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BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Asia Pacific from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment.
The network was the result of BBC World Service Television's split up, making the channel and BBC World (now known as BBC News).
The goal was part of a new BBC strategy for Europe, in which the former service was to be split and given over to European Channel Management, the joint-venture created with Pearson. The goal was to reach 10 million households in Europe by year-end 1995; the existing service reached 2.3 million households. 75% of the output was drawn in from the BBC, while the remaining 25% came from Thames. It carried Diana's interview to Panorama on 24 November 1995, simulcasting with BBC1 and BBC World.Garner, C. (1995, Nov 17). BBC gets $1m for Diana interview. The Independent
In 1996, the channel was to be joined by two further services, BBC Learning and a nature channel.BBC to launch two more satellites. (1996). Broadcaster, 55(3), 16-17. In November, the channel launched on the DF1 platform in Germany and Austria, thanks to a deal with Kirch Media, enabling the xhannel to be in the Astra fleet for the first time.BBC signs exclusive digital deal with Kirch. (1996). New Media Markets, 14(37), 13. Simultaneously, a deal was signed with the two competing French satellite platforms, Canalsatellite Numérique and TPS.Prime moves for BBC channels across Europe. (1996). New Media Markets, 14(39), 7.
On 4 March 1999, BBC Prime launched in sub-Saharan Africa, on the DStv platform."Multichoice increases its stable", Africa Film & TV Magazine, nº. 21, May–July 1999
The channel was removed from HOT at the end of 2006 in Israel, being replaced by ethnic channels for the Ethiopian (IETV) and Georgian (GTV) diasporas. Some of its programmes were made available on HOT's video-on-demand service.Chinese, Georgians and Ethiopians Instead, Haaretz, 28 December 2006
When it first launched, BBC Prime also carried programming from the former ITV company Thames Television, since BBC Worldwide had a joint venture with Thames's parent company, Pearson PLC and Cox Communications, known as European Channel Management. From us to them; How the BBC became a world player , The Independent, 11 October 1997 This was dissolved in 1998, when the BBC became the sole owner of the channel, as its sister service BBC World was struggling financially. Pearson and Cox, on their behalf, were heavily dissatisfied with the BBC's management ethos. BBC to buy out int'l partners , Variety, March 16, 1998
BBC Prime explained their decision to schedule older programmes in addition to newer ones: "For the majority of our viewers, who are European and African nationals, this is the first chance to see these programmes, and often the only way to view them."
After the BBC went on its major rebrand, on 4 October 1997, BBC Prime rebranded for the first time. The logo now had the BBC blocks, with "Prime" in all capitals in the Gill Sans font next to it. The idents were designed by Martin Lambie-Nairn (along with the whole 1997 BBC branding) and start with epileptic water scenes with full of colours, before settling on the main part of the ident, which features the water in a blue to orange gradient with ripples and two marbles, reflected and inverted by each other. The logo is placed at the bottom.
On 4 December 2000, BBC Prime rebranded for the second time, also created by Lambie-Nairn. The idents were known as "Festival" and featured cartoon draws of famous UK sights, like the Big Ben, the Tower Bridge or the Stonehenge, shooting fireworks, followed by the looped, 15-second long sequence with exploding firework animations. The idents had a xylophone-and-trumpet music, with firework sounds playing in the background. Like the 1997 idents, the logo is placed at the bottom.
BBC Prime's final rebrand took place on 23 July 2006 with BBC Learning's discontinuation. The logo featured the 1997 logo being placed inside a turquoise circle (although the 1997 logo remained in use as the DOG). The idents consisted of differently coloured circles as people who do different situations, like going on a rollercoaster, jumping and swimming in the pool, or the grass being clipped with a lawnmower. These idents were used until BBC Prime was completely replaced by BBC Entertainment on 11 November 2009.
In order to cater to a wider audience, who do not have English as their first language, BBC Prime carried subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew language and Serbian language. The Asian service also had subtitles in Chinese language, Thai language, and Korean language.
A similar channel, called BBC Japan, launched in Japan on 1 December 2004, but ceased broadcasting on 30 April 2006 owing to problems with its local distributor.
The process began with the Asian services, which switched on 6 October 2006, followed by the South African service on 1 September 2008. BBC Prime was completely replaced by BBC Entertainment on 11 November 2009.
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