Virgin Media to axe Trouble channel

Virgin Media Television will close its Trouble channel and replace it with another version of Living, it has emerged.

In February, Virgin replaced Trouble's timeshift with a one-hour shift of Living2, a move that made the women's TV brand one of Virgin's strongest on the Sky and cable programme guides with four slots.

According to Brand Republic, no date for the changeover has been set. A spokesperson told the trade publication: "Living2 will be renamed later in the year and given a clearer personality and proposition. We are exploring the possibility of launching a third Living-branded channel this year, which would probably replace Trouble on the EPG. No firm decisions have been taken yet."

Trouble launched on February 3, 1997 when shows for older children were spun-off from The Children's Channel. The brand gradually evolved to aim more at teenagers and young adults, and the channel eventually moved out of the kids' section of the programme guide in 2006 when it was repositioned as a general entertainment channel for young people.

Earlier this month, Virgin put its content division up for sale.