat: Channel 119
- Sky: Channel 131 (or 125 on Sky Glass)
- Virgin Media: Channel 119
- YouView: Channel 28
And as you’d expect, everything is also available for streaming on ITV’s streaming service, ITVX.
On Freeview, viewers don’t need to retune to get the new programming – however, the channel’s label may be incorrect (still showing ITVBe), until you retune your device.
Reportedly, and somewhat disappointingly, the new quiz channel will be available in HD on all platforms – EXCEPT for Freeview.
The end of ITVBe
We first reported back in April that ITV was planning to shut down ITVBe after 11 years. The channel had been home to reality TV content like TOWIE and The Real Housewives franchises since October 2014.
All that content has now moved over to ITV2, creating what the broadcaster described as a “supercharged” channel that houses all their reality programming.
For TOWIE, this is actually a homecoming, as the show originally aired on ITV2 before moving to ITVBe.
The closure makes sense in today’s TV landscape. When viewers are already splitting their time between traditional channels and streaming services, maintaining two separate channels with similar content was probably a luxury ITV could no longer justify.
Why quiz shows?
Quiz shows have been part of ITV’s DNA from the very beginning. Just a day after the channel launched in 1955, they aired Take Your Pick – the first British TV quiz to offer a cash prize.
By 1958, ITV was showing quiz programmes six nights a week, turning them into a national obsession.
That obsession clearly hasn’t faded much, with ITV revealing that 43 million viewers (69% of the population) watched at least one quiz show on their channels last year.
Even more impressively, quiz shows generated 185 million streams on ITVX in the past year. With numbers like that, you can see why ITV believes there’s enough audience demand to support a dedicated channel.
A smart move?
The launch of ITV Quiz feels like a bit of a throwback in an era when most broadcasters are focused on streaming. It’s almost refreshing to see a new free-to-air channel being launched rather than yet another subscription service – though most of the programming was already available on other ITV channels.
For those of us who still regularly watch linear TV through Freeview or Freesat, having a new specialist channel that doesn’t require a monthly fee is definitely welcome.
The concept also makes commercial sense: Quiz shows are relatively inexpensive to produce compared to drama or comedy, and they often have good repeat value. Viewers will happily watch episodes multiple times, especially of formats like Millionaire or The Chase.
Plus, with such a strong back catalogue to draw from, ITV can fill 16 hours of daily broadcasting without necessarily commissioning loads of new content.
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