Closed TV channels you miss.

[superkeegan9100]

Like I said, I still miss The Hub...

View attachment 287956

Kinda ironic how Hub had all those WB shows and now Discovery is merging with them...

 

[RandomMe]

AZN Television/International Channel: I have fond memories of this channel as a kid because this was the network that exposed me to the Japanese version of DBZ. No subtitles but the episodes were far enough into the run compared to the run on Toonami that I could brag to my friends that I was seeing future episodes, even though I could not understand what they're saying(I started watching in the middle of the Cell Saga). I was very sad when Comcast moved the channel from the basic tier to a premium tier(it was during the tournament arc of the Buu saga), so I could not watch it anymore.

Years later, when my family got premium cable, I was able to get the channel again, but by then, the network had re-branded to AZN Television and anime was more-or-less gone. They aired other Asian programming but I wasn't interested. That being said, if the channel was still here today, I probably would watch the live-action programming since I do watch Korean and Japanese dramas.

We didn't even have such a diverse international channel like the one you described. I believe the rebrand to AZN was when some of the program providers left because they already had their linear channels represented by IMD (like Rai Italia and Zee TV).

 

[JMTV]

Kinda ironic how Hub had all those WB shows and now Discovery is merging with them...

What's also ironic that the WB Animation shows used to be on Fox Kids before they moved to Kids WB and then aired reruns on The Hub. I mean, The Hub was basically the a classic throwback to Fox Kids and Kids WB.

 

[superkeegan9100]

What's also ironic that the WB Animation shows used to be on Fox Kids before they moved to Kids WB and then aired reruns on The Hub.

Not just WB Animation, but two WB sitcoms, ALF and Step By Step, as well as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

 

[JMTV]

Not just WB Animation, but two WB sitcoms, ALF and Step By Step, as well as Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Though it won't fold into Star on Disney+ until the end of this month, I'm going to miss Fox UK. I remember the time when it first launched as FX289 back in 2004 and had aired the likes of Batman and Highlander.

 

[themidnightlore]

Though it won't fold into Star on Disney+ until the end of this month, I'm going to miss Fox UK. I remember the time when it first launched as FX289 back in 2004 and had aired the likes of Batman and Highlander.

I'm curious. The 289 in the original channel name had some meaning? It sounds kinda random at first sight.

 

[BlooCNBoy02]

I'm curious. The 289 in the original channel name had some meaning? It sounds kinda random at first sight.

289 represented its initial Sky position, as it was a Sky-exclusive channel then. Then it was removed from the name on 21 April 2005: FX moves EPG positions on Sky

 

[TheWolfPup2006]

I can think of quite a few...

Qubo, Sprout (before it became Universal Kids), Toon Disney, and Discovery Kids USA (before it became The Hub).

 

[kaikaiyumm]

The N i totally miss. The N was such a good channel. Don't get me wrong I loved TeenNick too... until 2016. TeenNick now is just a shadow of its former self. The N, and the few years TeenNick was good.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Though they merged with Sky Witness with their channel space now occupied by Sky Comedy, I miss Universal TV.

289 represented its initial Sky position, as it was a Sky-exclusive channel then. Then it was removed from the name on 21 April 2005: FX moves EPG positions on Sky

That and the FX289 name was a temporary one.

 

[Francisque]

Well, at least Universal TV's content has a home on other Sky channels, which have the potential now to show less repeats.

With NBC Universal merging with Sky operations, Uniiversal TV was doomed from the start , as it's a "general drama" channel.

On Sky Germany NBC universal operations are still run separately from the Sky ones, let's see how long it'll last

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Well, at least Universal TV's content has a home on other Sky channels, which have the potential now to show less repeats.

With NBC Universal merging with Sky operations, Universal TV was doomed from the start, as it was a general drama channel.

True, although Sky Witness wasn't always a drama channel since when it launched in 1993 as UK Living, it was a female-oriented channel.

