The following blog post is all about TVX, from babeshow historian and former blogger @Babe TV. Following Bang Babes, the non-cellcast babe channels that debuted on Freeview weren't what everyone had anticipated. Elite TV, (now Studio 66 or S66) appeared to be another obvious possibility to go terrestrial right after Bang Babes, and Bluebird had already stated that they intended to broadcast their live babeshows on Freeview before they went live on Sky. But most intriguingly, Television X was the third babeshow challenger on Freeview following Cellcast and Bang Media.
Interestingly, in March 2010, Television X had launched a very critical Freeview marketing campaign against the babeshows. TVX's advert, which was specifically targeted at Babestation-style programmes, contrasted the cheap phone sex call rate of £1.50 per minute for topless chat on the babe channels with the subscription fee of 33p per day for actual live sex shows on TVX. The ad criticised paying to wait on hold and the lack of "pussy," and it also included a comedic sketch criticising the babe channels.
@BabeTV explained that it was pretty funny and rare for TVX advertisements, but surprisingly hypocritical given that TVX had its own babeshows on Sky and would bring them to the very platform they were using to slate them. From November 2nd-3rd, 2010, two TVX channels were added to the terrestrial EPG, beginning with Cream Live on Channel 191 (Red Hot). With a queue jump option available for £1.50 per minute, the basic fee per minute was 45p. Two nights later, Honey Nights premiered on Channel 192 (Filth), with a base fee of 75p and the $1.50 queue jump option once more.
The bandwidth of both channels was not very high. Although not as bad as with Party Girls from 2008–2009, there was still obvious visual breakup during rapid movement. But putting that aside, TVX had a pretty interesting collection of babes, some of whom were familiar to Freeview viewers and some of whom were unfamiliar.
Other names about that era who could often be seen on rampant tv were Bex from Big Brother, Levi, Honey Scott, Siobhan Hughes, Jem Stone, Tammy Oldham from sexstation, Tilly Hardy, Bonnie Lee, Hannah Prentice, Ani James, Tia Jones, Cali Garcia, Sarah Louise, Jade Victoria, Jasmine Jones, Morgan James, Flo, French Chloe, Charmaine Sinclair, Daisy Dash, Rachael Henriques, Leigh Smith, and Lisa O'Connor. TVX also briefly hired Emily Dean during their Freeview tenure, and there was a major controversy over their hiring of British porn star Amanda Rendall, who ultimately didn't perform a single shift.
It soon became apparent that there were issues with the TVX channels. It's critical to note that TVX had a diverse group of trending models who took their jobs seriously and worked extremely hard to deliver good value. However, throughout the channels' Freeview run, there were far too many distracted models, expressions of boredom or disinterest, and instances of eyes wandering aimlessly about the studio while appearing to be focused on nothing but the camera.
Both Cream Live and Honey Nights upped their basic call charges to £1.50 per minute in December 2010. The ad not only highlighted TVX's evident disdain for babeshows, but it blatantly showed that the channel was perfectly content to make money on Freeview by engaging in the same activity they had mocked earlier the same year on the same platform.
“By December 2010, TVX couldn’t even claim an exception from their own satire on the grounds of reduced cost. They were charging exactly the same basic rate per minute as Babestation. The Freeview channels also screened Dirty Talk for limited duration, with a 35p per minute basic phonesex call rate. It was a real shame the TVX Freeview channels didn’t have a level of focus and drive to rival Babestation, because a lot of their models clearly belonged on high profile babeshows, and the prospect of them losing their Freeview presence was a big disappointment for a large number of fans.”
However, Cream Live was removed from Freeview Channel 191 on February 23rd 2011. It was replaced by an encrypted Television X porn transmission. Honey Nights persisted for nearly another two months before being terminated by Bex Shiner and Jade Victoria in the early hours of April 18th 2011, freeing up Channel 192 for Elite TV to occupy a few nights later.
Reflecting back on Cream Live and Honey Nights, they did have some serious high points and were usually broadcast in good humour. Unfortunately, they did also have some pretty grim low points. But Cream Live and Honey Nights created some great memories, and certainly, raised more than the odd smile…
