There's an f in filth as well (Ftn TV)

Member Name: Blunderpants

Product:	Ftn TV
Date:	16/05/03 (350 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Zombie tv

Disadvantages: Too many tedious repeats

OK, let's start with a quiz question. Who knows what ftn stands for?
Well you could while away a few mintes just working out what the letter f stands for,
fun...no, fantastic.....never, fruity....getting warmer, fresh...at times, filth....occasionally.

You would be forgiven for making up some even more lewd suggestions, having seen some of the output from this channel, launched earlier in this year to Freeview.

Don't get me wrong I am no prude when it comes to adult TV, but some of the programme content is a little tasteless, well quite a lot tasteless actually. On the other hand whoever the ftn controllers are have at times pulled genius strokes such as rerunning 'Thirtysomething' on weeknights.

So whats different about ftn. Well the obvious difference is in their scheduling, the line up is the same on consecutive weeknights, therefore you always know what's on because it's the same programme at the same time each night. So you could actually see a whole programme series in a little over a week, good thing or a bad thing, I'm not really bothered, it just makes it easy to dip in and out of comfortably.

The producers, Flextech (so thats what the f stands for), say that they are pulling the cream off their other digital satellite channel programming to make up ftn schedules, that and a few clots to go with it.

I first picked the channel on Saturday nights, to fill the the hour or so until the footie on ITV1. One of the first programmes I watched was Costa del Dosh, a supposedly fly on the wall docu about ex-pats larking about on the Spanish Costas. I was treated to gangsters with guns, nude volleyball, and a posh bird spending a day trying to take photos of mens bits on a nudist beach - cutting edge stuff.

Most of this was really a warm up for the likes of Sin Cities, the main criteria for this show being the filthier the better. Some bloke, whose name I can't even bother t
o remember, encountering increasingly voyeuristic situations, all the while with a stupid leering grin on his face.
Travel Sick is the most unwatchable travel show on TV, its less about travel and perhaps more about the holiday resorts from hell that some people want to fork out cash for.

So, you get to see these for about three weeks, then all of a sudden they change to line up.
Now we have 'A-Z of Bad Boys' of which I could only stomach two letters.

Flextech believe that ftn can be serious contenders for the viewing figures enjoyed by ITV1, and have recently said that they will specifically target this audience.
So far the aforementioned 'Thirtysomething' is the only glint of light in an otherwise murky pond.

Well, whats my overall rating, I used to hold the opinion that, if there was a TV programme or series worth watching, then Sky would buy it.
If it was not worth watching then Sky had already got it,
that is until ftn came along.

BP

Summary: