Blox, stylized as BLOX, is an upcoming Robloxian television channel owned by rTV Networks. The current version of Blox was announced on January 14, 2017; originally the channel existed from August 5, 2013 until January 16, 2016 as an "alternative" general entertainment channel co-owned by rTV Networks and Gavent Networks.
History
BloxTV
The Blox name originated as BloxTV, BenzBot's first attempt at creating a Robloxian television channel. The channel led to the creation of Blox News Channel, then rTV, and eventually the rTV Networks.
Original channel (2013-2016)
AGtv's BloxTV logo, which would have been used to launch Blox, had it not been for the rTV Networks' intervention.
On August 4, 2013, AwesomeGavent, CEO of Gavent Television Group (now AGavent of Gavent Networks), falsely reported that he received the name rights for BloxTV from the rTV Networks and rebranded the channel, as well as making it a division of GTG, when rights to the name had not been discussed with BenzBot.
BenzBot was angered by the use of the name without permission, and confronted AGavent about the issue in the early hours of August 5, 2013. BenzBot and Gavent discussed the name, and they resolved the issue.
Blox was created out of a coincidental conflict of interests: Gavent Television Group wanted to launch a channel named BloxTV, and the rTV Networks wanted to launch a network named Blox at some point in the future. rTVN and GTG, due to this coincidence, decided to launch the channel as a co-owned brand. Originally, rTVN also wanted to absorb GTG's channels, making them rTV Networks, but the plans were cancelled due to AwesomeGavent's worries that at the time the deal would hurt relations between Gavent Television Group and WarMonk3y's WM Productions.
rTVN gave GTG a license to use the Blox name for the purposes of the new channel, and made sure that the channel specifically used the Blox brand started by rTVN's Blox News Channel, to continue to build "Blox" as a second rTV Networks brand (after the rTV brand).
rTVN had a heavier involvement in the new channel than GTG did, thus rTV Networks owned a slight majority of the original version of Blox, with rTVN owning 58%, and GTG owning 42%. Due to this, rTVN also owned a 19% stake in Gavent Television Group (prior to briefly absorbing the other 81% in an acquisition deal on November 9, 2014).
On Febuary 1, 2014, GTG announced Blox's first show, Gavent +, a spinoff of Gavent Network's Gavent, with deleted scenes from the show, along with extra guests. Then, on April 2, 2014, GTG announced another show, Small Talk (later Small Talk with MJ165), as the first original on the channel.
Blox had a Gavent Televison Group-run website which rTVN planned to replace with an rTVN-run site in the future. The website has since been taken down.
On November 9, 2014, rTV Networks acquired Gavent Television Group, and the group became the subsidiary rTV Networks Gavent. Blox, already treated as a "fifth" rTV Network (besides rTV, Blox News Channel, Rnetwork, and rTV2, in that order), became an official rTV Networks channel as rTVN absorbed GTG's former 42% stake in the network, in addition to merging several former GTG channels with their rTVN counterparts. rTV Networks ran the channel in cooperation with the rTV Networks Gavent subsidiary, and AGavent took an additional title as a programming manager for Blox.
rTV Networks Gavent split from rTV Networks, which eventually led to the formation of Gavent Networks on May 23, 2015. After a few months of uncertainty over the channel's future, it was finally discussed on August 13, 2015, where the decision was made to return the channel to its former status as a joint venture, now between Gavent Networks and rTVN.
On January 16, 2016, BenzBot and AGavent discussed how necessary Blox was, as a channel. Both of them admitted they each had thought of closing the channel, but had decided against it for some reason or another. The two chose to close the channel that night, due to the channel's redundancy, and a lack of focus and content for the channel. The "Blox" name has been returned to rTV Networks for usage with its services.
