NBC Europe

NBC Channel
Owned by	ITV companies/Virgin Group; (1987–1988); Marcucci family/Virgin Group; (1988–1993); General Electric; (1993–2004); NBCUniversal; (2004–2005); Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur; (1998–2004);
Country	Europe

Short description: Former pan-European cable and satellite television network (1987–2005)

NBC Europe (formerly Super Channel, and later NBC Channel) was a satellite television network based in the United Kingdom that broadcast across Europe, and it was picked up by various European cable systems where available.

The network was based in the heart of London, 19-22 Rathbone Place in the same building as Music Box, would later become the home of CNN International until 2007. For a number of months, the transmission facilities were provided by Molinare at Fouberts Place, and returned briefly until the Marcucci family acquired Melrose House, 14 Lanark Square in Limeharbour where it set up as a state-of-the-art broadcasting centre.

History

1987–1993: Super Channel

Super Channel logo (1987–1993)

Launched on 30 January 1987, replacing the 24-hour music channel Music Box, it was co-owned by all but one of the ITV companies at the time in the United Kingdom .^[1] Virgin Group had a majority stake in Music Box (60%) and would own 15% of the equity with the rest being split between ITV franchise holders including Granada, Yorkshire, LWT, Central, Anglia, Tyne Tees, Ulster, Grampian, Scottish, Border, HTV, TSW and TVS, while Thames and TV-am were the only two of the contractors not to participate.^[2] It competed with Sky Channel (forerunner of Sky One), which was the only other major pan-European satellite television network around at the time. Unlike Sky Channel, syndicated output was less United States and more European. Much of its programming was sourced from ITV or the BBC as part of "Best of British", and it also featured ITN-produced news bulletins. It also broadcast syndicated non-British European programmes, including the Dutch sitcom Zeg 'ns Aaa (broadcast on the original station VARA, with English subtitles).

Super Channel fared poorly, due to United Kingdom-based programming seen as unsuitable for European audiences, such as drama being seen as "too violent" or "too realistic",^[3] as well as a dispute with the British actors' union who demanded additional fees for viewing by audiences which meant that it could no longer offer the 'Best of British to a European audience'.^[2]

Within a year, the ITV companies (now including only Granada, TVS, Yorkshire Television, and Anglia Television) sold the network to the Italian Marcucci family, owners of Videomusic, the first music channel in Italy, with a minority stake being held by Richard Branson's Virgin plc. The programming changed from British to pan-European, although it continued carrying ITN World News bulletins.^[4]

1993–1998: NBC steps in

NBC Super Channel logo (1993–1996)

On 2 October 1993, the station which was in severe financial difficulties was taken over by the American company General Electric, then-parent of the NBC television network, and became NBC Super Channel.^[5] From 9 September 1996, the channel was renamed NBC Europe, but was from then on almost always referred to as simply "NBC" on the air, although the network (along with its sister station CNBC Europe launched on 11 March earlier that year) was transmitted from the GE building in Hammersmith. The transmission suite used cutting edge Pro-Bel COMPASS and MAPP automation at the time, and Profile video servers for all commercials and promotions, within programmes continued to be played from tape automatically.

Most of NBC's prime time programming was produced in Europe, but after 10.00pm (CET) on weekday evenings as the channel aired The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Later to hence its slogan "Where the Stars Come Out at Night". Most news programmes were broadcast on NBC Europe including Dateline, Time and Again and NBC Nightly News, which was aired live. The Today Show was also initially shown live in the afternoons, but was later broadcast the following morning instead, by which time it was more than half a day old. This meant that all the NBC News portions had to be replaced with European updates produced by ITN in London, also supplied the network with the main newscasts before and after the GE takeover. European weather forecasts was produced by the BBC at first, but was later taken over by NBC in the United States occasionally.

NBC Europe carried virtually no prime time entertainment programmes shown in the United States, because they were usually owned and distributed by other studios under the fin-syn rules (which did not apply in Europe). NBC would have had to buy the rights for each country in order to show which would have been too expensive. Even for shows that NBC Studios owned itself, it was generally more financially viable to sell the rights by country either to broadcast or cable and satellite channels than to air them on NBC Europe. The most notable exceptions to this rule were brief runs of Profiler and The Pretender, as well as short-lived American sitcoms Union Square and Mr. Rhodes. That is widely considered to be one of the main reasons why NBC Europe was ultimately not a success.

