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TV-YOU
ITV2 was launched on 9th December 1998. UTV didn't want this service and decided upon their own version, provisionally called UTV2. It was supposed to launch several times in early 1999, but each launch was postponed, depriving Northern Irish viewers of ITV2's output. Some months before it started, a new channel appeared on the Northern Irish ITV/C4 MUX, broadcasting this Test Card:
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When it finally got going in July, it was a suprise to many viewers that it carried no advertising or continuity. Well, the occasionaly one would slip in, as UTV take the ITV2 broadcast feed. This means they also take the ITV2 DOG for networked programming:
But when ITV2 go to a break, TV-YOU viewers see a montage of images from around the province superimposed by the TV-YOU logo. This is due to the fact that only people with OnDigital STBs or integrated digital TVs can receive the service - I estimate the total potential viewers to be only a few thousand. UTV is hampered by the fact that the only cable operator in the province, ntl, unlike other cable companies does not carry ITV2 or its variants on any of its original services. This position should be rectified within months.But back to the images that are shown throughout the breaks. There are six locations, each starting with a close-up and then panning out - similar to the 1996 UTV idents.
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The logo shown above is then shown briefly before each location. The trail is intended to be shown in widescreen, but often, especially during or between 4:3 programmes, it is shown without the widescreen flag, effectively squashing the image to 4:3. Below are the locations. Any help on naming them all would be much appreciated.
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Note that the 'Our Price' sign has been blurred out.
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The KFC sign has not been blurred out here. This was obviously taken in early 1999, as KFC is now in Upper Main Street, opposite the First Trust Bank.
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These images have been reused in one of the new UTV idents.
Thanks to Mike McGonagle for identifying Location 2, Bryan Kerr for identifying 6 and Peter Hamill for locations 2,5, and 6. Any more information on any of these locations would be much appreciated.