Channel A (Flarland)

Channel A was a Flarlandian television channel operated initially by Exceeda Productions and later sold off to Couch Slave Entertainment. The channel ran for exactly twenty years. It was known in its golden age (turn of the millennium to its shutdown) for its "weird" mix of programming.
The channel was unfairly shut down in two dates in the same month, on most cable and satellite operators on December 3, 2013 and on the remaining operators as well as terrestrial television on December 31, 2013. The channel also had offices in overseas territories and selected countries.
==History==
===Launch===
In 1992, Exceeda Productions applied for a cable and satellite television license for a whole new television channel, known as "Channel A". The team thought that the name was considered "vague" and demanded a change, but the applicants thought that the name was "the only viable option, a name that can stand out from the crowd of growing television channels". On May 12, 1993, the channel's license was greenlighted and Channel A was publicly listed as a company for the first time.
On September 17, 1993, Channel A formally launched at 5am. The first program was The Morning Crew, a program hosted by Richard Lawley and was a television emulation of a radio program, shown for four hours a day. The channel ran for fourteen hours and was a "daytime channel", intended to compete against IBC's Network 7, which was a satellite entertainment channel relaying parts of the terrestrial IBC schedule (the primetime schedule was derived from IBC's, after Channel A shut down at 7pm), and was mainly targeted at teens and young adults. After 7pm, the channel shut down and ceded its frequencies to sister channel Not Another Movie Channel, which went on air until 5am the following morning.
===1993-1999===
The channel had to rely on cheap programming, usually made in Flarland, and mostly drawing in from the Screenworks catalog, as the channel was operated by an aide of the company. The channel had to provide hourly news updates at the start of each hour with a longer update being shown at 1pm for five minutes (other updates ran for one minute at best). In order to survive, the channel began showing reruns of Club X, apparently acquired from future owner Couch Slave Entertainment, specifically reruns of the Channel Ten series between 1989 and 1992. The channel premiered a game show in October 1993, Would You Ask Me?, in which contestants would ask weird-sounding questions to the presenter. On the 21st of June, starting in 1994, the channel celebrated the Summer Solstice with the annual Dight (a portmanteau of "day" and "night") festivals run by the channel from 5pm to 11pm, thus extending the broadcast hours even further for one day only. Channel 14 revived this festival in 2000, but it was unsuccessful.
In 1995, Exceeda bought Screenworks, leading to a minimal extension of the channel's programming library. Under Exceeda's agreement, Channel A would continue operating from its Warley headquarters while Exceeda would still be headquartered in Basildon. The following year, the channel had to invest in original programming, a remarkable first for a cable channel, facing rerun issues, and trying to captivate younger audiences.
Channel A's news operation started to "get serious" when their news operation began running selected footage of the O.J. Simpson murder case trial in 1995, however, due to technical schedule limitations and timezone issues, it couldn't afford a live broadcast. A solution was made for Channel A to relay the footage to other television channels in Flarland and broadcast it live on Sat News (Flarland's only dedicated news channel at the time) live. It also introduced its very own teletext service, A Text, in 1996, but it canned in 2001 due to declining usage and the shutdown of the analog service.
Although digital satellite services started in July 1996, Exceeda did not have the budget to split its two channels apart and create 24-hour services. On 26 August 1996, Channel A adjusted its broadcast hours, starting at 6am and ending at 9pm, giving Not Another Film Channel a chance to broadcast entirely during the watershed hours. On 16 December 1996, Channel A and Not Another Film Channel became 24/7 channels on FST, SelecTV and Sat Digital. Cable subscribers would still get the combined service of both Channel A and Not Another Film Channel, therefore they had to wait until digital cable was introduced so that the separate services would become widespread. Channel A also started a longer news program, shown for half an hour every evening at 7pm, competing directly against 14 National News and FBC News on 3, both targeted at the same audience, and was shown until the channel shut down. The other news updates were removed from the schedule. Although analog cable was still widespread, some operators carried either Channel A, NAFC or both 24 hours a day on separate channel slots.
