QVC (British TV channel)
QVC UK is a television shopping channel broadcast from the United Kingdom to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. agreed to a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. "QVC – The Shopping Channel" first broadcast in the UK on 1 October 1993.
Programming
Operation in the UK[edit]
QVC UK operates from two main sites. From launch until June 2012, its headquarters and broadcasting facilities were at Marco Polo House, the former British Satellite Broadcasting headquarters in Battersea, London. These operations then moved to Chiswick Park,[13] a 'campus'-style development on the site of a former derelict London Transport bus depot in West London.[14] Its call centre and distribution warehouse is located in Kirkby, Knowsley, in Merseyside. These facilities were moved in 1998 from Liverpool's Harrington Dock. The company also had outlet stores in Warrington and Shrewsbury, however the Shrewsbury store closed permanently in 2020, leaving the Warrington store as the company's only physical outlet.
In June 2011, it was reported that QVC UK had begun carrying out trials of 3D broadcasting. This was merely an experiment, a spokesperson said.[15]
The channel broadcasts live from 9:00 am to 1:00 am (the remainder being repeated content) year round. QVC UK claims a market penetration of 15.4 million homes on cable, satellite, and digital terrestrial TV. The Astra 2E footprint also takes in much of Western Europe. Retail sales for the year 2008 reached £360+ million.