Everything about Nbc Europe totally explained
NBC Europe (formerly
Super Channel and
NBC Super Channel) was a
satellite television channel based in the
United Kingdom that broadcast across
Europe. It was picked up by various European
cable television networks.
Early history
Launched on the 30th of January
1987 replacing 24-hour music channel
Music Box, Super Channel was co-owned by all but one of the
ITV companies at the time in the
United Kingdom (External Link
). It competed with SKY Channel, forerunner of
Sky One, which was the only other major pan-European satellite-channel around at the time. Unlike SKY Channel, Super Channel's
syndicated output was less
American and more
European. Many of the programmes were what it called the "Best of British", sourced from ITV or the
BBC, while
ITN produced news bulletins (
see also ITN World News). It also broadcast syndicated non-British European programmes such as the
Dutch sitcom (with
English subtitles).
Super Channel fared poorly, unable to earn sufficient revenue from advertising or cable networks that carried it, while its British programming, with the exception of
The Benny Hill Show, didn't appeal to most audiences in
mainland Europe. (The BBC later went on to launch its own, more successful, subscription-funded channel
BBC TV Europe - now
BBC Prime).
Within a year, the ITV companies sold the channel to the
Italian Marcucci family, owners of
Videomusic, the first music channel in Italy, with a minority stake being held by
Richard Branson's
Virgin plc, and the programming changed from British to pan-European, although it continued carrying ITN's World News bulletins.
At the beginning Super Channel was based in the heart of London, 19-22 Rathbone Place, London W1P 1DF, in the same building home to
Music Box; the building is now called the CNN House, home of
CNN International. In 1991 Super Channel moved to Melrose House, 14 Lanark Square, in
Limeharbour (London).
In 1996 the channel (along with its sister channel CNBC Europe) was transmitted from the GE building in Hammersmith. London. The transmission suite used cutting edge (at the time) Pro-Bel COMPASS and MAPP automation, and Profile video servers for all commercials and promotions. Programmes continued to be played from tape however.
NBC steps in
In
1993, the station was having financial difficulties, and was taken over by the
American company
General Electric, the parent of the
NBC television network, and became
NBC Super Channel. In
1996, the channel was renamed
NBC Europe, but was, from then on, almost always referred to as simply "NBC" on the air.
Most of NBC Europe's prime time programming was produced in Europe, but after 11PM
Central European Time on weekday evenings, the channel aired
The Tonight Show,
Late Night with Conan O'Brien,
Later and
Saturday Night Live, hence its slogan "Where the Stars Come Out at Night." Most
NBC News programs were broadcast on NBC Europe, including
Dateline NBC,
Time & Again and
NBC Nightly News, which was aired live.
The Today Show was also initially shown live in the afternoons, but was later broadcast the following morning instead, by which time it was more than half a day old. That meant that all news portions had to be replaced with European updates produced by
ITN in London.
ITN also supplied the network with the main European newscasts before and after the
GE takeover. The European weather was produced by the
BBC at first, but was later taken over by
NBC in the U.S.
NBC Europe carried virtually no
prime time fiction entertainment programs shown by
NBC in the US, because they were usually owned and distributed by other studios under the
fin-syn rule.
NBC would have had to buy the rights for each country in order to show them on NBC Europe, which would have been too expensive. Even for shows that
NBC Studios owned itself, it was generally more financially viable to sell the rights country by country than to air them on NBC Europe. The most notable exceptions to this rule were brief runs of
Profiler and
The Pretender, as well as short-lived US sitcoms
Union Square and
Mr. Rhodes. That is widely considered to be one of the main reasons why NBC Europe was ultimately not a success.
NBC Europe as a German network
NBC Europe stopped broadcasting to most of Europe in
1998. In
1998, the DFA (Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur) took over NBC Europe, which moved to
Düsseldorf. Most of the satellite feeds of NBC Europe became either National Geographic or CNBC. NBC Europe continued to operate on the German Cable TV, fed by one digital satellite link from Eutelsat II-F1 (later Hotbird 5). In
November 1998 the first German programming started airing. Programming was assembled with content from
GIGA and
CNBC Europe, as well as other shows. In
2004,
NBC Universal took over the DFA and consequently NBC Europe.
On
September 29 2005, NBC Europe was split into
GIGA and the new channel
Das Vierte. NBC Europe was replaced by Das Vierte. In fact Das Vierte is still broadcasting with the licence of NBC Europe on
Cable TV - on satellite, IPTV and digital cable it's a new channel. Also Das Vierte broadcasts a special version on Cable TV, including
CNBC Europe, and from
September 29,
2005-
March 31,
2006 also
GIGA. This is necessary to keep the licence and the cable channel.
Image:NBC Europe 01.jpg|Ident
Image:NBC Europe 02.jpg|Programme promotion graphic, like aired in 2000
Programming
Due to limitations on the amount of entertainment programming on the network,
NBC Europe aired a number of original programming in tandem with
American programming that hadn't been aired in Europe beforehand. These programmes include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Nbc Europe'.
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