 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 16:9576iSDTV |
| Timeshift service | Quest Red +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA |
| Sister channels | Quest |
| History | |
| Launched | 15 March 2017 |
| Links | |
| Website | discoveryplus.com/gb/channel/quest-red |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 40 |
| Streaming media | |
| Discovery+ | Watch live |
Quest Red is a British free-to-airtelevision channel in the United Kingdom broadcasting crime and reality programming aimed at a female audience. The channel is operated byWarner Bros. Discovery and runs as a sibling to Discovery's established Freeview channelQuest, launched in 2009.
In mid-February 2017, shortly after the completion of an eleventh-hour carriage deal withSky to retain a presence on the satellite platform for its current and future channels, Discovery Communications headDavid Zaslav told a corporate conference call that a second Freeview channel, to sit alongside Quest, would launch during 2017.[1]
The following day, more details of the channel were confirmed, including its name and branding (which will include a red version of the Quest 'Q' channel symbol), content (some of which will be shared with sibling channels such asID andTLC), and launch date of 15 March.[2]
The station will be available as a free-to-air channel on the Freeview platform (and, by extension, to users of the BT and TalkTalk'sYouView platforms), and on the subscription satellite and cable platforms operated by Sky andVirgin Media in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
At launch, the channel was, like Quest, encrypted on satellite and thus not available on Freesat. Quest and Quest Red removed their encryption and began broadcasting free-to-air over satellite in June 2017, and were added to the Freesat guide early in July.
A full one-hour timeshifted variant of Quest Red was launched on the Sky platform in tandem with the launch of the principal channel. From 14 June 2017, Quest Red +1 was made available to Freeview users for three hours a day in the early morning, taking over the capacity vacated by the earlier relocation of Quest +1 to a different, longer slot.[3] On 28 November 2017, Quest Red +1 launched on Freesat.
Unlike Sky & Freesat, Quest Red +1 is not on Virgin Media. It used to be available on Freeview until November 2022, when it was removed to make way for Quest moving to the COM6 multiplex.
At launch, Quest Red wasn't available toSky Ireland and Northern Ireland viewers due to a carriage agreement withRTÉ that allowedRTÉ One andRTÉ2 to be available on the EPG in Northern Ireland and also that the channel was channel 162 in the British guide. As part of Sky's major EPG reshuffle on 1 May 2018, Quest Red (and +1) became available to both Ireland and Northern Ireland customers, in addition to moving to 149 for Great Britain customers, a slot they acquired fromITV Digital Channels, who previously hadITVBe on that slot apart from regions whereSTV is on channel 103.
On 8 January 2024, Quest Red started broadcasting US crime dramas fromWarner Bros. Television.
As of 2025, Quest Red now premieres newInvestigation Discovery programming from the US channel.
Advance listings information indicated that the first programme screened on the channel would be an episode ofHomes Under the Hammer. Ahead of broadcast, this was changed:Extreme Couponing, which had initially been due to followHUtH in the schedule, was brought forward to 10 am, withHUtH following at 11 am.
A placeholder for Quest Red was made available on the Virgin Media platform early in the morning of 15 March, ahead of the channel's launch; the new channel was added to the Sky programme guide at approximately 10:45 am on launch day in Great Britain only, and to Freeview from noon. A number of other changes to services on the Freeview platform were made simultaneously with the addition of Quest Red, including a reduction in the broadcast hours of Quest +1, which also moved down the programme guide to releaseLCN 38 to Quest Red.
