Game Network was a European free-to-air television channel. It was initially owned by Digital Bros group, and later taken over by Cellcast Group. It was first launched in 1999.
History
Game Network first broadcast in Italy on 17 September 1999. The channel was available all over Southern Europe, and developed an estimated audience of 300,000. It launched in the United Kingdom on May 2001 on Sky EPG number 223. At its UK launch, the Financial Times evaluated the channel's free-to-air business proposition, commenting that its potential viewers should be abundant with consideration to the surge of popularity of video games at the time, inline with the release of hundreds of titles in the UK each year and the launch of the PlayStation 2 months earlier. The channel was expected to provide 24-hour television dedicated to video games and earn money from advertising and sponsorship.
The UK version of the television channel (produced by Cellcast) overlayed their own regional content to the channel, with programs including Digital Crack, Me in Mir, The Weekly Chart Show, Game Guru, Reloaded, LiveWire, Evolution. The channel expanded in 2003 (the year Cellcast started increasing control of the channel, with Sem Mioli of Digital Bros. side and Jonathan French and Craig Gardiner from the Cellcast side spearheading the channel) with the launch of non-gaming programmes such as Babestation, a late-night "tease" show. The success of this show lead to many other clone programmes appearing on other channels, and this alternative revenue stream lead to a later influx of phone-in quiz shows, of which Game Network shows many. By 2005, Game Network's UK games programming went largely limited to a block of raw games footage from 5:30 am – 10am (under the name Game Clip), with Game Guru airing from 5 pm until 7 pm, followed by programmes such as Psychic Interactive, which continue until Babestation starts.
In 2004, the channel's Sky EPG number was 172.
The major gaming shows, such as LiveWire, were cancelled in May 2005, and the Italian-language feed from Hot Bird ceased on September 17, 2005, after six years on air. At this time, Digital Bros. sold Game Network UK completely to Cellcast Group, which completely dropped all video game content by 20 February 2006 and renamed it Babestation. On 28 February, the channel was moved to the adult section of the Sky EPG.
Online games
During the time in which Game Network ran as a television channel, they also hosted servers for various online games including Horizons Online, Droiyan Online, The Legend of Mir series, and Myth of Soma, some of which also prominently advertised on their programming (The Legend of Mir games also received their own dedicated programmes). After Game Network ceased to exist as a television channel, their online side involving the video games that they provided to the public continued as GNOnline until servers for The Legend of Mir 2, The Legend of Mir 3, and Myth of Soma were closed on March 2009.