Questis a British and Irishfree-to-airtelevision channelavailable in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It provides factual, lifestyle and entertainment programmes and other imported material, as well as films and sports coverage. It is operated byWarner Bros. Discovery.
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled to16:9576ifor theSDTVfeed) |
| Timeshiftservice | Quest +1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery International |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA |
| Sister channels | Animal Planet Boomerang Cartoon Network Cartoonito Discovery Discovery History Discovery Science Discovery Turbo DMAX Eurosport 1 Eurosport 2 Food Network HGTV Investigation Discovery Quest Red TLC TNT Sports 1 TNT Sports 2 TNT Sports 3 TNT Sports 4 TNT Sports Box Office |
| History | |
| Launched | 30 September 2009 |
| Replaced | DMAX +1.5 (Quest +1) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 12 Channel 70 (+1) |
| Streaming media | |
| Discovery+ | Watch live(UK only) |
| Virgin TV Go | Watch live(UK only) Watch live(+1) (UK only) |
| Virgin TV Anywhere | Watch live(Ireland only) |
History
editLaunch
editIn October 2008, Discovery announced that they would launch a channel onFreeviewin early 2009, but without using the "Discovery" name. A placeholder appeared on Freeview channel 47 on 5 January 2009 andTiscali TVchannel 109 on 14 May 2009.[1]Although the channel planned to launch on 14 May 2009 at 10am, after broadcasting a promo loop on the planned launch morning, at 10am the channel returned to displaying a "Coming soon" message.[2][3]
The Quest website displayed a message reading: "Regrettably we have made the decision to postpone the launch of Quest. Due to a number of commercial factors we have had to make this difficult decision. We did not make this decision lightly and we are working towards launching Quest in the near future. We would like to apologise wholeheartedly to any of you that have been looking forward to this launch."
In August 2009, Discovery Networks announced that it planned to launch the channel on 30 September 2009.[4]At the same time the channel moved to channel 38.[5]Quest launched onSky,on 1 October 2009, after acquiring an EPG slot fromInformation TV 2.Quest +1 launched on Sky, replacingDMAX +1.5on 2 November 2009.[6]
Quest launched onVirgin Mediaon 25 March 2010 on channel 179.
Quest moved to channel 12 on Freeview, a space previously occupied byDave,due to its ownerDiscovery, Inc.acquiringGood Food,HomeandReallyfrom theUKTVnetwork (which owns U&Dave) as part of a deal withBBC Studios.
Quest HD has been available on Swisscom TV (IPTV) in Switzerland since November 2019.
In November 2022, Quest Red +1 closed on Freeview and Quest moved from theCOM4/SDNmultiplex to the COM6/ArqB multiplex.
Full-time
editOn 15 October 2010, Quest began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule on all platforms except Freeview.[7]On 30 June 2011,Gems TVacquired a 24-hour Freeview stream,[8]ending their timeshare with Quest, allowing Quest to begin broadcasting for 24 hours a day on Freeview as well.
Quest +1 on Freeview
editAt the beginning of March 2014, Quest +1 appeared on Freeview channel 57. On 27 May 2014, Quest moved on Freeview to channel 37 and Quest +1 moved to channel 38. On 15 March 2017 it moved to channel 92 due to the launch of sister channelQuest Red,and later channels 76 and 69 following closures. Quest +1 and Quest Red +1 received changes in 2019 as Quest Red +1 moved to 72 while Quest +1 increased broadcast hours to 24 hour rather than 7pm to 7am.
Programming
editSports coverage
editOn 21 July 2014, Quest announced that they would be broadcasting live football in the form of the2014 Schalke 04 Cup- a pre-season tournament featuring the likes ofNewcastle United F.C.andWest Ham United F.C.[9]Five months later the channel broadcast live coverage of theDubai Challenge Cup.[10]
Speedway highlights are also shown on Quest.
Since 2016, Quest has showed coverage of theBritish Superbike Championshiplive, free-to-air. Originally, it was to avoid a clash with other events being shown on Eurosport's normal broadcast channels, but subsequently the event has regularly been shown on the channel either live or by highlights.[11]
In late 2016, Quest broadcast live coverage and highlights of the new Home Series International Snooker Series, Quest broadcast afternoon sessions live of the English, Scottish and Northern Irish Opens with evening coverage exclusively on Eurosport and highlights. Both Eurosport & Quest cover the final sessions of each tournament live. The coverage is presented by Andy Goldstein orColin MurrayalongsideJimmy White,Neal Foulds&Ronnie O'Sullivanwith commentary by the usual Eurosport commentatorsJoe Johnson,Neal Foulds,Dave Hendon & Philip Studd.
In 2019 and 2020, Quest showed live coverage and highlights of theBDO World Darts Championship,BDO World Trophyand theWorld Masters.Quest shared coverage with sister channelEurosport.[12]
Quest also shows parts of the24 Hours of Le Manseach year along with its sister channelsEurosport 1andEurosport 2and also broadcast highlights of theMotoGP World Championshipalong with Moto2 and Moto3 beginning in2019and2020.