Relaunch (2017-present)
In October 2016, BenzBot revealed that he had been thinking about reviving Blox as a new "premium flagship" channel for rTV Networks, featuring movies and some series, as he believes it is an area where rTVN is lacking. According to BenzBot, the new service is in "quiet development", and in contrast to the previous iteration of Blox, will be fully owned by rTV Networks. However, currently the service is set to launch as part of a third tier of rTVN channels. rTVN has been in the process of acquiring the Robloxian television rights to a number of films from Robloxiwood, hinting at the further progression of the service's development.
The new channel was officially at RTNG MediaCon Winter 2017; specifically on January 14, 2017, during rTV Networks' main programming panel. The channel's slogan and some of its brand design was revealed through a flashy display inside rTV Networks' group-wide booth at the event. The new version of the channel was to be available on roTV and Amicable initially at launch, and would be available to other premium television providers subject to carriage agreements (in contrast to sister channels such as rTV2 and rTV Max, which are roTV-exclusive).
Upcoming repositioning
As the potential supply of Robloxiwood content dried up due to strained relations between film companies and television broadcasters, the future of rTVN's premium Blox brands was brought into question. On August 24, 2018, rumors surfaced that rTV Networks was considering closing Blox and its sister channel Blox Flickz due to these increasing difficulties, which has affected both Blox and its rivals. rTV Networks ultimately made public, on a limited basis, that Blox and Blox Flickz would be repositioned and rebranded: Blox would be moved downmarket and serve as the company's basic-premium generalist channel, with Blox Flickz taking Blox's former status as a midrange "premium flagship" channel known as Blox Premium, to be launched at a date currently unknown. rTV Max will emphasize a focus on higher-brow premium content (though with no changes to its brand or positioning) in a bid to reduce the overlap between the three channels. It is unknown when these repositions will take place, though it is rumored to be tied to the launch of the next version of the roTV service.
Channel format
Original channel (2013-2016)
Little was ever stated about the format of the original version of Blox channel, but the name, format, and branding was to be similar to IRL channel Fox, taking cues from both the domestic and international versions of the channel. The channel was positioned as an "alternative" general entertainment channel, in comparison to both owners' main general entertainment channels, rTV and Gavent Network respectively. Blox, due to its partial ownership by the rTV Networks, would have used the Roblox Television Networks Group's Robloxian Television Ratings System, and potentially rTVN's 24-hour automated format, still to be tested with rTV2 and MixTV.
Few programs were proposed to air on Blox -- rTV Networks had ideas on February 7, 2014 for a police comedy series named 10-4 to be shown on the channel, however it has not been confirmed to be produced or broadcast on Blox. On February 8, 2014, Gavent Television Group announced a new series called Gavent+ to air, a spinoff series of Gavent Network's Gavent. They also announced another show, Small Talk. Previously proposed programming was scrapped on February 28, 2015, which was meant to make way for a new programming schedule.
It is unknown whether or not any series proposed by rTV Networks will be developed for the new version of Blox, or, alternatively, moved to rTV Max.
Formerly-planned programming blocks
On September 10, 2013, Gavent Televison Group announced the first programming block for Blox, Gavent Network on Blox. GTG owner AwesomeGavent said that "The program features Gavent Network shows, from 4-6 PM, during broadcasting times". The block was formerly known as AGtv on Blox until January 21, 2014. Along with Gavent Network on Blox, GTG also announced Fun House Fridays, a Friday night block for new episodes of Blox's comedy series from 6pm-8pm ET, dependent on how many comedy series were planned to air on Blox. On January 16, 2014, GTG announced #MondayPremieres, which was planned to be similar to the (now-former) premieres block on that night on Cartoon Network IRL. The block was set to feature Gavent + and Small Talk with MJ165.
Relaunch (2017-present)
The new, rTV Networks-owned version of Blox will be based on the international versions of Fox (which were redesigned in 2015). The new version of the channel is dubbed as a "premium flagship" in promotional material; the channel's schedule will largely consist of movies (similar to Flickz) along with a small amount of series content (overlapping somewhat with sister channel rTV Max). The channel will dub one notable broadcast per week (such as a single premiere or a set of premieres on a certain night) as a "Bloxbuster" (currently set to run on Fridays).