 

[quintex96]

I recently read that book "Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN" it was so gripping I devoured the whole thing in one day on Kindle, really fascinating read overall, though I was dissapointing that a lot of shows in the later years of the WB kinda got glossed over(surprised there was zero mention of "What I Like About You" considering it ran for four years) and there were some factors that led to the networks downfall which I was hoping to see covered in the book that weren't mentioned at all(I.E. how in 1999 Tribune made it so that broadcasts of WGN outside of the Chicagoland area would no longer air WB programming, which meant at least 10 million homes couldn't watch The WB) but otherwise I enjoyed it.


One of the main factors in the WB's downfall is said to be Jamie Kellner, who left in 2001 for a job elsewhere and also pissed a lot of people off with his whole ACME stock deals. UPN meanwhile was hampered by Dean Valentin, who said some really dumb things(especially in regards to the controversy over the absolutely wretched sitcom "the Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer", oh man if social media was around back then he would've been burned at the stake for his response to the controversy) and couldn't seem to make up his mind about what kind of network UPN was supposed to be, he would cancel shows he personally disliked after only a few airings like Mercy Point(too bad as it was a really interesting show) and he resented the fact that UPN became known as the black network(as he was hoping to appeal to white working class viewers with things like the Love Boat revival).

The most interesting thing was the battle over Buffy, Joss wanted more money per episode(2.35 million)Jamie Kellner wasn't willing to risk it to foot the bill for Fox(some said he was still bitter over his treatment from when he worked at FOX and his bitterness got in the way of him seeing reason) but UPN agreed because of how desperate they were for anything resembling a hit, but in a twist Buffy was actually losing ratings as many viewers were not happy with the darker tone of the show or the network switch(least of all Sarah Michelle Gellar, who would later say that season 6 didn't feel like Buffy to her) killing off Tara was the last straw for many viewers, Buffy frequently got beaten in the ratings by Gilmore Girls which was humiliating for Dean(especially after agreeing to Joss's frankly greedy request) and was one of the reasons why he left UPN.

So yeah i miss the WB like crazy, I recently ordered a brand-new copy of the Sept 3 2004 issue of Entertainment Weekly(which unfortunately has Trump's ugly mug on the front cover as the Apprentice was huge back then, gonna have to handle those pages while wearing gloves as otherwise i'd feel dirty) as that contains a DVD with the pilot episode of the underrated drama "Jack and Bobby". I fondly remember Hal Douglas's promos for The WB, his voice was so perfect for the network, it's basically the audio equivalent of a warm glass of milk before bed. Never found out who the other younger guy doing the promos for WB was though, i'd love to know his name.

I've lately been watching a bunch of old WB promos on Youtube and Vimeo, anyone else remember the "My Generation" one?
I also remember tuning in to the network's final night for their "Night of Favorites and Farewells", it was good to see Buffy on The WB one last time, I remember watching the news for a few minutes after Dawson's Creek ended as I didn't want to believe The WB was truly gone, I had so many memories of watching shows with my sister on there like Gilmore Girls, Jack and Bobby, One Tree Hill, Twins, What I Like About You, Reba(one of my favorite shows ever, screw the CW for screwing it over and not giving it a full final season like it was supposed to), Related, Greetings from Tucson, Smallville and Supernatural.

You know what would be really awesome? If HBO Max re-branded as The WB, because let's face it it's a confusing as hell name that makes most people think of HBO shows like Sopranos and The Wire, not of Looney Tunes and Cartoon Network TV series, and since that name was AT&T's idea and they are now out of the picture, it only makes sense to get rid of old baggage by changing the name to something with a bit more recognition. People tend to forget, but there was a "The WB" online network from 2008-2013 and it was pretty innovative for it's time as it had orgiinal short-form content over a decade before Quibi did(and got way more views as some shows like Sorority Forever got over 7 million views)had a pretty good selection of shows(though a few like Charmed and Felicity were missing since they were owned by other companies)but alas in 2013 it got fully absorbed into the CW Seed. It would be good to see the return of The WB online again(especially since those original online shows are very hard to find online now)I hope Discovery sees the same value in the brand that many of us do.

