To ask what the hell is the deal with this TV channel?

[FFSToEverythingSince2020]

I’ve been really ill for over a month now and consumed more crap TV than I ever have in my entire life. My sleep is horrific between the pain and illness, so I’ve been seeing a lot of 4am TV.

We have Freeview, and there are several “+1” channels, like ITV+1, and I understand the general theory, that they’re the same as the regular channel, just an hour later.

HOWEVER, Blaze+1 (does anyone even watch Blaze, unless they’re ill or enjoying substances??) says “Back at 3am” every day. Then at 3am, they show exactly one episode of Ancient Aliens, then immediately say “Back at 3am,” again. I even checked the next day, and same thing - offline for 23 hours, and one episode of Ancient Aliens at 3am. What’s really weird is that apparently the regular Blaze channel goes off air at 2am for an hour; it would make more sense if it was at 3am, and then Blaze+1 takes over. I tried Googling, but it claims (even on their own website) Blaze+1 is just one of these normal time-shifted channels.

AIBU unreasonable to ask if anyone knows what the deal is? And maybe has good suggestions for 4am viewing? I enjoy cozy mystery, like Midsomer Murders, Poirot, Campion, etc. as well as random quasi-reality shows like River Monsters and other slightly “mystical” or cryptozoological programs that are complete shite. I don’t enjoy dating shows (Married at First Sight), scripted reality (Real Housewives or similar), or anything where someone gets humiliated or pranked. I’ve also been watching 24 Hours in the A&E, as it’s oddly helping me process some hospital trauma from long-term illness.

(Thanks if you’ve read, as I know I ramble.)

How strange!
No idea 😶

😄😄

Front for money laundering? 👀👀

Yeah I think its about time you went back to work OP

Your brain works like mine by the sounds of it. Incredulous you are about the stupidity of the schedule or the purposeless of why this works like it works.

Thats how I get about most things and I dont have the excuse of long term illness!

I have a vague memory from about 10 years ago of one of the time-shift channels only being able to show certain programmes in the UK due to the legalities of the way the programmes were licensed to them. It could be something like this - it's possible Blaze +1 shows a fuller schedule in other territories, just not the UK.

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It could be a front for media grants or subsidies. There are loads of money available for the media, even if they are not publicly funded channels. Someone can run a really shit TV channel and only buy licenses for the cheapest, worst shows but they still have press accreditation.

This is also why really shit magazines exists. The ones with tiny print runs, terrible content or get distributed for free in dodgy beauty salons. It's only a front so the owner can apply for media grants and press accreditation. I know several people who did this. They basically maintained bare minimum required for a media source, and used all the grant money to fund their own lifestyle and enjoy the perks of being an journalist (free entry to events, backstage areas, priority access to attractions etc).

They might be "storing" the channel for future usage in some way as part of their business plan haha, but in order to legally broadcast they have to show something, so they just use the 3am slot to meet the regulations. I imagine it's something along those lines. I googled it and it's hilarious that that is all they offer... What a weird channel!!

Tell me more, this sounds interesting and just my cup of tea.

I would love nothing more than to go back to work! That’s the dream, as I loved my job and I have the best bosses in the entire world (a husband and wife). Sadly, it’s not an option; I’m permanently disabled, it’s progressive, and I’m afraid it’s starting to have a neurological effect - denote I’m watching Blaze while sober 😂. Normally, my life is a lot of reading books and Sudoku, but I managed to get a very nasty infection (already been to the hospital once and got IV antibiotics, then regular tablet antibiotics, and I’m actually worse) and sometimes, I’m just leaving telly on while I zone out and sleep. I see the emergency GP tomorrow at 10am for another possible hospitalization.

And yes, I’m definitely like this! Once I have a question, I need to look up the answer immediately, and I always end up in the weirdest “deep dives.” My hyper-fixations are even worse.

Thank you, everyone, for the interesting answers so far! I really enjoyed hearing about some of this stuff from @User7854653 and @Alisonica, and like @soupyspoon , I’d love to hear more.

You need to switch to QVC for a while, its the only cure.

I'd suggest watching things on the various Players, BBC, ITV etc. On a sidenote, Judge Judy shows must be free to view, or something, because they seem to colonise a lot of the flaky freeview channels, lol

Oh gosh yes! Judge Judy must be contagious. I’ve definitely been on the various players and I do have Netflix (I think perhaps I have weird taste? I was rewatching Foyle’s War, then followed up with Ancient Aliens).

And @soupyspoon I DID TRY QVC! I only made it through about 2 minutes and then it drove me crazy. How can you sell one bracelet for an hour??? What the hell is there to show that I can’t get from a series of about five photos and a two-second video online?

Lol

Love it

Love all their stupid phrases to sell some tat

Catch-up? Or audiobooks? My local library has a subscription to something where you can download audiobooks without having to go into the library (once you've set it up). But you have my sympathies - I've been ill for a week and have already had my fill of tv!

The people I know doing this aren't based in the UK but I imagine it's fairly similar in most western countries. Being accredited as Press gives you free access to endless events, including extremely high profile ones. Depending on your niche, you can easily get into film premieres, big sporting events, sold out concerts etc. I know someone who wangled her way into the Eras Tour for free as a journalist.

There are also programs and schemes available for funding classic media like TV, print and radio. They probably came from the days where subsidising the media made sense because the entire population got their information through a single source, so ensuring some quality control was good. The systems are now grossly outdated and don't cover online media. But even today, being a journalist usually comes with many more perks than an online influencer with millions of followers.

It also makes perfect sense why someone would keep 3 TV channels running because they could be cashing a subsidy for each one. Even if the third channel is total shite, it's more profitable to keep it alive. Another possible reason is advertising. Selling advertising across 3 channels is more lucrative than just 1 channel. So they keep several fake channels going to artificially inflate their viewership and show these numbers to advertisers.

@User7854653 Thank you so much for your insight! Very interesting. Especially journalism being “more powerful” than influencers with millions of followers, as far as getting into events and things.

@noctilucentcloud This is such a good idea. I’d like to join my local library for ebooks and audiobooks, but I have to physically get there to join (understandably). Maybe in the next few weeks.

@soupyspoon I like the way you think 😂

It’s transmitting a secret and indiscernible digital message to aliens. Or dogs.

Drop them a bell or an email (or have a google), there might be away to set it up remotely. Might not be but if there is you save yourself the difficulty / pain of getting there. I joined a good few years back when you had to go in, but you'd hope more and more can be done over the phone / online to make the libraries more accessible.

It's this. They are saving the channel number on the epg. They have to prove they are using it or it would be up for reassignment each year. It won't cost much to maintain a channel, a lot less than if they wanted a new one next time round.so if they do expand, they're ready to go at no extra technical costs.

I know someone already shared this GIF but it never gets old.

Thank you so much @noctilucentcloud . After you said this, I rechecked their website and it says if I send them the temporary card number they sent me, then they’ll mail me a real card. This would be invaluable for renting audiobooks! So glad I listened to you.

This is such an interesting idea, because it only shows Ancient Aliens, maybe because they already paid any licensing fees for it and there are now 20 bloody seasons (can you even imagine - they’ve got to run out of weirdly shaped rocks they can claim are aliens at SOME point!).

It might share a slot with other channels, a bit like when CBeebies used to share with BBC3 only in this case, it just gets the hour when something else is off air!

Endeavour
get into something with a ridiculous amount of episodes like greys anatomy or law and order
a christmas castle is the ultimate Christmas cheese film if you like that stuff
all creatures great and small

This is it apparently. It’s called slot hoarding. Every day’s a school day.

Fuxache, someone already said this.

Tell me more about the aliens.