VTMkerst (VTMchristmas) was a Belgian pop-up television channel owned by Vlaamse Media Maatschapij. It followed on from the VTMzomer experiment earlier in 2006.
| Country | Belgium |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Vilvoorde, Belgium |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Dutch |
| Picture format | 4:3 (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Vlaamse Media Maatschapij |
| History | |
| Launched | 2 December 2006 |
| Closed | 7 January 2007 |
The channel was publicly announced in early November 2006. Unlike what happened before, where Belgacom TV accepted the idea of carrying VTM's summer pop-up channel, the provider refused to carry the Christmas pop-up because Belgacom had other priorities.[1] The channel was carried by Telenet instead. The pop-up channel had no announcers, and had its advertising costs at a minimum, paid by the provider who had the rights to carry the service.[2]
Like what happened with VTMzomer, the channel ended up being one of the ten most-watched channels over the Christmas period of 2006, peaking in seventh place.[3]
Programming
editThe channel was built under four pillars: from 7am to 7pm, programming was aimed at younger audiences, followed by a family film (related or not to Christmas)[4] at 7pm. The prime time slot at 9pm was a "Prestige" block built around VTM's own TV series, mostly from the past, due to requests from viewers.[1] The schedule ended at 10pm with Married... With Children.[2]
The channel's primetime slot featured the premiere of the new VTM series De Kavijaks (which was set to premiere on the main channel in 2007)[1] as well as reruns of successful VTM productions such as Ons geluk and Veel geluk professor.[2]
VTM's Christmas action for 2006 was a trip of a Christmas hat across Flanders for the season, made in connection with the channel. VTM host Erika Van Tielen offered gifts to viewers daily.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c Een digitale zender als kerstgeschenk
- ^ a b c d VTM en Telenet lanceren digitaal Kerstkanaal www.tijd.be, 3 November 2006
- ^ VTMkerst bij tien populairste zenders www.standaard.be, 10 January 2007
- ^ VTMkerst boordevol warme televisieklassiekers