On November 15, 1998, Channel A launched on BEdigital, airing 24 hours a day until it collapsed on May 1, 2002. The channel was made available on the basic package, considering that, at the time, there were no options for new channels to begin terrestrial broadcasts.
===1999-2002===
On October 15, 1999 (coinciding with the rebrand of Not Another Film Channel as Flick), Channel A rebranded for the first time, keeping the logo but changing the look into something "more contemporary". At this point the channel underwent a massive repositioning, targeting the 14-25 human demographic, showing itself as a channel where "creative freedom is what matters". As part of a process of "digitalization", the channel was constrained to a sixteen-hour schedule again on analog, knowing that the "selling point" would be the 24-hour digital service, and the programming mostly seen after 9pm. At this time, a separate feed appeared on analog cable and FST analog which existed until FST would decommission its analog service. Some programming like Home and Away could be seen exclusively on the digital service and programming on analog would be replaced with repeats of Flarlandian shows. For a brief period in the late 90s, some analog providers carried the two channels separately.
One of the key programs in this phase was Cult TV, shown on Friday and Saturday nights between 8 and 11pm. Cult TV's crown jewel was Cult Detour, where random footage from old TV shows was distorted. In late 2000, the Nashlandian series Jam was broadcast by the channel.
On June 30, 2001, analog satellite broadcasts ceased as part of FST's move to a fully-digital operation. Shortly afterwards, Couch Slave Entertainment acquired Exceeda for about FL$100 million, thus creating a larger company, then known as Exceeda Couch Slave. The channel would still be run from the Exceeda part of the company but Couch Slave would now run the programming decisions. As a result, syndicated reruns of Couch Slave Entertainment programs as well as new ones for the channel were introduced, and much of the older imported output, including Home and Away, left the schedule.
===2002-2006===
In September 2002, Channel A rebranded yet again to a look that reflected "the growing internet culture". Some acquisitions of the channel included 11:39 Deckbang, season 2 of The Unauthorized History of Flarland, the Gorilla Salad output and, beginning October 2003, Media for Dinner, all from Channel 14, and the FBC series High Score. The channel didn't, however, hold syndication rights for FBC series Team KRA as Channel 14 stayed with them, which was unusual given the fact that the show was made by the FBC. Despite this, Ajakoo's Soupstock did air on the channel, but rather unsuccessfully.
In 2002, the channel introduced Flarland to "the next band sensation", Pillgarrow. The band was quite successful, however after a year the band went on hiatus before being entirely disactivated. In 2003, the channel unveiled "the strangest gameshow ever made in Flarland", Escape, shown on summer evenings, often live for periods of one hour. The show quickly gained a cult following despite there being not enough footage of the Flarlandian version available but of the Ashtalaian and Michillian versions.
On April 1, 2003, the analog cable feed readjusted its broadcast hours to 5am-8pm, giving Flick a new prime time slot. Some cable operators simply hated the decision. There were even claims that this was a mere marketing ploy in order to migrate more customers, although there were still many people on analog cable lines.
In early 2004, Exceeda Couch Slave was dissolved and Couch Slave was now the owner of the entirety of the channel. Some Exceeda reruns would still continue, because Exceeda was facing funding issues and Couch Slave holds their archives.
On May 7, 2005, Channel A dropped most older shows from circulation as a means for the channel to "stay afresh", as their intent was to create a second channel for said content, including Exceeda shows. New "imports", mostly reruns of Channel 14 shows, were added. Said channel, known as A Plus, launched in 2007. During the Oxton terrorist attacks in July of that year, Channel A simply refused to cover reports on the tragedy because "the channel is not made for tragedies" according to channel manager Richard Stanley.
===2006-2010===
On April 21, 2006, Channel A rebranded yet again, this time changing their logo for the first time in nearly thirteen years. The rebrand went unannounced. Another quirk of a rebrand is a new schedule, and said wasn't announced either.
The new look was made by Skin Creative. Skin initially wanted the initial batch of idents to feature music, but ultimately there were divergences and the idents ended up lacking any soundtrack.
