Channel A (Michillies)

Channel A is a commercial television channel in the Michillies, owned by the A Group of Companies. The channel was founded in 1991 and broadcasts started on February 20, 1993. Today it is the country's most-watched channel.

History

Prelaunch

Talk Radio Michillies was one of the many companies interested in setting up a television license for the legalization of private broadcasting. TRM Communications set up the TVA consortium in 1991, who initially wanted to make it a "news channel" even with limited scheduling resources (the channel couldn't start before 5pm). The concept was later discarded and TVA became a general entertainment channels. Michillies On Air funding for local shows started in February of 1992, when the channel's fate was at the time uncertain.

In July, TVA won the second license. Conventional wisdom suggested that ITN was going to have a larger network, but upon launch, these results were proven fruitless, as an estimated 33% of the channel was picking it up. When the first TVA test transmissions started in January 1993, it was being picked up by 40%. By February, the geographical reach arose to 60%.

1993-1995

TVA started at 5:45pm on February 20, 1993. The first program was Your Guide to TVA, followed by the first edition of TVA News and two movies. After a late edition of TVA News and the weather, the channel closed down saying that "the channel's mission was accomplished" and that "TVA will be the new favorite channel of the Michillians". TVA started with much more class than its competitor ITN because of its ownership structure.

Although the channel positioned itself as a hard news channel, most of the output wasn't related to news. The "remit" was inherited from Talk Radio Michillies. Notable non-news programming during the first few months of the channel included the pre-school show You and Me, hosted by Dana Coy and adapted from the New Michillian program of the same name; "improvised fiction" series I Caught It On Tape in which the creator relied on a camcorder to film all the scenes; A View of the Hills, the channel's first soap opera and a ratings failure; and Doctor, Doctor, a Michillian emulation of Shortland Street which fared considerably better.

While off-air, TVA aired a live stream of sister radio property Talk Radio Michillies.

TVA was partly-owned by the Reitannan Television Network in 1994, RTN decided to quit the ownership structure due to "self-sustainability". Likewise the bank that financed RTN went bankrupt and RTN was unable to sustain its two foreign operations (it and Four in North Arlesbury).

1995-1996

TVA rebranded on the day of its second anniversary and by then has drifted considerably from its launch remit. Entertainment had become the order of the day in order to relieve the woes of Michillian Sierranization practiced by ITN and counter-programming.

TVA unveiled a newer, flashier image, trying "not to imitate ITN".

1996-2000

TVA rebranded yet again in September 1996, positioning more and more as an entertainment channel rather than a general channel.

TVA controllers refused the idea of premiering Big Brother on the channel, the program was claimed to be "trashy". ITN, however, bought it, causing TVA to lose a significant number of viewers.

2000-2004

TVA rebranded on September 3rd, 2000, on the night Big Brother premiered on competing channel ITN. TVA's new look premiered at 7pm with a special program known as Get Circled, similar to the 1996-1997 upfront of the same name. Viewership figures started to decrease as a result of the Big Brother effect.

2004-2009

New leadership took control of the channel in 2004.

2017-present

In early 2017, rumors emerged saying that the TVA name was to be replaced by Channel A name. This was confirmed on Fabruary 19, the eve of the channel's 24th anniversary.

Controversies

Export controversies

Channel A has been alerted by the Standards and Practices boards of various countries worldwide. Some countries are not allowed to broadcast fiction in their entirety, as the shows contain objectionable content such as swearing and exposure of genital parts and female breasts.

Youth series Hormones was a success in North Arlesbury and Reitanna, but even Reitanna had problems with the borderline nudity of the series.