This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.

1970s and 1980s

* 1977 ** 21 October – The

World Administrative Radio Conference The World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) was a technical conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) where delegates from member nations of the ITU met to revise or amend the entire international radio regulations pertaini ...

assigns each country five high-powered direct broadcast by satellite channels for domestic use. * 1980 ** Plans for a pan-European satellite television station are put together by Brian Haynes, back by backed by

Guinness Mahon Guinness Mahon was an Irish merchant bank originally based in Dublin but more recently with operations in London. History Formation The firm was founded as a land agency in Dublin in 1836 by barrister Robert Rundell Guinness, a great-nephew of ...

and Barclays Merchant Bank and in November Mr Haynes sets up Satellite Television Ltd. (SATV) *1981 ** 21 October – SATV begins test transmissions on the

Orbital Test Satellite The Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) programme was an experimental satellite system inherited by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1975 from its predecessor, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO). OTS was the first three-axis-stabilised ...

after the European Space Agency allowed the company to test the satellite for the use of commercial television, with an hour of light entertainment in English each night. The low-powered satellite forces it to broadcast to cable systems rather than directly to individual satellite dishes. * 1982 ** February – The BBC is awarded two of the five channels DBS satellite channels. ** 26 April –

Satellite Television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

launches as a pan-European service. The channel was often referred to on-screen as ''Super Station Europe''. However the channel is initially only available in some European countries, with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

being the first two countries to permit the new service's transmission via cable, followed by

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Switzerland and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. * 1983 ** 27 June – News International becomes the majority shareholder of Satellite Television. ** 16 October –

begins broadcasting in the UK. ** Autumn – Shortly after the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

announced that the three remaining satellite channels would be given to the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...

(IBA) to allow the private sector to compete against the BBC, starts talking with the IBA about a joint project to help cover the cost. The Government subsequently gives permission and a consortium emerges consisting of the BBC, Granada, Anglia,

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comi ...

Pearson Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

and Consolidated Satellite Broadcasting. The BBC holds a 50% stake in the consortium. * 1984 ** 16 January – Satellite Television is renamed Sky Channel. ** 25 June – The consortium wanting to launch satellite television announces that the original launch date of 1986 will be delayed until 1989. * 1985 ** 15 June – The consortium which has been planning to launch satellite television in the UK collapses on costs grounds.The Times, Saturday, 15 June 1985; pg. 3; British satellite TV project collapses By Bill Johnstone Technology Correspondent. * 1986 ** 2 April – The IBA invites bids from the private sector to operate a commercial service on three of the five DBS channels allocated to the UK in 1977 for satellite broadcasting. ** 11 December – The IBA announces that BSB has been awarded a fifteen-year franchise to operate the satellite television service. * 1987 ** No events. * 1988 ** 8 June – Having failed to become part of the BSB consortium,

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

announces plans to launch a four-channel service on the soon to be launched Astra satellite. ** 11 December – The satellite on which Sky Television will broadcast,

Astra 1A Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), launched in December 1988. During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite origina ...

, is successfully launched by

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

company

SES SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to: Business and economics * Socioeconomic status * Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland * SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia) * SES S.A., ...

. * 1989 ** 5 February – Sky Television launches at 6.00pm. The channel line-up consists of Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies and

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

. ** 3 June – Sky Television and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

come to an arrangement which allows to broadcast movies for a five-year period, this agreement comes a few weeks after plans to create a full-time channel were scrapped, although a Disney-branded version eventually launched on 1 October 1995. ** June – BSB is awarded the other two DBS channel slots, meaning that the service will launch with five channels. These two channels had originally been allocated to the BBC but were handed over for commercial use when the BBC dropped its plans to use the two channels on cost grounds. ** 31 July – Sky Channel becomes a UK and Ireland-only service and is renamed Sky One although for a short time after the relaunch, some of Sky Channel's former pan-European programming is broadcast in the hours before Eurosport's startup, and the programme block is branded as ''Sky Europe''.

