Television X is a series of adult pay-per-view television channels in the United Kingdom owned by Aylo Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited. Until 2020, it was owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of Richard Desmond's publishing company Northern & Shell until 2016. All of the programmes on the main Television X channel are filmed and produced in the United Kingdom. Like most other adult and specialist satellite channels, viewers need a specific viewing card to decrypt the signal. Unlike the standard Sky viewing card (which is normally left in the decoder at all times), the cards for adult channels are designed to be removed and stored in a subscriber's wallet when not in use. They often have no logo or company name on them, only the account number and the phone number for the channel's customer support service. It was also known as Television X – The Fantasy Channel for a long time, although it has since dropped that name. It was originally to be called TVX until Desmond was advised that that name was already in use so "The Fantasy Channel" was added. Television X is also known by the abbreviation TVX.
History Television X started broadcasting under its original name – The Fantasy Channel on 2 June 1995. The two original hosts were Charmaine Sinclair and Samantha Jessup, with Debbie Corrigan and Kirsten Imrie making occasional appearances. Much of the original programming: Superdick, Shagnasty and Mutley, David Dickie's World of Sport etc. was developed by Deric Botham, then editor of Penthouse magazine. The station garnered international publicity when it brought the former American prostitute Estella Marie Thompson, also known as Divine Brown, over for a launch at BAFTA's headquarters in Piccadilly. On Friday nights, DJ Chris Rogers (aka Caesar the Geezer) presented a live two-hour show with sports agent Eric Hall. The channel broadcasts from 10.00 pm until 5.30 am. Its programmes are around 30 minutes in duration and include titles such as John Cherry: Soccer Stud, Council Estate Skanks, Charlie Britton Exposed (in which Charlie is played by Ben Dover), Diamond Geezers and Lara's Anal Adventures. The majority of programmes are heterosexual although some, such as All Girl Initiation, feature lesbianism and some, such as Ladyboy Training, cover transexualism. Some of the channel's programmes are pornographic spoofs on popular mainstream British television shows. On 23 July 2008, Ofcom fined Portland TV £25,000 for broadcasting a R18-rated pornographic movie on the station in June 2007, with Ofcom rules not allowing R18-rated content to be broadcast on any television station.
15th birthday Television X celebrated its 15th birthday in August 2010 with a photo shoot of 14 of their top models from 1995 to then including Charmaine Sinclair, Lana Cox, Teresa May (not to be confused with the politician Theresa May), Cathy Barry, Michelle Thorne, Lara Latex, Kerry Louise, Sasha Rose and Syren Sexton. They also held a large party to commemorate the event in central London at Café de Paris (London), which featured both strippers and burlesque acts throughout the evening.
Additional networks In addition to the standard Television X network, several additional networks were available on Sky UK.
Television X Amateur Source: Launched on 1 November 2003 as Television X 2 on Sky Channel 971, replacing Erotika 4. TVX 2 showcased viewer-sent videotapes of amateur pornography. By April 2006, the channel was briefly renamed Television X Raw but was soon reverted to its former name by October 2007. During this period, the channel continued to focus on amateur tapes. In November 2008, the channel was renamed Television X Amateur (with an orange colour scheme), once again with the same general focus. In May 2009, Portland TV was fined a total of £27,500 after the network aired a hardcore pornographic programme named Bathroom Bitches in September 2008, with Ofcom stating that channels broadcasting content under an equivalent of an R18 rating must not be broadcast under any meaning. Television X Amateur was closed on 15 June 2012 after its Explicit materials licence expired, with sister network Red Hot Amateur taking over its EPG slot.
Television X FFWD Launched on 1 November 2003 as Television X 3 on Sky channel 972, replacing Erotika 5. TVX 3 was a movie channel that showed pornographic films, which at one point, aired the movies Debbie Does Dallas and Deep Throat. In April 2006, the channel was renamed Television X Live before reverting to its former name of Television X 3 in October 2007. The programming transitioned to showcasing the Television X Callgirls Live chat program. In November 2008, the channel was renamed Television X FFWD (with a purple colour scheme), before closing on 21 May 2009, with its electronic programme guide (EPG) slot being taken over for Portland TV's chat services Filth, Cream and Skincity. The slot FFWD was housed in was taken over by sister network Gay TV.
Bangers Bangers was launched at the end of 2005 as Television Xtra, as a Red Button service accessible through the other networks. It eventually launched as a standalone channel in February 2007 before being renamed as Television X 4 in October. The channel initially showcased pornography from continental Europe and the United States. After its renaming, a service called Television X FF (Fast Forward), which minimized non-pornographic content, was added. In November 2008, the channel was renamed to Television X Brits (with a Union Jack colour scheme), and changed its focus to British pornography. In 2016, Television X Brits was renamed as TVXXX, which was then renamed again to TVX Pornstars on 29 March 2017. In September 2017, TVX Pornstars was added to Virgin Media, replacing Xrated Couples. On 24 April 2019, with changes on the Sky EPG slot, the channel was renamed to Bangers and moved from 911 to 903 on the EPG. On 30 September 2020, following the purchase of Portland TV by MG Global Entertainment, Bangers was removed, and its Sky EPG slot was replaced with Babes and Brazzers.
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