September 1, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-09-01) (Latin America) May 29, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-05-29) (Russia) December 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12) (Turkey)
Closed
May 1, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-05-01) (Russia; Romania)[1] January 27, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-01-27) (United Kingdom)
Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Networks, a division of NBCUniversal and available on satellite and cable platforms. They were formerly branded as USA Network until 2003 when the name was changed to take more advantage of the Universal branding, but continue programming as that network does like a general interest network.
Launched in other countries
The Universal Channel logo used from 2007 to 2010 (used until 2011 in Latin America, and Brazil)Universal Channel logo used from 2013 until 2018.
Original launch
Universal Channel was officially launched on 1 September 2004 in Latin America,[2] then it launched on 1 December 2007 in Poland (as Kanał Universal) and Romania (as Canalul Universal)[3][1] and on 1 July 2008 in Southeast Asia.
On 18 October 2010, the Hallmark Channel in the UK and Ireland was rebranded, adopting the Universal Channel name.[8] The UK version closed on 27 January 2020. On 3 May 2018, starting with the UK, they have begun the global rebrand of the channel as 'Universal TV'. In August 2018, the Brazilian signal of Universal Channel was rebranded to Universal TV, with the Latin American variant following suit in October.
Universal TV’s Launch in New Zealand
In 2021, SkyTV New Zealand and NBCUniversal had signed a multi-year deal allowing Sky to broadcast their new movies, programmes and content while also taking into effect their current catalogue.[9] Therefore, releasing Universal TV to New Zealand audiences as a part of Sky New Zealand’s Starter pack.
Universal Channel and E!’s Closure in Russia
On April 30, 2015, Universal Channel was closed during technical problems, along with E!.[10]
^On this reference, and other secondary sources like this one or this another one, I read Universal Channel launched in Greece on May 7, 2009, but checking out on the official website I read the channel launched on May 5, 2008.