English Football League (EFL)
editKicking-off from the2018–19 season,the four-year deal will see Quest provide 90 minutes of extensive match highlights of theEnglish Championship,League OneandLeague Two,hosted byColin Murray,in primetime at 9pm every Saturday night.[13]As a result, the channel announced an HD version would launch in July 2018. It launched on 21 July 2018 on Virgin Media channel 217 but was removed on 24 July 2018. It officially launched on 2 August 2018 on Virgin Media, on 3 August on Freesat and Sky, and on 14 August on Freeview.[14]
The EFL said in its news release on 4 May 2018 that "the partnership between the EFL and Quest will guarantee accessible high quality, free-to-air coverage for football fans across the country".[15]When the first show was broadcast on 4 August 2018, viewers experienced frequent breakup of picture and the screen aspect was reduced to the obsolete 4:3 ratio. Numerous complaints were made andDigital Spyran a feature on the impact of the "technical difficulties". Quest claimed that "some" viewers experienced problems but theDigital Spyinvestigation strongly suggests that everyone was impacted. Quest added that they were working to resolve the issue.[16]
Movies
editOn 25 May 2023, Quest began broadcasting movies. Action thrillers are broadcast Thursdays at 10 pm and repeated on Sundays at 11 pm, and westerns are shown Saturdays at 2 pm and repeated on Sundays at 6 am. They are mainly sourced from theWarner Bros.film libraries. The broadcasting of movies on Quest began after it was decided, and announced, that sister channelTCM Movieswould close - TCM stopped broadcasting on 7 July 2023.
Sky channel moves
editOn 17 October 2013, Quest moved from 154 to 167 on Sky, while TLC +1 moved from 195 to 154, and Quest +1 moved from 167 to 195.
On 16 July 2015, Quest moved from 167 to 144 on Sky, switching places with sister channelDMAX.[17]
Quest and Quest Red removed their encryption and began broadcasting free-to-air on satellite in June 2017, and were added to the Freesat guide early in July.[18]
As part of the major EPG reshuffle on 1 May 2018, Quest +1 moved from channel 195 to 244 (due to Quest not moving from channel 144).
Logos
edit-
Quest logo used from 30 September 2009 - 14 April 2014 -
Quest logo used from 15 April 2014 – present -
2014 version without checkpoint
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Placeholder for Quest appears on Freeview".Digital Spy.6 January 2009.Retrieved6 January2009.
- ^"Discovery's Quest to launch in May".Broadcast. 23 February 2009.
- ^"Quest TV - Failed launch - The Story".Radio & Telly.Retrieved14 May2009.
- ^"Quest sets Freeview launch date".Broadcastnow. 5 August 2009.
- ^"'Industrial Junkie' to premiere on Quest ".Digital Spy. 7 September 2009.
- ^"Implementation - Quest +1".AGB Nielsen Media Research. 2 October 2009.
- ^"Quest goes 24 hours".The Airwaves. 15 October 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 24 July 2011.
- ^"Freeview 24/7 for GemsTV".ShoppingTelly. 29 June 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 15 March 2012.
- ^Quest [@QuestTV] (21 July 2014)."@QuestTV will be broadcasting the 2014 Schalke 04 Cup live. 2 -3 August. @NUFC @Hammers__News #SportOnQuest. More to come..."(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
- ^"Freeview football bonus as Quest covers Dubai Challenge Cup".
- ^"Brands BSB set for free-to-air TV".www.motorcyclenews.com.Retrieved21 May2023.
- ^"British Darts Organisation - THREE-YEAR EUROSPORT BROADCASTING DEAL ANNOUNCED - News - News".www.bdodarts.com.
- ^"Quest becomes new home of EFL highlights".Eurosport UK. 3 May 2018.Retrieved5 July2018.
- ^Quest [@QuestTV] (3 May 2018)."Hey there We're working with the platforms to make Quest HD available. We'll let you know!"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
- ^"Quest becomes new home of EFL highlights".EFL. 4 May 2018.Retrieved5 August2018.
- ^"EFL football is on Quest but not everyone is a fan after technical difficulties on launch show".Digital Spy. 5 August 2018.Retrieved5 August2018.
- ^Quest [@QuestTV] (16 July 2015)."Anyone watched Quest on it's [sic] new channel position 144 on @sky yet? #questsky144 "(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
- ^Quest [@QuestTV] (4 July 2017)."Hi #freesat viewers! Welcome to the world of Quest! We're LIVE on @freesat_tv on channel 167! Can you see us yet? #spreadingthenews #questtv"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
- ^"Image".pinimg.com.Retrieved21 May2023.
- ^"Forensics Detectives: Who did it? Lab Grades 6-8 - science - Pinterest - Forensics, Forensic science and School".Pinterest.
- ^"dplay".dplay.co.uk.
- ^TVGuide."Forensic Detectives (Remnant of Blame) on Investigation Discovery +1, Sat 4 Aug 8:00pm - TV Guide UK TV Listings".TVGuide.co.uk.
