A NEW satellite TV station aimed mainly at women was launched
yesterday.
UK Living starts broadcasting on September 1 with an investment of
#25m and a range of presenters including ex-Eldorado nightclub singer
Polly Perkins and EastEnder Michelle Collins.
Head of programmes is Lis Howell, who left GMTV after the station had
been on the air for less than two months -- and just three days after
former TV-am supremo Greg Dyke became company chairman.
Ms Howell -- who was credited with the invention of GMTV's
controversial F-factor for fanciability, said there would be no need for
UK Living presenters to have on-screen chemistry -- they are all women.
She was unrepentent about her F-factor policy at GMTV -- but went on:
''It doesn't apply here because presenters will be operating
individually and you can't have sexual chemistry on your own.
''But I still think the F-factor is great and I am still a firm
believer that appearance on TV matters.
''However, the chemistry that will matter here is between the
presenter and the audience, and we have thought very carefully about how
they should dress, what they should look like, and how they should
appeal -- it's crucial.''
Ms Howell, 41, said UK Living would have ''controversial moments''
because it intended to deal with contentious issues.
A unique aspect will be repeats of programmes such as Kilroy, Anne and
Nick, and Floyd, which would be shown within a week of being transmitted
on mainstream television.
Currently its sister station, UK Gold, repeats EastEnders and other
shows, but episodes can date back several years.
Former TV-am host Kathryn Holloway, 32, who will present an agony aunt
programme similar to the Oprah Winfrey Show, admitted that it might
''shock'' some of the audience by tackling problems in an adult way.
''You might have a mother who comes home and finds her son dressed in
her bra and knickers or a mistress talking about how she got involved
with the man in her life,'' Ms Holloway said.
''It is not a family channel, it is women talking adult to adult. It
will be the nuts and bolts of problems, but within the constraints of
the ITC guidelines, which are actually quite broad.''
The station was designed neither for a ''mumsy'' market nor for
''rabid feminists'' as neither extreme reflected the majority of women
in Britain, said Ms Holloway.
She pledged that she would look like a real person on-screen rather
than the Barbie doll many women were made up to look like for TV
cameras.
''Women on TV have to be girl-next-door and non-controversial,'' she
said.
''Most of them look as if they are in fancy dress. How many women do
you know during the day who wear primrose yellow dresses, with big gold
buttons?
''I look like a real person, there will be no teased hair, no
lip-gloss. It's completely inappropriate to have someone looking like
they've come off a Dynasty set when they're talking to a victim of a
multiple rape.''
UK Living is owned by Thames Television and two American broadcasting
companies, Cox Enterprises and Tele-Communications Inc.
It will be available on the BSkyB network and to homes connected to
cable and will broadcast 18 hours a day, seven days a week. The
potential audience is 3.6 million women, although it is also hoped men
and teenagers will tune in.
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