Today is a sad day for my Sky TV viewing as Disney turned off ABC1 in the UK at 12 noon. I had just watched 2 episodes of Home Improvement (one of my favourite sitcoms from the 90′s) when the channel just went off the air. Not having seen any on-air announcements of the channels demise I thought my Sky box or TV had broken initially, but checking online (specifically at Digital Spy) led me to the unfortunate conclusion that ABC1 was no more. It seems a very odd thing to do to close down a channel without any mention to the loyal views, and feels like a bit of a slap in face from Disney.
Now I have to go hunting again to find a channel that shows all my favourites – Home Improvement, 8 Simple Rules (and I still think Matt reminds me of Rory in this show) as well as In Justice and Hope and Faith. Perhaps the soon to be launched Virgin 1 will take these shows when it launches next week?