 | |
| Programming | |
|---|---|
| Picture format | 16:9,576i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
| Launched | 17 April 2003 |
| Closed | 15 November 2018 |
Scuzz was a British 24-hourrock andmetalmusic television channel owned and operated bySony Pictures Television. It was launched on 17 April 2003 and went on to be the highest-rated[citation needed] rock TV station on theSky satellite platform, available in over 12 million homes[1] in theUK andIreland. The channel was closed on 15 November 2018.[2]
The channel broadcast mainstreamrock,pop-punk, and metal, with unsigned and lesser known bands featuring in the late night show 'New Noise'. Scuzz tended to play a broader selection of music videos compared with the other British rock channelsMTV Rocks andKerrang! although K! and Scuzz did share quite a few songs. The channel was known to break many UK artists includingEnter Shikari,Young Guns,You Me At Six,Bullet For My Valentine,Lower Than Atlantis and laterMilk Teeth andCreeper. International bands were often first broadcast on Scuzz TV, the likes ofAvenged Sevenfold,Sleeping With Sirens,Pierce The Veil,Letlive,All Time Low andParamore all first appeared on UK TV on Scuzz.
In March 2003,British Sky Broadcasting announced they would enter the music television market and launch three themed channels - Scuzz,Flaunt, andThe Amp.[3]
Scuzz would launch with its sister networks on 17 April 2003.[4] Scuzz through its life focused exclusively on the heavy metal and rock genres.[citation needed]
In September 2004, due to poor viewing figures and ratings, Sky announced thatChart Show Channels would take over operating Scuzz, Flaunt and The Amp beginning in January 2005, although they would retain full ownership in all three channels, alongside advertising control.[5]
Scuzz was given a new look and revamp on 1 April 2006. Replacing the old black and white logo and song titles to a blue, smokey look. After the revamp the channel had begun to air more special, dedicated shows, such as a live performance from themetalcore groupTrivium, and a weekend devoted to Swedishmelodic death metal bandIn Flames.[citation needed]
Sky announced in November 2006 that their music channels would go Free-to-Air beginning on 11 December, and soon afterwards transitioned full ownership to Chart Show Channels in December 2006, previously, Scuzz alongside its sister music channels were encrypted inNDS from its launch, and broadcasting on theEutelsat 28A communications satellite meant that the channels could be viewed for the first time all across parts of Europe.
On 6 November 2007 Scuzz and its sister channels were removed from the ex-NTLVirgin Media areas following a failure of an agreement from Chart Show Channels for the networks to be made available in the ex-Telewest areas, alongside Virgin Media focusing more on their free On-Demand services.[6]
On 21 December 2007, Scuzz was once again revamped; being given a much more industrial style look.
On 17 November 2008 a +1 timeshift of Scuzz,Scuzz +1, was launched. It was available 24 hours a day on Sky channel 375. This wasCSC Media Group's third music timeshift, after launchingFlaunt +1 andBliss +1 earlier in the year, although both have since been closed down and replaced, withPopGirl +1 and allowingAnimeCentral to go 24 hours respectively. On 21 November, the channel was closed, with its EPG slot sold toNHK World TV.
On Tuesday 29 September 2009, Scuzz was removed from Freesat channel 502 for being too heavy and replaced with sister channel Flava.[7] On 3 November 2010, NME TV was replaced with Scuzz on Freesat channel 503.[8] On 15 July 2013, Scuzz was replaced by Chart Show Dance on Freesat channel 503.[9] It returned to Freesat in August 2017, replacingChart Show Hits just asthey had replaced Scuzz four years earlier, but was removed along withChart Show TV,Starz TV andTiny Pop +1 on 31 July 2018.
On 5 June 2013, Scuzz swapped positions withFlava on Sky. The channel moved from 374 to 367 (to sit next toKerrang!), while Flava moved from 367 to 374.
On 2 March 2015, Scuzz launchedAnimax Movie Nights,[10] a block, provided by Sony Pictures Television under theAnimax brand, that aired anime films streamed onSVOD in the UK and Ireland by the British version ofAnimax, which launched on 24 October 2013,[11] on Thursday nights.
After 15 years the channel closed on 15 November 2018, along with sister channelSony Crime Channel 2 culminating with special shows celebrating the channel's history. The last video played on the channel was "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" byBowling for Soup. "Resist" byShadows Chasing Ghosts was the final video to be played in full, as the signal was cut halfway through the former.
The channel showed many exclusive music videos for their first time. Scuzz often played live concerts includingSlipknot,Korn,Devildriver and36 Crazyfists. Scuzz had band 'Take-Overs' where artists presented music video shows, as well as interviews with artists such asOzzy Osbourne,Deftones,Machine Head andKiss to smaller bands that are deemed up and coming.
They showed various interview shows including 'On Record', 'Scuzz Meets', 'The Lowdown' which centered around British rock festival 'Download Festival', and later a series called Access All Areas. Scuzz TV presenters included Terry 'Beez' Bezer, Sophie K,Daniel P. Carter, Jon Mahon, and Matt Stocks.
Scuzz had a presence at the majority of the UK, and some international rock festivals. Scuzz's festival partnerships at time of closure included:
