Television X
Television X is a series of adult television channels in the UK. It is owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of Richard Desmond's publishing company Northern & Shell until 2016. All of the programmes on the main Television X channel are filmed and produced in the UK.
History
Television X started broadcasting under its original name, the Fantasy Channel, in 1995. The two original hosts were Charmaine Sinclair and Samantha Jessup with Debbie Corrigan and Kirsten Imrie making occasional appearances. Much of the original programming Superdick, Shagnasty and Mutley, David Dickie's World of Sport etc. was developed by Deric Botham, then editor of Penthouse. The station garnered international publicity when it brought the former American prostitute Estella Marie Thompson, also known as Divine Brown, over for a launch at BAFTA's headquarters in Piccadilly. On Friday nights, DJ Chris Rogers aka Caesar the Geezer presented a live two-hour show with sports agent Eric Hall.The channel broadcasts from 10pm until 5:30am. Its programmes are around 30 minutes in duration and include titles such as John Cherry: Soccer Stud, Council Estate Skanks, Charlie Britton Exposed, Diamond Geezers and Lara's Anal Adventures. The majority of programmes are heterosexual although some, such as All Girl Initiation, feature lesbianism and some, such as Ladyboy Training, cover transexualism. Some of the channel's programmes are pornographic spoofs on popular mainstream UK television shows.
Other channels
Additional channels were subsequently launched on Sky UK. On October 26, 2003 Television X 2 and Television X 3 were launched. Television X 2 showed videotapes sent in by viewers, and Television X 3 showed pornographic films, including Debbie Does Dallas and Deep Throat.In March 2007 the sister channels were renamed Television X Raw and Television X Live, and a channel called Television Xtra was added. Television X Raw continued to show videotapes sent in by viewers, Television X Live showed Television X Callgirls Live, and Television Xtra showed pornography from continental Europe and the United States. By October 2007 the channels reverted to the names Television X 2 and Television X 3, with Television Xtra becoming Television X 4, now including a service called Television X FF which minimised non-pornographic content.
In November 2008, to conside with a re-launch, the channels were renamed with more descriptive names. Television X 2 became Television X Amateur, Television X 3 became Television X Brits and Television X 4 became Television X FFWD. Television X FFWD ended up being short lived, as its electronic programme guide slot was sold off in May 2009.
By 2012 Television X operated three main channels: its flagship TVX channel as well as TVX Amateurs and TVX Brits. Television X Amateur closed in May 2012 when Red Hot acquired its EPG slot.
In 2016, Television X Brits was replaced with TVXXX, which was renamed to TVX Pornstars in 2017.
In August 2017, the Sky slot for Xrated Couples was replaced with a Television X channel called Television X Pay-Per Night, which was the first time a pay-per night channel was launched with the Television X brand. On Virgin Media TVX Pornstars replaced Xrated Couples.
In November 2017, a second Television X Pay-Per Night channel launched replacing Xrated Hook-Ups. The channels also moved spaces.
Since 2010, Television X has an Ofcom licence approved for an HD service. The HD simulcast of Television X launched on April 24, 2019, being the first pornographic channel in the United Kingdom to broadcast in high-definition. TVX Pornstars was renamed to Bangers on the same day and both TVX Pay-Per-Night channels were removed. The SD feed relocated to Channel 925 on Sky before being removed a week later on May 2, 2019. The HD feed was very short-lived however, as the SD feed returned to Sky's EPG on 1 October 2019, closing the HD feed.
Television X Callgirls Live
Television X Callgirls Live was a televised sex line show broadcast on Television X 3 from 2005. The show was directed by Portway Productions. It started with two "callgirls" - Avalon and Starr, but quickly grew to feature a number of different presenters. Original airtimes were between 10pm and 12pm but were subsequently changed to between 10pm and 2am. In August 2008 the show began broadcasting from 8pm showing softcore pornography until 10pm. The show also ran on Television X 2 and Television X 4 from 9pm until 11pm and then continued on TVX4 for 15 minutes, after which it began broadcasting encrypted hardcore pornography. This section was used as a means of encouraging viewers to subscribe to the Television X package. The channel was also available online. It was significantly cheaper to call the premium-rate telephone number than other televised sex line channels.Television X presenters
Presenters contracted to Television X in 2008 included Suzie Best, Cathy Barry, Claire Grey Aka Jesse Jayne, Amber Leigh, Renee Richards, Keisha Kane, Cate Harrington, and Donna Marie. In March 2008, glamour model Sammie Pennington was introduced as the new face and body of Television X. Three months later, glamour model Sophie Price was introduced as the new face and body of Television X. In addition, Linsey Dawn McKenzie attended the 2008 UK Adult Film and Television Awards as a representative of Television X and Red Hot TV.Websites
In mid-2007 Television X launched TelevisionX WebTV. The BBFC and Ofcom censorship rules not applying in this domain allowed Television X to show hardcore content to its viewers for the first time. In October 2008 Television X launched TelevisionX.com this change effectively split the television X website into two. One, televisionxnow.co.uk, to be used for television subscriptions and the other, Televisionx.com to be used for explicit content. This split was a necessity brought about by an Ofcom ruling which banned the advertisement of an explicit website on TV. Television X can only advertise their soft website on air.The hardcore uncensored Internet website features programmes from the TVX television station. However, the camerawork, editing, performances and language are modified to include explicit representations of sexual intercourse.
Other names
It was also known as Television X The Fantasy Channel for a long time, although it has since dropped that name. It was originally to be called TVX until Desmond was advised that that name was already in use so The Fantasy Channel was added. Television X is also known by the abbreviation TVX.Awards
The channel won UK Adult Film and Television Awards 2008 Best Pay Per Night Adult Channel. The award was picked up by Linsey Dawn McKenzie. Additionally on the night of the awards Television X and Red Hot TV received more than 12 awards including Jay Snake winning best male and Cathy Barry winning best online female actress.In March 2010 Television X launched their own awards called The SHAFTAs. Winners included Kerry Louise and Tanya Tate. Both Angel Long and Syren Sexton picked up 2 awards each.
In December 2010 Television X won two awards from UK Adult Producers. Tanya Tate collected the award on behalf of Television X for Tanya Tate's Sex Tour Of Ireland which won Best Reality Series. She also starred in the Television X series Diamond Geezers, which won Best DVD.