It costs how much? (The Box)

Member Name: dizzy

Product:	The Box
Date:	02/02/01 (183 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plays a selection of chart music, interviews and upcoming tracks

Disadvantages: Expensive to call, avoid if you are not a "pop" fan

The Box - Smash hits you control!

For regular viewers of The Box, a music channel available on cable, satellite and digital, the above phrase will be familiar as it is the channel’s current catchphrase.

But do you really control the hits? Well, you can certainly control, to an extent, what you see on screen by calling up a premium rate number (60p/min) and selecting a video. The video and selection numbers are displayed on the bottom of the screen and they are also listed on the teletext service in alphabetical order.

When you phone up for a request, you are put through to an automated service and need a touch tone phone to make the selection. On the bottom right hand corner of your screen you can actually see your selection as it is being typed in and prompts such as "please select", "try again", and "thanx" are displayed.

Each call will probably last at least a minute but if you make a mistake and need to re-select, you will probably find that your call may last two minutes and cost around £1.20

Once you have selected your video, all you have to do is sit back and wait. And wait. And wait. On average I hear that it takes around three or four hours for your request to be played on the channel. Obviously if you choose a popular song, it will possibly be played quicker but usually from somebody else’s earlier request.

For the purposes of writing this article (honest!) I decided to phone up The Box and put in a request. I looked up teletext to find an appropriate song and was faced with a text service that moved so fast that I could only get the chance to read the first three lines. So, armed with the "Hold" button, I had a quick look at the selections which consisted predominantly of boy/girl bands and current chart music from the likes of Britney, Steps, Kylie and Westlife. However, there were a few artists such as Eminem and Limp Bizkit who were featu
red because they have current hits.

I decided to select something that wasn’t in the charts at the moment and would be unlikely to be routinely played as I didn’t want my choice to be confused with another person’s. I made the selection, sat back and waited. I figured that as it was 1am then there would be a chance of it being played within the hour thus giving me an excuse to stop doing my uni assignment and write this dooyoo review instead.

2am - nothing, no sign of it and I was getting a bit sick of writing my boring essay.
2:30am - still nothing
3:35am - result, my selection was playing on the tv - over two hours after I had requested it. I thought that this was quite long considering what time it was.

As well as playing videos all day long, The Box also has features such as:

~ Boxtalk: Sponsored by Drifter, this is an interview recorded with a singer or group to promote their new single. Clips of the video are interspersed with the band talking directly to the camera and generally saying the first thing that comes to mind.

~ Breaking out of The Box: This is a series of four or five clips of videos that are becoming popular requests and the singles are usually just about to be released in the shops.

~ Boxfresh: Similar to "Breaking Out" but these videos are almost "exclusives" and usually have at lest three or four weeks (or more) to go until their release.

~ Boxtops: Sponsored by Woolworths, this is the Box Chart and it counts down the top ten most requested videos of the week.

After every three or four songs, there will either be a Box promo advert (5-10 seconds on how to call, advertising their website, etc), one of the above features or an ordinary advert. These adverts are usually music related but other ones are shown too.

To be honest, I think that The Box comes under a lot of criticism due to it’s playlist. Yes it
does have Westlife, SClub7 and the current top twenty singles but if there is a two hour wait for a track then it must be popular and they must be doing something right.

If, like me, you aren't a true "pop" fan and don't listen to what is currently in the charts then you will probably want to give The Box a miss and tune into channels like Q (available on Sky Digital channel 455) or Kerrang (channel 457) as there won't be a Westlife ballad in sight.

However for those of you who love Britney, don’t want to strangle Steps and appreciate the talent of SClub7 then you may just want to have a look at The Box on Sky Digital channel 449 (cable channels vary). But be prepared to wait a few hours for your selection to be played.

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