Launched 30 June 1998 Website www.totalkiss.com Founded 1998 | Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV) Owned by The Box Plus Network | |
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Audience share 0.02% (September 2015 (2015-09), BARB) Sister channel(s) 4seven
Channel 4
Film4
E4
More4
4Music
Box Upfront
The Box
Box Hits
Kerrang! TV
Magic Freeview Channel 18 (HD online via 4Music) Profiles | ||
Kiss TV is a commercial music television channel from The Box Plus Network, available on the Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk Plus TV digital television platforms. The playlist predominantly consists of mainstream hip-hop, electronic dance music and R&B.
It is based on the format of the Bauer owned London radio station Kiss 100, which started as a pirate radio station in London in 1985. Kiss TV celebrated the 20th anniversary of its launch in 2005.
History
The original incarnation of Kiss TV was created by Guy Wingate, who, as an original co-creator of London's Kiss 100 (in its pirate days) was brought back in to head up EMAP's fledgling TV division by the more-widely known Kiss chief, Gordon McNamee (Mac). The channel ran for one hour a night on the Mirror Group's L!VE TV cable circuit and after a year moved up to the Granada satellite and cable platform, taking a similar slot in the evening.
Although the original idea for the channel was proposed in 1993 (three years after Kiss FM launched as a legal station), it took many months for Wingate to convince UK television regulators to permit the extension of a brand name over to television. When permission was finally granted, Kiss had once again innovated by becoming the first "Masthead" TV project in the UK.
Within one year, the station was beating MTV in its time slots, and quickly gained a cult status for its low-budget edgy coverage of the UK dance music scene. The channel's presenters included legendary DJs such as BBC Radio 1's Judge Jules. By the time the channel was one year old, it had attracted major sponsorship from blue-chip brands such as Levi's, Sony consumer products and The Guardian newspaper.
The channel is available on many digital television platforms. It is part of a network of channels owned by The Box Plus Network, a joint venue between Bauer and Channel Four Television Corporation, which includes 4Music, Kerrang! TV, Smash Hits, Heat, The Box, and Magic. On 2 April 2013, all Box Television channels went free-to-air on satellite, apart from 4Music which went free-to-view. As a result, the channels were removed from the Sky EPG in Ireland. However, Kiss TV launched on Freesat on 15 April 2013, alongside three other Box Television channels. Kiss TV also broadcasts in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Pay-TV Channel through various Digital TV providers without Commercials and Teleshopping. Past Music Videos are played in place of commercials.