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Channel M

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This article is about the British television channel. For the television station in Vancouver, British Columbia formerly called Channel M, see CHNM-TV.
Channel m
Country United Kingdom
Ownership
OwnerGuardian Media Group

Channel M is a regional television station, based in Manchester. The channel's output is specifically designed for Greater Manchester, United Kingdom and the surrounding area. It began broadcasting on 14 February 2000 as Manchester Student Television. The channel produces a range of news, current affairs, features, music, entertainment and sports programming. Most of the output, including the flagship Channel M News service, is produced in-house. Channel M is owned and operated by the Guardian Media Group, owner of Manchester Evening News.

Coverage

As an RSL station Channel M was primarily available free to air on terrestrial in parts of Greater Manchester. In 2004 Channel M launched on the NTL platform (now part of Virgin Media), and launched on the digital satellite in April 2006 - the first RSL channel to be broadcast on satellite. The channel is available on the Sky Digital service, giving the station UK-wide coverage, as well as FTA availability to broadcast across Western Europe on Astra 28.2°E.

The channel can be received on analogue television, on channel 39 (615 MHz) in many western & southern areas of the region, on Virgin Media Channel 878 around Greater Manchester, mid-Lancashire & Cheshire and nationwide on Sky channel 203. In January 2009, the broadcasting regulator OFCOM announced that Channel M would receive a license to broadcast on Freeview after digital switchover.

The channel also become the first broadcaster in the region to offer its programmes on demand via broadband TV on its award-winning website.

Channel M News

The flagship output of the station is its regional news service, Channel M News, which covers stories from the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.

  • Channel M Breakfast broadcasts live from 0600-0900 every weekday morning, with news, travel and weather bulletins featured every half hour. The programme was launched on Monday 16 April 2007, replacing a Euronews simulcast, which was previously broadcast on Channel M in the same timeslot. After an initial move to an overnight slot, the simulcast was axed in August 2008.
  • Channel M Lunchtime News, introduced in September 2008, is broadcast live at 1200 for half an hour and repeated again at 1230. The programme, presented by either Nina Warhurst or James Webster, is presented from the newsroom of the Guardian Media Group's headquarters in Spinningfields, Manchester instead of the main news studios at Urbis.
  • Channel M News Live is broadcast live between 1700 and 1900 every weekday evening, presented by Andy Crane. Before the two-hour service began on 17 September 2007, a half-hour programme was broadcast live at 1700 and repeated half-hourly until 1900. The 5pm news, broadcast live for the first time in May 2006, was originally pre-recorded from small temporary studios at The Triangle and The Printworks before moving to Urbis in 2005.
  • Channel M Late News is broadcast live between 2100 & 2130 and repeated at 2130, usually presented by Andy Crane. The programme (originally known as Channel M News at Nine) was launched in summer 2006 and was originally broadcast from 2100-2200. Since 17 September 2007, this programme was shortened to half of its original length but repeated at 2130.
  • Channel M News Review is also produced by the news team. The programme consists of a half-hour overview of the week's news from Greater Manchester and features replays of reports featured in the main weekday bulletins. This programme, regularly presented by Andy Crane, usually transmits over the weekend as no live news programmes are currently produced on Saturday or Sunday.

Non-news Programming

Originally, the main sources of programming were CHUM, Euronews, Channel M's own productions and the University of Salford. Gradually, the Canadian-sourced was replaced by in-house Channel M Productions and since the station was launched on digital satellite services in April 2006, the station has invested and developed of a wide range of local programming.

The channel's biggest audiences are for its news bulletins and sports programmes. It is also renowned for its entertainment output including the comedy talk-show Frank Sidebottom's Proper Telly Show and regular music coverage. Programming such as the weekly entertainment show City Life Social and video/computer game review series Re:Loaded has helped Channel M to gain interest nationally.

Sport programming such as Code XIII, Talking Sharks, FC United - The Fans' Club, The Phoenix Ice Hockey Show, Seconds Out and The Great Manchester Football Show broadcast news, highlights and features from Greater Manchester's sporting teams. The Great Manchester Football Show includes an weekly hour-long round up of features on the region's league and non-league teams. Highlights of selected non-league and friendly matches are also broadcast.

Entertainment programming is broadcast at the 8pm slot and throughout the daytime schedule. These programmes often feature celebrity interviews, music, culture, food and fashion news from around Manchester. Cookin' Impossible is a tongue-in-cheek cookery series in which Channel M presenter Gerry McLaughlin is set a culinary task and has to fulfil it. Style In The City is presented by Jemma Gofton and features the latest trends, hidden fashion boutiques and fashion events in and around Manchester. Other programmes include Fashion Face Off (a style-themed game show) and City Life (a weekly magazine show, first broadcast on Friday nights).

The Great Northern Music Show, City Life Social and Saturday Social are Channel M's main music programmes, often presented by Gerry McLaughlin. These programmes usually show live or unplugged sets from alternative and indie bands. At 4pm and intervals throughout the day Channel M Playlist and Made in Manchester are broadcast, which airs music videos, usually from the alternative and indie genres. Originally, CHUM Television's North American music output was shown during the day.

