Lionheart

Lionheart (sometimes branded as Lionheart Channel) is a cable television network owned by Vestron Lionheart Media. It is a cable television feed of the online video-sharing platform YouTube through a partnership with Google. The channel is a revival of the Lionheart Television brand previously used by BBC. It was launched on February 18, 2021, taking over the channel space previously occupied by JakeEyes Channel.

As JakeEyes Channel
Lionheart was launched as JakeEyes Channel on December 6, 2018, broadcasting YouTube series such as 50 Ways To Die In Minecraft and Loud Links. As the YouTube channel it was based on was not popular, JakeEyes Channel did not receive much viewers at its first launch.

In July 2020, the channel began broadcasting object shows such as Battle for Dream Island and Inanimate Insanity after getting the rights to broadcast object shows. JakeEyes Channel eventually shifted to a more generalist look, with several programs from YouTube.

Acquisition by Vestron Lionheart Media and relaunch
Vestron Comics, a small comic website, acquired JakeEyes Channel on January 11, 2021, announcing that it would be forming a new parent company, named Vestron Lionheart Media, with intentions to rebrand JakeEyes Channel to Lionheart, a new cable channel that would be a cable television feed of YouTube intended for lower-class audiences through a legal partnership with Google.

A COPPA-friendly children block, Lionheart Kids, would air on weekday mornings while The Daily Egg, a satirical breakfast television programme would broadcast on weekend mornings. Vestron Comics also stated that Lionheart would “end the waste of time thinking on which YouTube video to watch” and would launch the new channel on February 4, 2021, the 16th anniversary of YouTube. However, due to technical difficulties, the launch was postponed by 2 weeks.

On February 9, 2021, 9 days before the launch of the channel, Lionheart was picked up for carriage on YouTube TV.

At exactly 12am EST on February 18, 2021, the channel space was officially handed over to Lionheart, when promos started to air before the channel launched at 12 noon. The first program broadcast on the channel was “Make This Video The Most Liked Video On Youtube” by MrBeast. It was chosen as it was the most-liked non-music video on YouTube.

On February 19, 2021, Lionheart Kids was launched at 5am Eastern Time with its first program, “Kings of Atlantis”. The following day, The Daily Egg premiered on Liionheart at 7am Eastern Time.

On March 20, 2021, Smosh: The Movie became the first film to premiere on Lionheart. Unlike most TV channels that air movies, Lionheart does not have a brand for movies airing on the channel.

On April 9, 2021, due to the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the launch date of the El Kadsre feed was delayed to May 10, 2021, along with the premiere of BFB 30 on Lionheart.

On August 16, 2021, Lionheart began allowing YouTube channels with more than 5,000 subscribers to request their videos to be broadcasted on the channel by applying via their website.

On September 20, 2021, Lionheart overhauled its on-air graphics, completely removing idents and replacing it with schedule bumpers using “North Oakland Extasy” by Squadda B as background music.

On September 28th, Vestron Lionheart Media announced that Lionheart's Southeast Asian feed would replace Disney Channel in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia on October 1st.

Acquisition by YouTube
By the end of 2021, Lionheart started to operate at a loss, mainly due to over-expansion. Despite this, Lionheart proceeded with the launch of its Canadian feed, though it only caused its revenue to go down.

On January 19, 2022, itself announced that it would acquire Lionheart and fully dedicate its programming on YouTube content rather than its original content on YouTube Premium. The channel will be rebranded into YouTube Network once the transaction is completed in mid 2022.

Programming
Most of Lionheart and Lionheart Kids’ programs come from YouTube and its related products, with the only original series being the satirical breakfast television programme The Daily Egg, branded as a YouTube Original.

Programming blocks

 * Lionheart Kids - a morning children’s programming block intended for children and young teens between ages 2 to 14. It airs COPPA-friendly YouTube Kids programs, most of them which comply with the Children’s Television Act.
 * Trend Time - a prime time programming block which broadcasts the top trending videos on YouTube for the day. The block airs between 7pm and 11pm Eastern Time.

International
Lionheart's first international feed was in the UK and Ireland, which launched on March 1, 2021, replacing Lifetime. Vestron Lionheart Media announced plans to launch in other countries, including Australia, Southeast Asia, El Kadsre and YinYangia in the later part of 2021 and 2022. Previously, there were also plans to expand to Taugaran as part of a joint venture with EXPO, but it was eventually scrapped, mainly due to the closure of EXPO’s Philippine feed. In August 2021, a Canadian feed was announced to launch sometime in 2022, splitting off from the United States feed.