Seen On TV stops broadcasting, just weeks after its launch and days after it was forced to stop live programmes.
- Sky throws channel off platform.
- Representatives confirm channel lost control over its tech.
- Customers report non-arrival of deliveries.
East Midlands-based Seen On TV has crashed off Sky, Freeview and Freesat after a series of financial and technical problems struck the fledging shopping channel.
During Tuesday afternoon, Sky pulled Seen On TV from its channel guide, while Freeview and Freesat went to black.
It follows reports late last week that claimed the channel had faced an unexpected increase in costs and needed to raise more capital to cover the costs.
Then on Tuesday, a representative from the channel posted on social media that the channel had lost access to its technology platforms. This included, according to posts, access to its customer services email.
According to viewers of the channel, live programmes had been dogged with camera problems. By the end of last week, live programmes were replaced by recorded shows.
At the weekend, Seen On TV’s Alex Knowles blamed “platforms we are working with increasing the rent within the contract and once we were on air”. In a comment on ShoppingTelly.com*, Knowles confirmed the channel needed to “seek more investment” to keep going.
Communicating entirely via posts on social media, the channel sought to reassure viewers until recently that orders would be fulfilled. However, customers have reported non-delivery of recently ordered items.
Sky, in accordance with its strict channel listing rules, pulled Seen On TV from its slot on channel 682 on Tuesday. Broadcasters lose their channel slot if they can’t maintain programming. Freeview allows broadcasters to suspend programmes for around three months before losing their channel slot.
The short-lived history of Seen On TV
Seen On TV launched on Sky on the 5th June, before being added to Freeview and Freesat a week later.
Even the launch on Freeview was confused. Seen On TV actively advertised its channel being on channel 79. But viewers who have recently updated their channel list (or retuned Freeview) would have found the channel on 94. The channel took over Freeview bandwidth from the abruptly closed EarthxTV, but didn’t inherit the rights to Earthx’s channel number.
Its launch follows the recent arrival of the similarly named Shop On TV, which is a completely separate business. Shop On TV is entirely unaffected by these developments.
Notably, both channels include personnel who were in various ways involved with the former incarnation of Ideal World, which went into administration last year and was subsequently bought out by TJC.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: screengrab following its launch
*RXTV has amended this link to a copy of the webpage stored by the Internet Archive. This is because, as of 30/06/2024, the original page and comment is offline.