After weeks of programming announcements and speculation over its launch date, Virgin Media TV has confirmed that both the channel and branded website, Virgin1.co.uk, will launch on the same day.
It will air on Freeview and Sky, as well as Virgin Media. According to Jonathan Webb, managing director of Virgin Media TV, it is skewed towards male viewers in order to fill a gap in the Freeview market.
Webb previously told Media Week that Freeview was "a platform with a real gap for male viewing" because of the small amount of content and wealth of female-skewed dramas on channels such as E4.
High-profile shows set to lead its prime-time schedule include Terminator TV spin-off The Sarah Connor Chronicles, US satirical drama The Riches and the Star Trek franchise.
Virgin Media TV has also confirmed that the channel's repeat channel, Virgin 1+1, will launch on 1 October on Sky and Virgin Media only. It will not have a presence on DTT platform Freeview because of "bandwidth restrictions and expense", according to Webb.
The time-shift channel is expected to deliver a 20% uplift in impacts. Virgin needs to boost its audience share and impacts as it has continued to lose customers after the row with Sky earlier this year over carriage costs. This resulted in Sky pulling its basic channels from the Virgin platform.
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