N&S to launch Jackpot TV in partnership with Bowley

Northern & Shell is to launch its planned gaming channel as a joint venture with ex-Carlton TV chief executive Martin Bowley.

Northern & Shell is to launch its planned gaming channel as a joint venture with ex-Carlton TV chief executive Martin Bowley.

The channel, called Jackpot TV, will launch at the end of this month. Northern & Shell, owned by Richard Desmond, is working with Bowley’s company, Amplified, to create the channel.

Jackpot TV will line up alongside Desmond’s Express Shopping Channel on Sky and NTL. The shopping channel was launched last October as a partnership between Northern & Shell and mail-order shopping business N Brown Group.

The channel will be devoted to phone-in quizzes that offer large prizes. Callers will phone Jackpot TV on premium-rate phone lines. A spokesman says there are no plans to advertise the channel at present.

Amplified, launched last year, has also developed an in-house TV service for retailers, called Amplified Captive TV Networks. The technology will be supplied by Beam TV, and Amplified will concentrate on creating and delivering tailored content. Northern & Shell has just launched a monthly magazine aimed at female shoppers. Happy is backed by a &£10m marketing budget.