The channel began free terrestrial transmissions on September 3, 2006, promoting itself with a group of women saying that the channel was now available "at the price of rain" (which in Flarland is synonymous with the word "free") on Freeview channel 32. New programming arrived, including content from abroad, with highlights being the Sarian drama series Tinsel Town and the Michillian series Hormones.
The channel entered the so-called "Dark Ages" around 2007, when the channel, owing to its entrance in the terrestrial television market, began to dwindle its quality. The channel started to depend more and more on repeats of CSE programming made for other channels rather than making its own content. In March 2008, the channel even started airing syndicated reruns of K-Zone animated series Milo of the Deep, produced by Studio Warley, which had just been acquired by Couch Slave Entertainment.
Another rebrand happened in April 2009. The channel started widescreen broadcasts at this point. There were even talks of an HD feed but nothing came into fruition. The channel also launched on local overseas Freeview platforms in the Henleys, Eumoritown and Yawnaro, after being available on cable in the Henleys.
Pump Music TV premiered in October 2009. A second season premiered in 2011.
===2010-2013===
On December 7, 2010, Channel A rebranded yet again, also changing their logo for the second time. The new look came in under Khyber Waterman's control of the channel. The channel focused on repeats of older shows and also newer imports, including a show hosted by Sierran band The Aquabats, Starblaze from Channel 14 and a new gameshow, The Challenge.
In 2011, a second series of Pump Music TV debuted on the channel.
During the Oxton Olympics, Channel A made a local competition called Channel A Games.
The channel celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2013 with a special staff dinner involving highlights for the new television season. However, later on, unbeknownst to them, was an announcement that would change the channel for the worse.
===Shutdown and failed attempts at reviving===
Main article: Shutdown of Channel A
In early November 2013, Couch Slave Entertainment announced the shutdown of two of its three channels, Flick and A Plus, by the end of the year. Initially it was announced that this was due to a content revision and they said that they wanted to focus more on their main channel. Channel chairman Khyber Waterman was enthusiastic because he promised "winds of change for 2014", including off-network reruns of his latest CSE shows, while still being ashamed of the external decision to close the sister channels down. However, on November 27, 2013, it was announced that Channel A would shut down on cable operators on the morning of December 3rd. This is because Streets TV, a terrestrial channel, wanted to use the license to broadcast nationwide on cable and satellite, and that the option of giving Channel A's license back would be irreversible, and that the channel wasn't getting share above the 1% mark, eventually resulting in the nickname "the underrated channel". The terrestrial broadcasts, however, would continue broadcasting through December 31st, as per the contract paid for Freeview suggested as such.
Although the channel continued broadcasting normally, the channel was witnessing a troubled last week on air. Employees were visibly losing their sympathy over the decision and thought that the shutdown of the channel was an "attack on creative freedom". Shortly after 9am on November 27th, various forums, mostly linked to Couch Slave, reported the breaking news. The cable signal would be switched off shortly before 08:55 on December 3rd. At 6pm, Khyber Waterman announced on his Facebook page that he would start a whole new campaign the following day called Save Channel A. The campaign consisted of people who wanted to see the channel continue. Viewers would submit various kinds of media to express the fact that they still wanted to see Channel A. Within 24 hours, 10,000 entries were submitted. The channel still had scheduled premieres and unfortunately couldn't cope with the sudden decision.
Channel A interrupted its schedule at 08:50 to present a live report saying that the channel was closing down. The channel announced that the Save Channel A campaign was gaining a lot of traction but couldn't even mention the actual causes that led to the channel's shutdown, possibly due to lack of time. At 08:55, Streets TV took its place, yet the channel was still broadcasting on terrestrial television. It is known that an estimated 85% of households with a television lost access to Channel A. The shutdown was heavily compared to the shut down of the Camp North website in the previous year.
Khyber, on the other hand, thanked everyone for making Save Channel A a success. He said that terrestrial broadcasts would continue until December 31st at 19:00 and would air their last newscast on December 30th.
