 | |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Sheffield,South Yorkshire, England |
| Programming | |
| Language | British English |
| Picture format | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rewind TV Ltd[1] |
| History | |
| Launched | 23 May 2024; 17 months ago (2024-05-23) |
| Links | |
| Website | rewindtv.uk |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 81 |
| Streaming media | |
| Freely | Channel 125 |
Rewind TV is a Britishfree-to-air television channel specialising in British and American vintage television series and programmes. It launched onSky on 23 May 2024 and onFreeview on 18 September 2024. Its programming is similar to that offered byTalking Pictures TV andThat's TV's network. The channel is presided over by Oscar Beuselinck and Jonathan Moore who have long experience in the video and DVD publishing industry.[2]
Rewind TV started test transmissions on or before 7 May 2024, initially launching on Sky from 23 May. The surge in nostalgia-based channels came after the main terrestrial channels drifted more towards programming produced post-2000.[3] At launch time, Rewind TV promised an "antidote" to the current status of British television, especially the state of current dramas and how streaming platforms commission "by algorithm" in order to attract more viewers. Such older series, like many films of earlier times, displayed attitudes towards women and ethnic minorities which are currently generally seen as "unacceptable", so, instead of banning them from broadcast or censoring them, they are only shown after the9pm watershed.[2]
Initially, Beuselinck and Moore planned to start the channel before the pandemic in 2020, but technical delays and the advertising crash complicated matters. The channel was set up at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds for archival programming on the cheap, but the ownership of certain programmes as of the time of founding got more complex for the founders to track down.[2]
By late August 2024, Rewind TV was hinting at a possible Freeview launch, following the shutdown ofTalkTV and Seen on TV, and the spare capacity left by its closures. On Twitter, the channel posted an announcement hinting at an 18 September launch date.[4] This was confirmed in Freeview's September update,[5] with sitcomWatching becoming the first series seen.[6] Its launch on the platform enabled Rewind to better compete with similar archive TV channels.[7] Having launched on Freeview channel 95, it moved to channel 92 on 26 March 2025.[8] The channel moved again from Freeview channel 92 to 81 on 18 June 2025, being placed alongsideTalking Pictures TV. The move came after co-founder Johnathan Moore complained about the extant channel allocation, which was closer to shopping and religious channels, and that the new slot would increase the channel's access and relevance.[9]
In addition to the scheduling of mostly vintage British programming, Rewind TV started to acquire programmes from the United States. Such programmes includeMarried with Children,I Dream of Jeannie,Born Free,Police Woman, andThe Monkees. These came into effect in November 2024. Rewind TV also started to show original programming, including a career review ofMichael Aspel brandedMy TV Rewind,Auto Rewind with Jack Pegoraro from the Number 27 YouTube channel,An Hour with...Enn Reitel,Tracing The Rails with BBC Sussex presenter Stephen Cranford, and video jockey music video programmes in the form ofStereo Underground andBubblegum & Cheese, both formerBBC Radio Solent shows and led by Richard Latto and Alex Dyke respectively. The first editions of both were broadcast on 20th December in 2024.
Rewind TV featured several classic television series fromHat Trick Productions, such asGame On andDrop the Dead Donkey; thepre-ITV Westcountry franchisesWestward andTSW in Devon and Cornwall; and programmes from American broadcasters, such as the colourized first season ofBewitched,[10]I Dream of Jeannie andSOAP.[11] In April 2025, it was announced that the channel would move away from acquiring American series and refocus on British series and films, with a Norman Wisdom season due to be broadcast in June.[12]
Programmes acquired[13] as of April 2025 include:
