Heat magazine launching TV channel

British celebrity magazine Heat is launching a 24-hour television channel in the UK. The channel, which is operated by Box TV, will launch with a mix of celebrity news, music and entertainment programming. The station will launch on UK cable platform Virgin Media and satellite service BSkyB in July.

Lucie Cave, editor of Heat magazine, said: “The Heat brand has defined celebrity culture for over 10 years in print, online and on the radio. We’ve amused, delighted and, yes, enlightened the Heat generation in every way but one – TV. So now we’re taking that over too with a 24/7 mix of celeb news as it happens, amazing music, unparalleled access and entertainment.”

Gidon Katz, managing director of Box TV, added: “It is extremely exciting for us to be able to add an iconic and hugely popular brand to our channel portfolio. Heat’s unique editorial tone and massive consumer influence gives us the tools to the reinvent Sky and Virgin’s music offerings in the same way that 4Music changed the Freeview music landscape.”