Susan Rippon presented the last edition of Channel A News on December 30th, 2013. Roughly two-thirds of the bulletin were dedicated to Channel A's journey through news. The closure was also reported by direct competitor 14 National News. Radio Active broadcast a special call-in show from 8pm for two hours called Channel A Matters, in which viewers of the channel could phone in and give their thoughts on the channel's shutdown.
On December 31st, 2013, at 18:45, the last program on Channel A, a repeat of Ripkin Flatshare, started. It was prefaced by Khyber Waterman, the channel's last controller, saying that "Channel A influenced Flarland's alternative cultures". He later handed his duties over to Richard Morley, the first face seen on the channel's regular broadcasts in 1993, when he fronted The Morning Crew.
This was to be followed by a five-minute montage of Channel A's twenty years of operation, set to Still Alive and Con te partirò. Channel A's last on-screen words were "We will miss you", followed by a second screen saying "You were the best channel in Flarland" (alluding to the fanbase) and then by a last one saying "FAREWELL FLARLAND", followed by "static". This was followed by a live switch to the control room where Richard Almsley was responsible for switching the channel out, in silence, after that, Channel A shut down operations for good. Initially Khyber was supposed to be in the control room, but the rain let him stay at home, where he watched the channel's last hours on air, and posted on numerous social media accounts controlled by him (personal, public, Channel A, Channel A News, Couch Slave) about the closing of the channel.
A few minutes after the shutdown, Channel A's entire website was replaced by a screen saying "Channel A has ceased transmissions, but the dream of keeping Channel A on air continues. With your support, Channel A might resume operations one day." as well as a link to Save Channel A.
The month of December 2013 was viewed by Channel A fans as "the worst Christmas ever" and were all aware that they were "missing out on the most important television channel of a subculture". Channel 14 called Channel A as "their greatest friend" as the two channels had good relations.
Most Channel A "refugees" went on to other channels, most of them going to FBC 3 and Channel 14.
In June 2014, Khyber Waterman spoke to Radio National about the shutdown of Channel A. He said that "the channel was not doing well in ratings, when it started terrestrial broadcasts ratings went below the average 2% from before the time, even my involvement in the channel didn't help with ratings". Despite this, Save Channel A called for a new Channel A, "bigger and better than ever".
Save Channel A was oficially disbanded in late November 2015 after a group of people was "sacked" due to their behavior on the guestbook regarding the possible return of Channel A, which was never bound to happen. In an interview given in early December, Khyber Waterman said that Channel A would no longer resume broadcasting, as he had become used to a new life without managing a television channel, and that "most channels above Channel 14 have slim chances of survival".
On February 20, 2017, TVA in the Michillies became Channel A. Many Michillian fans of Khyber Waterman's work told him on his website and social networking pages that "Channel A returned (sort of)". Some Flarlandian netizens were confused and thought that Channel A had resumed operations.
Beginning on July 18th, 2018, Channel 14 began screening a series of programs dedicated to Channel A, including their own shows as well as syndicated favorites, as means to celebrate what might have been Channel A's 25th. The festivities might end at the end of the year for symbolic reasons, with the month of December being devoted to the fifth anniversary of the closure. Since the channel's shutdown, numerous Channel A specials were made by former channel staff members.
December 2018 was dedicated to Channel A's last weeks on air, with primetime specials involving the closure of the channel as well as unreleased programs that Channel 14 eventually greenlit. December 3 was marked by a special program about its influence on Flarlandian society hosted by personalities from the former channel.
==Sister channels==
*Flick: Known as Not Another Film Channel until 1999, it broadcast grindhouse and blaxploitation films.
*A Plus: Launched on PR Telecom in September 2007, it did not expand to Flow until May 2008. The channel mainly aired old content that was no longer fitting on the main channel, but slowly deviated from the concept. It was never available on Cloudy.
