Launched August 2008 Founded 2008 | Broadcast area International | |
 | ||
Owned by Ginx TV Ltd
Sky plc
ITV plc Picture format 576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) Audience share UK:
~0.00% (September 2015 (2015-09), BARB) Slogan Ready to play
Videogaming TV | ||
Ginx TV is an international, multi-language TV channel dedicated exclusively to video games. The channel produces a number of video gaming programmes each occupying a specific genre of the industry and reviews games from current and retro video game consoles, handhelds, PCs and smartphones.
Contents
History
Ginx TV was founded in 2007 by Alistair Gosling who founded the Extreme Sports Channel and Udi Shapira and Cosmo Spens, although all have since left their day-to day operational roles. Since April 2010, the channel has been managed by ex-MTV Networks Europe Managing Director Michiel Bakker.
Ginx TV was launched in August 2008 on Romania's Boom TV satellite television platform. As of December 2012, Ginx TV operates in Southeast Asia, East Africa and Europe. In two regions, Indonesia and Turkey, Ginx TV is represented by the Dori Media Group. A high-definition simulcast of the channel, called Ginx HD, was temporarily available on Hispasat 1E during 2011. On 30 July 2012, the channel became available in HD again on StarHub TV in Singapore.
In August 2010, Ginx TV announced plans to launch in the UK and Ireland, where the channel expected a potential audience of over 12 million viewers through Sky and Virgin Media. In October 2010, Red Bee Media was appointed to create a new identity and on-screen presentation for the channel.
In March 2011, it was announced that the launch had been delayed. Ginx TV launched in the UK on Virgin Media on 9 July 2013. A video on demand service was also available in the UK on BT Vision from 26 May 2011. The company's programmes are also globally distributed to third party broadcasters such as TVNZ U in New Zealand, Zee Trendz in India, OSN in the Middle East and North Africa and EGO in Israel.
On 27 August 2011, all Ginx TV content ceased on Challenge in the UK and Ireland. The last show was an episode of The Blurb which went out on the same day. Both GameFace and Ginx Files had also previously broadcast on Challenge having moved from Bravo. Since the end of their deal with Challenge, Ginx TV have recommenced uploading episodes of The Blurb onto their YouTube channel on Wednesdays at noon (GMT), alongside their other content. On 12 December 2011, Ginx TV agreed to license some of its content to American videogaming website The Escapist. In May 2012, Ginx TV launched on ZON TV Cabo, and in October 2013, it was launched on Cabovisao in Portugal.
On 7 January 2013, The Blurb returned to Challenge for a second series with new host Lizzie Huang. On the episode that aired on 25 February, Lizzie was replaced by regular contributor Lucy James as host. In the same month, Ginx TV launched on IPTV in the Netherlands via KPN. In August 2013, Indovision ended their contract with Ginx TV without any reason; the channel was replaced with MNC Kids.
In October 2013, Ginx TV acquired the Poker Channel Limited adding 19 million homes to its household reach in Europe, bringing the total to 26 million. As part of this transaction, Ginx added 13 million households in France via the Free, Orange, SFR, Numericable and Bouygues IPTV and cable systems. Later in the year, Ginx TV started airing on TelkomVision in Indonesia. It initially broadcast for only a few hours everyday as a preview-only channel. In December, Ginx TV launched on BiG TV in Indonesia.
On 30 March 2014, a new show called Videogame Nation made its debut on Challenge. Originally hosted by Tom Deacon and Emily Hartridge, the show's regular line-up expanded to include Nathan Caton, Steve McNeil and John Robertson. From August 2014 to the show's demise in June 2016, the show's hosts were Aoife Wilson, John Robertson and Dan Maher and featured a rotating cast of interviewees.
On 23 May 2014, Ginx TV launched on TransVision in the Indonesia. In June, Ginx joined the BARB research panel in the UK to support its advertising window. On 4 July 2014, host and contributor Lucy James officially left Ginx TV.
For Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015, Steve McNeil and Chris Slight fronted extensive coverage from the UK studio while Chris Bond and Adam Mason was in Los Angeles. They gave their opinions and some live streams of the conferences. The new website and paid on demand feature was introduced in 2015, allowing customers to pay a monthly, quarterly or yearly fee for access to Ginx TV's best shows.
In June 2016, it was announced that, with the partnership of Sky and ITV, Ginx TV was to be transformed into Ginx eSports TV, shifting its focus to covering eSports. With this change, the channel launched on 24 June 2016 on Sky, in addition to it already being available to watch on Virgin Media.