Dave

UKG2 was relaunched as Dave which sparked a trend in UKTV rebranding its channels. It was possibly one of the most successful digital channel rebrands to date.”Dave” was chossen as UKTV belived “everyone knows a bloke called Dave”. The Channel also replaced UKTV Bright Ideas, which gives a better slot on Freeview. Dave channel head Steven North said: “With a schedule for which most broadcasters would give their eye teeth, UKTV G2 is an incredibly successful channel with 10 million viewers in pay homes each month, but with relatively low brand awareness. Changing the channel name to Dave enables us to create a strong and noisy personality for the channel that immediately aligns us with our core 16-34 male audience.”Julia Jordan, UKTV’s executive director for business and operations, said: “There’s a definite opportunity for a channel like Dave on Freeview. The younger male audience is of very high value commercially and this demographic is currently under-served in Freeview homes.”At the time many critics “Scoffed” the rebrand believe its would confused viewer and be a ratings disaster, but with months the channel went from the 32nd most popular digital channel to 10th, with an average of 25 million viewers tuning into Dave a month. According to Barb figures for Q1, Dave’s reach has increased by 84% compared to its predecessor UKTV G2. While the majority of this growth is due to Dave’s availability on Freeview, reach in cable and satellite homes has also risen – by 39% and 23% respectively. In Freeview-only homes, Dave is the top channel for ABC1 men, excluding the terrestrials.Matthew Littleford, the UKTV controller, said in 2009 ” It’s only 17 months since we launched Dave and, in that short period of time, we’ve created clearly defined, exciting and compelling channel brands that have reinvigorated the entertainment and factual sections of the EPG [electronic programme guide]. Despite the tumultuous TV market, UKTV’s continued success has ensured we are now in a position to embark on the final stage of our ambitious rebrand strategy with the launch of our new lifestyle channels. I am confident that we have created two destination lifestyle brands in pay-TV that will be worthy homes to the blue-chip programming we either acquire via third parties or BBC Worldwide and the stellar programmes we commission.”

2007 – 2014

Dave first look appaered on 15th October 2007 and was created by Red Bee.

2014 – 2022

Dave Second look was unveiled on Tuesday, 29th April 2014. with the new look being created by Red Bee Media.UKTV’s Will Gunton, senior brand manager and Hik Sasaki, senior marketing manager for Dave, said “We want people to think of Dave not just as a place you visit but a mate you want to spend time with even when you can’t get near a telly. In a world crowded with hundreds of channels, Dave has always stood out for its unique personality, which gives us the ability to talk and act in ways which others can’t. This refresh is designed to inject this unique persona into everything we do on and off screen and expand the Dave brand to an even bigger audience.Andy Bryant, director of creative at Red Bee, added: “Creating the original Dave brand was one of Red Bee’s proudest moments and the channel has gone from strength to strength since then. Now is the time to build on Dave’s unique personality and tone of voice with a refreshed identity that exudes the channel’s sense of humour in every second between programmes.More clips will appear as soon as possible.

A selection of promotions.

2022-Present

New Presentation appeared on Wednesday 9th November 2022

Clips to follow.