Travel-style magazine I Love Manchester is a half-hour feature series, showcasing an area of the Greater Manchester region in each episode. The programme explores entertainment, fashion, food and history of parts of the area. The programme has run for three series and is presented by former Breakfast anchor Steph Elmore.

In terms of broadcast awards, University of Salford productions Hitting Home and Reel North have received multiple nominations from the Royal Television Society since 2001, respectively winning Best Regional Current Affairs Programme in 2005 and Best Regional Programme in 2006.

Advertising

Channel M's extremely localised audience is unusual for a British television channel. This has promoted an opportunity for local advertising on a Greater Manchester-wide scale.

The majority of the commercials shown on Channel M are produced by local companies attempting to attract this localised audience. One can recognise that many of these commercials are extremely low budget. Large companies like Ikea and DFS have also advertised on Channel M, the former during the opening of Greater Manchester's first Ikea store in Ashton-Under-Lyne. Many of these adverts are also shown on ITV1 in the Granada Television Region. Channel M offers businesses an opportunity to create a television advertisement, as the channel also films, edits and produces commercials.

The Future

Channel M's former dependence on imported programmes (mainly music and entertainment programming from CHUM Television) in Canada, was down to the amount of original output created by Channel M with Canadian programming previously making up much of the station's schedule. With the increase of in-house production since its launch on Sky Digital, Channel M now broadcasts up to 21 hours a day of local programming. The Euronews breakfast slot was moved back to early morning due to the creation of Channel M Breakfast, resulting in a full 24-hour service. The Euronews simulcast was originally dropped in August 2008 owing to technical problems but was restored four months later.

Former BBC Radio Manchester host, Granada presenter and Factory Records boss Tony Wilson was due to present a new Friday evening music and entertainment show called The New Friday, produced by former Granada producer and BBC Radio Manchester host Eamonn O'Neill. However, this programme was postponed after Wilson became terminally ill with cancer. Wilson died on Friday 10 August 2007 and the plans for The New Friday were soon abandoned. Since then, City Centre Social (now City Life Social) was moved from Mondays-Wednesdays to Wednesdays-Fridays, together with a shift to more live music programming on Channel M.

Studios

The channel was originally based at smaller studios in The Triangle shopping mall and the later at The Printworks entertainment complex, both of which in Manchester City Centre. Until Channel M moved to the Urbis museum in August 2005, Channel M News was pre-recorded - bulletins were first broadcast live in May 2006. The studio's position on the ground floor of Urbis in Manchester City Centre gives a live elevated background shot of the area around Cathedral Gardens and the Manchester Victoria Railway station. The channel's main production team is based beside and below the studio in on the ground floor and basement. Visitors to Urbis can see the studios, as they are located behind glass adjacent to the museum's entrance. American style Newschasers adorned in the channel's logo are also based at the museum.

Manchester Media

The Guardian Media Group, which is based at offices in the Spinningfields district of Manchester, owns and operates Channel M. Much of the news-gathering operations are synchronised with the Manchester Evening News. News stories gathered by GMG can be distributed in The Guardian and The Observer national newspapers, the MEN, Greater-Manchester's weekly Advertiser newspapers, Channel M, plus the Mancunian GMG Radio stations (Smooth Radio, Century FM and 106.1 Rock Radio).

Over the past two years, the company has invested greatly in publicising Channel M in a billboard, taxi wrap-around, adshel and local weekly newspaper campaign. This access is advantageous to the profile of the station - it means that cross-reference advertising can be established for a very small cost. On the cover of the MEN every day where on the right hand column, a news feature or programme on Channel M that evening is referred to. It can also be noted that in the MEN TV Guide, full Channel M listing are shown beside those of BBC1, BBC2, Granada Television, Channel 4 and Five. Channel M advertisements are often placed throughout the MEN, Greater Manchester's local free-sheets and the Greater Manchester's edition of Metro. Commercial brands such as City Life, The Jobsmine and The Homesmine also feature across the Manchester Evening News, Greater Manchester's Weekly Newspapers and Channel M.

Channel M's local news rivals include ITV Granada and BBC North West. These channels broadcast Granada Reports and BBC North West Tonight respectively. Other broadcasting headquarters in Manchester include ITV franchisee Granada Television which is located on Quay Street and BBC's Northern England hub on Oxford Road where North West Tonight and BBC Radio Manchester are based. Piccadilly Radio 261's offspring Key 103 and Magic 1152 broadcast from Castlefield.

In 2005, the channel won the "Best Newcomer" award at the Royal Television Society Awards.

Programmes

News and Current Affairs

Entertainment

Sport

Music

Miscellaneous

Imported programmes

Programmes produced by CHUM TV included:

N.B: Imported programming is no longer broadcast.

Presenters

Channel M News/Channel M Breakfast

Non-news programming

See also

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