British Television

Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of platforms, b) duplication of services, c) regional services, d) part time operations, and e) audio. For the Sky platform alone, there are basically 485 TV channels, additionally 57 "timeshifted versions", 36 HDTV versions, 42 regional TV options, 81 audio channels, and 5 promotion channels as of mid-2010 for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.

There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year, at a cost of £2.6 billion.Taking the data from note 1 above, this is a very crude estimate Since 24 October 2012, all television broadcasts in the United Kingdom have been in a digital format, following the end of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP. As of 2003, 53.2% of households watch through terrestrial, 31.3% through satellite, and 15.6% through cable.

The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world.

Broadcast television providers

Free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription providers operate, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via the red button, and coverage across the UK. All providers make available the UK's five most-watched channels: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Broadcast television is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the UK, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in the UK (as well as much of the rest of Europe) come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner. Following the financial failure of digital terrestrial pay TV service ITV Digital in 2002, UK digital terrestrial TV services were rebranded as Freeview and do not require a subscription. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. Most services have integrated their broadcast TV services with additional video streams distributed via the Internet, or through their own Internet Protocol network.

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board publish quarterly statistics of the number of UK households per broadcast TV platform. Aggregating the statistics for Q1 2020 show that 56% subscribe to one or more broadcast TV services, vs 44% who receive free TV.

Digital terrestrial television

The primary digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview, launched in 2002 and is free-of-charge to view. It replaced the subscription service named ONdigital or ITV Digital, which ran from 1997 to 2002. Digital terrestrial television was itself the replacement for analogue terrestrial TV, which ran from 1936 to 2012.

, Freeview provides over seventy TV and radio channels, which are received via an aerial. It is operated by DTV Services Ltd., a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. The transmitter network is predominately operated by Arqiva.

The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes, and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. The six national multiplexes are available to 90% of households from 92 transmitters; and three multiplexes are available to 9% of households from 1,067 transmitters.Coverage figures calculated from the per-multiplex coverage in Figure 42 of Connected Nations Report 2017. Transmitter counts calculated from the Television transmitter frequency data spreadsheet. In Northern Ireland, a multiplex carrying channels from the Republic of Ireland can reach 71% of Northern Irish households from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available to 54% of households from an additional multiplex via 44 transmitters, and an extra multiplex is available to 54% of households in Greater Manchester.

Multiple vendors sell hybrid set-top-boxes or smart TVs which combine terrestrial channels with streamed (Internet TV) content. Internet-based TV services such as BBC iPlayer, ITVX and All 4 are available via the broadband connection of Freeview Play, Netgem and YouView receivers. These also support optional subscription services such as Netflix and Prime Video. BT TV and TalkTalk TV offer additional subscription services for their respective broadband customers using Netgem or YouView devices. Netgem TV set-top-boxes combine Freeview Play with subscription channels, and are available directly or from several broadband suppliers.

Saorview, the terrestrial TV service in the Republic of Ireland which launched in 2011, can be received in parts of Northern Ireland via overspill transmissions.

Cable television

Many regional companies developed cable-television services in the late 1980s and 1990s as licenses for cable television were awarded on a city-by-city basis. The mid-1990s saw the companies start to merge and the turn of the century only three big companies remained. In 2007 Telewest and NTL merged, resulting in the formation of Virgin Media, which is available to 55% of households. Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband.

Satellite television

There are two distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception).

Sky TV is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd, owned by Comcast, which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service which had launched in 1989, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder, the ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go, which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet.

Freesat is a free satellite-service developed jointly by the BBC and ITV. In contrast to Freesat from Sky, it does not need a viewing card. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via the broadband connection. The on-screen programme guide lists the available channels, rather than encrypted channels which need a subscription to view.

Freesat and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east (Astra 2E/ 2F/ 2G). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit, they are positioned above the earth's equator () approximately 35,786 km above sea level; this places them above the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Internet video services

TV via the Internet can be streamed or downloaded, and consist of amateur or professionally produced content. In the UK, most broadcasters provide catch-up TV services which allow viewing of TV for a window after it was broadcast. Online video can be viewed via mobile devices, computers, TVs equipped with a built in Internet connection, or TVs connected to an external set-top-box, streaming stick or games console. Most of the broadcast TV providers have integrated their set-top-boxes with Internet video to provide a hybrid broadcast and online service.

Catch-up services

Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK.

Online video services for professionally produced content

There are numerous online services targeting the UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video.

BARB tracks the number of households subscribing to Netflix, Prime Video and Now, referred to as SVOD households. Their statistics for Q1 2020 show that 53% of households subscribe to at least one of these, and 24% to at least two. Netflix has 13.01 million subscribers, Prime Video (Amazon) has 7.86 million, and Now has 1.62 million, according to BARB's figures for Q1 2020. BARB's equivalent figures for broadcast TV show that 56% of households subscribe.

The table following summarises some of the available Internet TV services in the UK. For brevity, it does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, portals, or services which don't target the UK. 'Free' refers to free at the point of consumption, not including fees for Internet connectivity or a TV licence.

Other international streaming services with pricing in GBP include: Acorn TV, Arrow, BKTV, Crunchyroll, Dekkoo, Demand Africa, Docsville, Funimation Now, GuideDoc, Hayu, Hoichoi, Hotstar, iQiyi, iWantTFC, Mubi, NewsPlayer+, Revry, Shudder, Starz, True Story, WOW Presents Plus and ZEE5.

Channels and channel owners

Viewing statistics

Most viewed channels

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in the UK. As of 2 January 2022, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 8 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 15 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%.

Most viewed broadcaster groups

, there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and Paramount individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to).

BBC and UKTV

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC
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