Business focus for relaunch TV

BSkyB is re-launching the Computer Channel in a bid to increase its business focus after it failed to address viewers' needs.

The channel will be renamed .tv (dot tv) and will continue to be transmitted for two hours each night. Stephanie Couillard, head of programming at the Computer Channel, said it was moving away from the magazine format used since its launch in November 1996. The station will now air five different half-hour programmes aimed at separate audiences.

As part of the policy to air different programmes, consumer .tv will be aimed at SoHo users and families, testing hardware, software and peripheral products, and business .tv will be a Sunday night discussion show of the issues effecting people in the industry. Other programmes will cover internet, education and creative areas.

The most popular current show, Chips with Everything, will continue to offer solutions to viewers a range of problems, while also covering consumer issues.

Richard Wilcox, editor of .tv, said he was keen to improve the channel business coverage, admitting the magazine approach had not addressed the widely varying PC users. He said that although PCs are bought by families they are used by individuals for very different purposes and therefore users needed a variety of programmes to cover their interests.

Wilcox also claimed the pairing of two shows, Global Village and Blue Chip, would cover issues of interest to business users as well as a broader discussion of IT issues, providing a weekly look at the corporate IT market.

The channel goes live on 1 March.