Watch Together TV

Together TV was launched in 2000 as Community Channel, a part-time TV platform for ethical shopping that showcased merchandise offered by various charities and raised awareness on volunteering and community service.

The channel is owned by a community benefit society (a body corporate with a particular form of self-governing and lack of strong financial goals) that aims at contributing to a broader society. The channel exists specifically for promotion of volunteering and charitable activities and targets women from 40 to 60 with its programming mix of charity, health, creativity and social activism.

In 2014, the channel launched one of its most important and successful programming stands, Secrets of Sex. With this strand, the channel educates, covers sensitive and controversial matters rarely tackled in mainstream media (like AIDS, gay rights, body image, etc.) and advocates against harmful and dangerous practices. Meryl Streep narrated some of the programs in this strand.

In 2017, Community Channel stopped broadcasting due to reshuffling of channels on Freeview and transfer of slots ownership to A&E Networks UK. In 2018, it was relaunched after rebranding as Together TV on a new Freeview slot, which made it available in most UK homes.

The channel often breaks barriers of conventions while creating its programmes. Its flagship drama Kismet Road (a commission form the UK Department of Health in 2004) employed the staff and actors of various ethnicities and included Urdu and Punjabi as languages of characters on the screen to depict the real multicultural Britain.

In 2014, Together TV launched in HD format on Freeview and was available on channel 109. In 2015, it had to move to a Freeview HD multiplex (also on channel 109) in order to free the slot for the new Horror Channel.

The channel has multiple partnerships with other media or charitable entities that help create expository or educational content related to important social matters. To name a few, in 2012, Together TV partnered with Centerpoint to highlight problems of the homeless, and in 2014, Together TV and Media Trust partnered with the Big Lottery Fund to launch the comprehensive talent project for all British people ‘Do Something Brilliant.’

In 2021, Together TV launched the fund for supporting production of short documentaries named ‘Diverse Film Fund,’ and in 2022, one of the films created with its support, ‘Our Land,’ won the BAFTA award for the best short film.

To promote local travel and sightseeing, Together TV was the first to air the pilot sequence of episodes of Walks Around Britain. The first installment was commissioned from the Yorkshire production company and focused on local natural and cultural landmarks. Success of the first installment led to the creation of second and third seasons.

In 2015, the channel aired its first ever teen drama PREmature, the series produced using funds from Kickstarter and the Community Channel own budget. The 6-series show proved to be a success and garnered positive critical reviews.