1998–2005: As a German network

Studio of news programme "GIGA Real"

NBC Europe stopped broadcasting to most of Europe on 30 June 1998, when the Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur took it over and moved to Düsseldorf. Most of the satellite feeds became either National Geographic Channel or CNBC . NBC Europe continued to operate on Germany's cable television networks, fed by one digital satellite link from Eutelsat II-F1 (later Hot Bird 5). On 30 November, the first German programming started airing, assembled from content from GIGA and CNBC Europe, as well as other shows. In 2004, NBC Universal took over the DFA and consequently NBC Europe.

On 29 September 2005, NBC Europe was split into GIGA and later replaced by the new channel Das Vierte. The service continued broadcasting with its licence on cable, satellite, IPTV and digital cable. It broadcast a special version on cable television including CNBC Europe and GIGA (up until 31 March 2006). This was necessary to keep both the licence and the cable channel.

On 25 September 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Das Vierte and closed the service from 31 December 2013. On 17 January 2014, the network was replaced by Disney Channel Germany switching from pay television to free-to-air.

Programming

Due to limitations on the amount of entertainment shows on the network, NBC Europe (including GIGA) aired a number of original programming in tandem with United States content that had not been aired in Europe beforehand. These include:

49win
Agenda
Best of the Ticket
Blue Night
Bonanza
CNBC
CNBC
CNBC
Chinese News Europe
CNBC Business Weekly
CNBC European Squawk Box
CNBC U.S. Squawk Box
Dateline
Daybreak
The Detectives
Disaster Chronicles
Eco Record
Equal Time
European Business Today
Father Murphy
Film Europe
FT Business Today
FT Business Tonight
FT European Business Today
GIGA green (later GIGA@ the gate)
GIGA Games
GIGA Heartbeat
Holidays
Hotline
Inside Edition
ITN Super Channel News
ITN World News
Kinowelt-De News
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Later
Mancuso, F.B.I.
Max's European Home Video Show
MediaTelevision
The Mix
Money Wheel
European Money Wheel
U.S. Money Wheel
Mr. Rhodes
MSNBC - The Site
MSNBC Internight Live
National Geographic
NBC GIGA
NBC GIGA Real
NBC Music Legends
NBC News Special Reports
NBC News Today
NBC Nightly News
NBC Sports News
NHL International Weekly
On the Air
Personal
PGA Tour
The Pretender
Profiler
Real Personal
Riviera
The Rolonda Watts Show
Saturday Night Live
The Selina Scott Show
Super Channel Documentaries
Super Channel Sports Specials
SMS Challenge
Super Shop
Talkin' Blues
Talkin' Jazz
Time and Again
The Today Show
Today's Business
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Travel Express
CNBC
Union Square
Victory
Videofashion
West of Moscow
Young Soul Rebels

References

↑ "Broadband TV News - UK - Archive December 9, 2005". 26 October 2007. http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/archive_uk/091205.html.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Transnational Television in Europe: Reconfiguring Global Communications Networks, Jean K. Chalaby, I.B.Tauris, page 25
↑ Media Information Australia, Australian Film and Television School, 1990, age 80-, 83, 1990, Issues 55-58
↑ Benn's Media Directory: United Kingdom, Volume 138, Benn Business Information Services, 1990, page 789
↑ "COMPANY NEWS; NBC to Control Super Channel". The New York Times. Reuters. 2 October 1993. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1DE1238F931A35753C1A965958260.

External links

Superchannel Launch - Complete and in full
Uphill Struggle for Pan-Europe Stations : Televising to a Continent article from International Herald Tribune; 16 March 1994

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Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC Europe. Read more

[1] "Broadband TV News - UK - Archive December 9, 2005". 26 October 2007. http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/archive_uk/091205.html.

[Chalaby-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Transnational Television in Europe: Reconfiguring Global Communications Networks, Jean K. Chalaby, I.B.Tauris, page 25

[3] Media Information Australia, Australian Film and Television School, 1990, age 80-, 83, 1990, Issues 55-58

[4] Benn's Media Directory: United Kingdom, Volume 138, Benn Business Information Services, 1990, page 789

[5] "COMPANY NEWS; NBC to Control Super Channel". The New York Times. Reuters. 2 October 1993. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1DE1238F931A35753C1A965958260.

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