The new ITV Quiz channel will take over the broadcast slots of ITVBe on Freeview, Freesat, Freely, Sky, EE TV and Virgin Media.
- ITVBe was originally set up to allow ITV to expand its reality offer
- Top ITVBe shows move (back) to ITV2
- ITV Quiz launch won’t be a return to the infamous ITV Play channel.
A reshuffle of ITV’s linear digital channels will see the line blurring between streaming and traditional broadcast services this summer.
ITV Quiz will arrive on all major TV platforms replacing ITVBe during June, building on the development of ITV’s quiz-themed streaming channels on ITVX.
ITVBe’s reality shows will migrate to ITV2. It means The Only Way is Essex will return to its original home of ITV2, alongside other ITV reality shows including The Real Housewives of Cheshire. ITV2 favourites including Family Guy, Love Island and G’Wed will continue to feature on ITV2 as well as streaming on ITVX.
ITVBe was set up back in 2014 to offer more scheduling opportunities for reality shows, which couldn’t all fit on ITV2’s schedule. That in turn allowed ITV2 to introduce other types of programmes. Until last spring, ITVBe also carried a strand of pre-school children’s programmes, which was quietly axed and moved online to ITVX.
ITV2 has in recent years also experimented with showing re-runs of quiz and game shows, including Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win and Family Fortunes. They’ll now have a permanent new home on the new ITV Quiz channel.
About ITV Quiz
ITV has been experimenting with quiz/game show channels on its streaming service, ITVX since its launch in 2022. According to internal sources, ITVX’s quiz-themed channels have been among the most popular of the streaming-only channels offered on ITVX. That’s given ITV bosses the confidence to launch ITV Quiz, a service that will be available across all major TV platforms as well as ITVX.
That appears to be bad news for Sky’s Challenge channel, which has until now been the linear home of many of ITV’s top quiz shows, including The Chase, and the only dedicated quiz/game show channel in the UK.
Full schedule details for the new channel have yet to be confirmed. ITV Quiz will take over the broadcast capacity of ITVBe on satellite, cable, terrestrial and online TV platforms.
However, ITV Quiz will be very different from ITV’s last foray in to 24 hour quiz channels. Almost twenty years ago, ITV launched ITV Play, which invited viewers to call in to participate. The channel was embroiled in an industry-wide premium rate phone-in scandal, when it emerged ITV and other broadcasters had routinely cheated viewers. It ultimately resulted in ITV Play closing down.
ITV Quiz, on the other hand, will focus on replays of existing long-form quiz and game shows rather than live interactive programming.
Meanwhile, ITV will introduce some of its other streaming-only channels to the Freely channel guide for the first time, meaning viewer using newer Freely-compatible smart TVs will be able to access the services directly from the main channel list, without having to first navigate through the ITVX app.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: ITV