That’s TV is launching a new spin-off channel on Wednesday 3rd January, which will provide a further free-to-air outlet for the broadcaster’s recent archive content acquisitions.
- Home and Away episodes from the 1980s start at 8pm on Wednesday
- Channel 4’s Humans, Baywatch and Prisoner: Cell Block H all coming to That’s TV 2.
- That’s TV 2 takes over from That’s Christmas on Freeview, plus Sky satellite and Freesat.
That’s TV has confirmed its launching a new free-to-air TV service, with the last minute release of schedules for the new That’s TV 2 channel, with less than 24 hours to go.
Highlights of That’s TV 2 includes the first ever series of Home and Away, which was first shown on the ITV Network back in 1989.
Early episodes focused on the Fletcher family with Roger Oakley and Vanessa Downing starring as Tom and Pippa Fletcher.
Other series appearing on the channel include the hit thriller Humans, which became Channel 4’s best rating drama series, when it aired in 2015.
That’s TV 2: first night schedule – 3rd January 2024
19:05 Baywatch
20:00 Home and Away. First two episodes.
21:00 Humans. First episode.
22:00 Bread. S3 E2.
22:35 Likely Lads. S1 E4.
23:10 Prisoner: Cell Block H. First episode.
▶ Where to find That’s TV 2 on Sky, Freesat and Freeview
That’s TV 2 takes over the slot currently used by That’s Christmas. As a result, TVs should automatically pick up the channel.
- Sky channel 188
- Freesat channel 181
- Freeview channel 65
You won’t be able to watch the channel if you use Sky Glass/Sky Stream.
And it’s not available on Virgin Media.
EE TV users can see the channel on 65, if you use Aerial Mode (which is the only option on older ex-BT TV YouView boxes) and are within range of the Freeview signal. It’s not included in the Internet Mode list of channels pushed to newer boxes.
That’s TV first launched as a local TV channel operator. In recent years, it has rapidly diversified, firstly into a provider of multiple music channels and now scooping up the rights to screen archive TV shows from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The main That’s TV channel is the home of shows including Benny Hill, Kenny Everett, Shameless and Little Britain.
But the broadcaster has been criticised for its local TV commitments, with That’s TV only resuming local news on Thursday 4th January after the holidays. The local channels are scheduled to show just 2 x15 minute bulletins during the early evening, with three hours of local news on a loop from 3am. That’s TV’s local licences enable it to screen its main channel on Freeview channel 7 or 8 in various parts of Britain. It originally won the right to hold local TV licences based on much higher commitments to local programming.
Marc Thornham