==Interactive applications==
*A Text: Although A Text ran on analog services, A Text is considered to be the precursor to the red button services Channel A would get around the turn of the millennium. A Text launched in 1997 and made great use of pages 100 to 199 and little to no use of remaining pages. It offered schedules (for the analog and digital feeds), a limited news service, quizzes, competitions and a regular column from Khyber Waterman. It also provided a series of pages for Ashtalaian viewers, where Channel A had a massive following. Actual information of its shutdown is unattainable; the latest known information is from March/April 2002. Reports say that there were no notes regarding its shutdown.
*A Active: launched in 1999 and broadcasting on the red button of the channel on FST and Cable Flarland, and later on other providers. A Active was Channel A's answer to similar interactive services.
*Channel A News iOS and Android app: The iOS app was launched in April 2010, with an Android version launching in January 2011 in response to the growth of the Android system.
==Programming==
===Local (own concept)===
*Channel A News: initially it consisted in 60-second long news updates at the top of the hour from 6am to 6pm with a five-minute long edition at 1pm. It didn't gain its much recognized form until 1996, as a half-hour news program at 7pm. This was the most serious program on Channel A's output, even though the program was technically aimed at the youth it was mainly shown by a broader range of people. It competed against FBC News on 3 and 14 National News.
*Acrylic Dreams
*ASAP: live music show, loosely inspired on IBC's CD:FL and broadcast from October 2002 to December 2013. The show quickly gained high ratings when it started as it regularly invited lesser-known artists mainly coming in from countries like the Michillies, Saria and Northulia or local independent artists. Unlike CD:FL it was shown on Sunday afternoons and ran for two hours, sometimes longer, and was also responsible for two New Year's specials in 2002 and 2003, running from 7:30pm and well into 2am. Upon Channel A's unexpected shutdown, the show was briefly transferred to Channel 14 for a few weeks but it couldn't continue its run on the channel because "ASAP should be on its natural habitat [Channel A]" and that Channel 14 had a similar show since the late 90s.
*Escape: game show broadcast over the summer of 2003.
*Would You Ask Me?: Channel A's first game show.
*The Network
===Local (syndicated)===
All series prodiced by Couch Slave unless noted otherwise.
*Gorilla Salad
*High Score
*Media for Dinner (2003-2012) (Pointierimage)
*Ripkin Flatshare (2003-2013)
*Soupstock (2005-2006; 2012) (Intense)
*The Unauthorized History of Flarland
===International===
*Dan Vs.: One man against EVERYTHING. (2013; shown also on Channel 14)
*Home and Away: shown between 1998 and 2000 and from episode 1 as means to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series. Coincidentally Channel 13 started airing those episodes but a few weeks later, to celebrate sister service Channel 14 winning the rights to air new episodes of Home and Away.
*Jam: Surreal television series by Chris Morris. (2001)
*Tinsel Town: Gripping Sarian drama. (2006-2007)
*lonelygirl15: The diary of a young woman. (2007-2009; shown also on Channel 14)
*The Aquabats! Super Show: Sierran imported live-action television series. Due to Channel A's shutdown, the second series wasn't finished and passed the show to K-Zone.
==Controversies==
===Refusal to show the Flarlandium Opus===
One of the channel's shows, Acrylic Dreams, had the last episode of the fifth season - a musical called Flarlandium Opus - pulled due to editorial control. The channel said that the realistic satire of Flarland at the time was unfitting for Channel A. Eventually Channel 14 premiered the episode along with a quick discussion, and was shown once in 2005 on Channel A itself, though there were no disclaimers.
===Refusal to air Team KRA===
Channel A was supposed to be the syndication outlet for Khyber Waterman's series Team KRA, but Khyber Waterman refused it. Nonetheless elements from Team KRA appeared in the channel's 2006 look, but they were heavily downplayed.
Khyber in interviews given about the situation said "there were problems with the licensing, as at the time, the FBC only allowed the licensing of certain series to one channel, in that case Channel 14. And once Channel 14 had the rights, the FBC would block the subholder from giving it to channels like Channel A."
===License issue===
==Key people==
===Managing directors===
*Richard Stanley (2003-2006)
*Khyber Waterman (2010-2013)
Category:Defunct television channels in Flarland
Category:Defunct television channels
Category:Couch Slave Entertainment
Category:Flarland