A+E preps FTA net for UK

A+E Networks is setting up a free-to-air entertainment channel that will launch in the UK this fall.

The as-yet unnamed network will be available on the Freeview platform and will be the first FTA channel from A+E in the UK.

Programming will be revealed this summer but Dean Possenniskie, MD for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the launch was part of A+E’s strategy to build on its “strong UK business.”

He said: “Under the accomplished leadership of Heather Jones, general manager for the UK, we look forward to bringing our unique content to new audiences in one of the biggest media markets in the world.”

It will be A+E’s second FTA channel launch in 2016, following Lifetime’s arrival in Turkey in April – the first FTA network launched by the US channels operator in the market.

In the UK, A+E Networks’ channel portfolio includes History, Lifetime, Crime + Investigation and H2, available across pay TV platforms Sky, Virgin, BT and TalkTalk.