WB was way ahead of it's time in a number of areas, they were the very first network to have a new show available online as the pilot Jack and Bobby was available to watch on AOL a few days before it aired on TV. They also did cross-promotion by mentioning the artists whose music was featured in their shows during commercial breaks, I thought that was incredibly cool as it introduced me to a lot of artists i'd never heard of before(Michelle Featherstone being one of them).


I also kind of miss PAX TV as I have a lot of fond memories of watching game shows on there, I have the distinct honor of being one of the very few people to have ever watched that ultra-obscure show Palmetto Pointe, if i'd have known how sought after that show would become I would've taped it.

 

[ilpuyopuyo]

In my country (Philippines), I missed KidsCo, JimJam, Discovery Home & Health/Eve, MGM/AMC, TCM, truTV, Red by HBO, Disney XD, E! and Universal Channel.

 

[Markus Nelis]

I miss Disney XD, local Nickelodeon which shut down in around 2013/14 and Nelonen Nappula (the local kids channel in Finland)

 

[J10]

I have missed the following:

• Al-Jazeera Children Channel (before it became Jeem TV), the sad things for this are that it changed it's name in 2013 and that its ownership moved to beIN on April 2016. Even Baraem with its old idents before it got encrypted on beIN, and then rebranded in 2017.
  Spoiler: Al Jazeera Children

  

  

  

  

  
• ARTeenz (An ART Kids Channel, Part of Arab Radio & Television). This channel has aired Courage The Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, and Tom & Jerry Tales in Arabic Subtitle, Loonatics Unleashed, and Totally Spies (in Arabic Dub), before most of them (excluding Johnny Bravo and Loonatics Unleashed) moved to MBC3.
  
  
  
• Spacetoon English (Known as Spacetoon 2). This channel was terminated temporarily on January 2011, but then the plan for returning has been collapsed for good. It used to air shows in Arabic subtitles. It used to air Merrie Melodies, even some of those Black and White shorts, subtitled to Arabic. Also, it aired shorter ad breaks all day, unlike it’s sister channels, Spacetoon Arabic and Spacepower. It also aired The Flinstones, The Jetsons, and Popeye the Sailor Man.
• WarnerMedia’s/Turner’s CN Africa and Boomerang Africa. If they stayed in the region until now and not to be exclusive to beIN, broadcasting to all providers, including OSN, instead of launching CN/Boomerang MENA, then it’ll have been became HD and have added Fully Arabic Dub to most programs, excluding some, which should be aired only to Africa, and in MENA Region, replace undubbed shows or simply subtitle them. Also, if they stayed, then CN Arabic would return to HD again via Arabsat and Nilesat, and it’ll have been broadcasted on DStv to Sudanese and other Arabic-speaking Sub-Saharan Viewers at that time.
• Ajyal (A Saudi State-owned Kids Channel). This channel has lasted until 2018, and has closed down during the beginning episode of Postman Pat and turned to colorbars.
• Ashorooq TV (A Sudanese Channel, which is used to broadcast in Dubai until they completely moved to Sudan). The channel has been closed by the government due to money funded by Omar Al-Basheer (Ex-President of Sudan), and it got returned in April 2020 for Ramadan, but on September of last year, it got closed because of changing authorized person to manage the channel. The former one, El-Shafee Ibrahim, refuses to go out as he wants to stay in the channel, until the police came to the building. One day, it’ll return and whenever it got closed, sooner or later comes back, hopefully on Arabsat. This channel aired cartoons like Oggy and Cockroaches, during a kids show called Flowers Train (قطار الزهور), and I watched that channel when I was a kid.

More to come soon…

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Watchmojo did a video on US TV channels that have since folded.

 

[Jean74]

G4 As it had the TV video arcade show "Starcade".

 

[superkeegan9100]

Watchmojo did a video on US TV channels that have since folded.

I thought G4 came back...?