BBC Choice: Difference between revisions

When BBC Choice launched, no digital TV receivers were available to the general public as [[Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)|Sky Digital]] and [[ITV Digital|ONdigital]] had not yet launched. Instead, the launch programme was broadcast over the internet, with the first day's schedule including a ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'' guide to digital television and repeats of the very first episodes of ''[[EastEnders]]'' and ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''.

BBC Choice also introduced an innovative programme format known as 'Hotlink', which expanded on popular shows. Examples included ''[[Watchdog  (TV seriesprogramme)|Watchdog Extra]]'', where viewers could contact the show by phone or e-mail with either questions or feedback on the issues discussed. ''[[Crimewatch|Crimewatch Extra]]'' provided follow-up detail on the cases involved in the main programme, and ''Row Z'' was a football discussion forum that aired after ''[[Match of the Day]]'' finished on BBC One. The 'Hotlink' format has since been adopted by many other channels, particularly both [[ITV2]] and [[E4 (TV channel)|E4]].

BBC Choice also aired [[Children's television|children's programmes]]; this duty transferred to [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC Channel]] and [[CBeebies]] when they launched on 11 February 2002.

For the first year of BBC Choice, children's programming would air on weekend afternoons as '''CBBC Choice''', and included strands like 'Dog & Dinosaur', 'The Crew Room', 'L&K Replay' and 'Re:Peter'. From 29 November 1999, this was supplanted with a daily '''CBBC on Choice''' strand, running from 6{{nbsp}}am to 7{{nbsp}}pm every day, for programmes aimed at pre-school children, with presentation links pre-recorded by a CBBC presenter. It included repeats of archive shows rarely seen on the main channels, such as ''[[Mr Benn]]'', ''[[Paddington (1975 TV series)|Paddington]]'', ''[[Simon and the Witch]]'', ''[[Ivor the Engine]]'', ''[[Jonny Briggs]]'', ''[[Pigeon Street]]'', and ''[[Bitsa]]''. This continued until February 2002, when the [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC]] and [[CBeebies]] channels launched, with the [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC channel]] taking up BBC Choice's daytime broadcast bandwidth, but occupying a separate [[electronic program guide|EPG]] position.