Blighty's launch date announced

UKTV People will be relaunched as Blighty next month, UKTV has confirmed.

The channel, which has a remit "to unashamedly celebrate all that is great, unique and inspirational about Britain today", will transform into Blighty at 9am on Tuesday, February 17. Key launch programming includes Who Do You Think You Are?, Louis Theroux Meets... and Trawlermen, and UKTV said it would announce new commissions "shortly".

"There’s nowhere like Britain, and no channel like Blighty," said Jane Mote, UKTV's director of factual and lifestyle. "We are putting factual TV on the map this year with Blighty bringing to life great programming right on our doorstep, Eden taking viewers global and the soon to be launched Yesterday taking us back in time. Blighty will be a major contributor in attracting new audiences to our rebranded factual portfolio."

Yesterday, UKTV Documentary became Eden as part of a network rebrand as part of a series of moves by UKTV to "future-proof its business".

"Blighty shows a unique mix of programmes that showcase the very best of Britain and British people," said channel head Adrian Wills. "Just as Britain today is rich, varied, contradictory and full of juxtapositions, so Blighty’s schedule places British wildlife content side by side with quirky ob-docs, factual entertainment, cookery, and programmes that celebrate the British outdoors to capture the spirit of contemporary Britain."