Now 90s

Now 90s is a British free-to-air music television channel, focusing exclusively on playing 1990s music. Launched on 23 November 2010, it was previously known as WTF (Weekly Top Forty), Massive R&B, Planet Pop, and Chilled TV.[1]

This article is about the channel that was named Massive R&B from 2011 to 2013. For the most recent Massive R&B channel, see Now 70s. For the similarly named-album in the UK series, see Now That's What I Call the 90s. For the similarly named album in the U.S. series, see Now That's What I Call the 1990s.

NOW 90s
Launched23 November 2010
Owned byAll Around the World Productions
Picture format16:9 576i SDTV
Audience share0.02% (April 2017 (2017-04), BARB)
SloganAll 90s At Libe
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Formerly calledWTF (2010-11)
Massive R&B (2011-13)
Planet Pop (2013-15)
Chilled TV (2015-17)
Sister channel(s)Now 70s
Now 80s
Clubland TV
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview (Manchester only)Channel 84
Satellite
SkyChannel 372
Astra 2G
(28.2°E)		11553 H 22000 5/6
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 347

History

WTF used a video jukebox format, which allowed viewers to select videos by texting the video selection number to the number on screen. There were different selection playlists during different times of the day. On 15 August 2011, WTF was rebranded as Massive R&B.[2] On 20 September 2011, the channel launched on Freesat, having previously only been available on Sky.[3] It moved to 511 in September 2012 but was removed in May 2014.

On 27 March 2013, the channel was rebranded as Planet Pop, with programming aimed at a core audience of 16 to 24-year-olds, including The Planet Pop 40 and Party-On Planet Pop.[4] Massive R&B returned on 1 June 2018, replacing Channel AKA, until 1 November 2018 when it was replaced by Total Country.

On 9 September 2015, the channel was rebranded as Chilled TV, which featured laidback and acoustic songs. On 13 October 2015, Planet Pop returned as "Planet" on Sky channel 389, but was removed on 18 January 2016.

From 18 November until 26 December 2016, Chilled TV was temporarily rebranded as Chilled Xmas.

On 31 March 2017, Chilled TV was rebranded as Chilled 90s, following the success of Now 80s. Chilled 90s was rebranded NOW Christmas on 10 November 2017. It became NOW 90s on 27 December 2017.

The channel occasionally shows adverts for previous Now albums that were released in the 1990s.

The channel is only allowed to have two ad-breaks an hour.

It reaches a million viewers in Sky alone each month.

In November 2017, Now 80s and Now 90s (then broadcasting as Now Christmas) were added to the GMAN Freeview multiplex broadcasting to Greater Manchester. The channel launched on Virgin Media on 8 March 2019, along with sister channel Total Country. It was previously available via the red button on Clubland TV on the platform along with Now 80s and Total Country (then Channel AKA).

In June 2018 availability of NOW 80s was extended to Freeview HD owners in more parts of the country by relocating to the Arqiva COM8 multiplex.[5] Now 90s continued to broadcast to Manchester only, until 26 February 2019, when it was relocated to the COM8 multiplex. However in August 2019 the channel was taken off-air on Freeview, with a placeholder note being added, a couple of weeks later, to say that the channel should be broadcasting again on 1 October 2019.[6][7]

On 1 October 2019, Now 90s came back to Freeview as a channel streaming through connected TVs for the majority of the day. However, in order to keep a channel number near to Now 80s or Clubland TV (so not to be placed next to Channelbox in the streaming section lower down in the EPG) the channel has to broadcast over the terrestrial Freeview system for at least two hours a day and so can be found from 05:00-07:00 on non-streaming devices.[8] It was removed from there on 26 February 2020, and replaced with sister channel Now 70s. [9] It was put on Channelbox alongside Clubland TV[10] before returning to the Greater Manchester multiplex on 13 May 2020, where it could be found on channel 84.

On-air identity
  • WTF: 23 November 2010 – 15 August 2011
  • Planet Pop: 27 March 2013 – 9 September 2015
gollark: At least I only have a two-dragon backlog now.
gollark: Naming is Hard™
gollark: I'm at 170 and should reach silver before the holidays.
gollark: What?
gollark: Impossible.

References
  1. "WTF Music Channel Branding". Engine Creative. 15 December 2010.
  2. "Music channel WTF to become Massive R&B". Entertainment Interactive. 4 August 2011.
  3. "Update Scan – 20/09/11". Join Freesat. 20 September 2011.
  4. "All Around The World launches Planet Pop music TV channel". MusicWeek. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  5. "NOW 80s widens reach on Freeview". a516digital. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. https://tvforum.uk/tvhome/90s-air-44829/
  7. https://www.rxtvlog.com/2019/08/now-90s-off-air-on-freeview.html
  8. https://www.rxtvlog.com/2019/10/now-90s-streams-back-to-freeview.html
  9. Now 70s launches on Freeview
  10. https://www.rxtvlog.com/2020/05/the-hidden-extra-channels-available-on.html
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