1990s

* 1990 ** 5 February – Sky Movies is fully encrypted, thereby becoming Sky's first pay channel. ** 11 February – Sky Movies broadcasts its first special event – the boxing fight between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas. ** 25 March – BSB launches, but initially only on cable - the channels do not begin broadcasting on satellite until the end of April. Its channels are Galaxy,

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

The Movie Channel The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...

The Sports Channel Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

and The Power Station. BSB had planned to launch in September 1989 but problems with the supply of receiving equipment had delayed the launch. ** 2 September – Sky One begins airing the American animated series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. ** 2 November – Sky TV and BSB merge. The new company is called BSkyB. ** 2 December – Galaxy and

are closed down and are replaced on the

Marcopolo Thor (previously known as Marcopolo) is a family of satellites designed, launched and tested by Hughes Space and Communications (now part of Boeing Satellite Systems) for British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), and were used for Britain's Dire ...

satellite by Sky One and Sky News although arts programmes are shown for a short time on Marco Polo as a weekend opt-out service from Sky News so that contractual obligations can be fulfilled. This opt-out service is called

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

. * 1991 ** 8 April – The Power Station closes at 4.00am and two hours later at 6.00am, Sky Movies launches in its place on the Marcopolo satellite. ** 15 April —

launches on

Astra 1B Astra 1B was the second of the Astra communications satellites launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites) to add extra capacity to the satellite television (direct broadcasting) services from 19.2° East, serving Germ ...

satellite with the first showing of 1989's '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. ** 20 April –

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

launches, replacing the BSB Sports Channel. ** 6 May – ***

briefly closes after the competing

Screensport Screensport was a pan-European cable and satellite sports television network that was on air from 1984 until 1993 before merging with Eurosport. History 1984–1986: Early years Screensport was founded in 1981 by Bob Kennedy — who had sta ...

channel had filed a complaint to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

over its corporate structure. TF1 Group subsequently steps in to replace BSkyB as Eurosport's joint owners when the service resumes on 22 May. *** Sky Movies and

begin broadcasting 24 hours a day. Previously they had been on air from early afternoon until the early hours of the next morning. ** 26 May – The final

weekend output takes place on the Marco Polo satellite. ** 1 October –

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Serv ...

launches. * 1992 ** February –

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchis ...

closes its in-house news service and contracts out news bulletins to Sky News. ** 18 May – Sky purchases the live rights to the newly formed football

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for £304 million. ** 1 July – Sky sells the

satellite to Telenor of

for about £30 million. ** 15 August –

launches ''Sports Saturday.'' The programme follows the same format as the BBC's '' Grandstand'' programme featuring a mix of sporting action, concluding with the day's football results. ** 16 August – To mark the start of

's coverage of the

, the channel launches an afternoon-long football programme called '' Super Sunday''. ** 1 September – ***

becomes a subscription channel. *** Sky Movies stops showing non-movies content. It had previously shown selected premium content such as live boxing, music concerts and

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

due to it having been Sky's only encrypted channel and had been known as ''Sky Movies Plus''. ** 1 October –

closes and is replaced by

Sky Movies Gold Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema o ...

, a "classic movies" service is launched as part of Sky Movies package and broadcasts from late afternoon until the early hours, with the first film is shown at 6.00pm on the new network was 1979's '' Rocky II''. ** 31 December – Sky stops broadcasting via the

satellite. * 1993 ** 1 February – BSkyB introduces a new system of film ratings often used for various times, replacing the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

certificates. ** 1 September –

Sky Multichannels Sky Multichannels was a package of analogue television services offered by BSkyB on the Astra satellites at 19.2° east from 1 September 1993 to 27 September 2001, which started off with 15 channels before expanding to over 40. History Over ...

launches. * 1994 ** 19 August – Sky Sports 2 launches, initially as a weekend-only service, ** 3 October –

Sky Soap Sky Soap was a satellite television channel operated by Sky UK, British Sky Broadcasting devoted to American and British soap operas that include ''Emmerdale, Emmerdale Farm'', ''Take the High Road'', ''Families (TV series), Families'' and ''Alb ...

and

Sky Travel Sky Travel was first launched on 3 October 1994 (and later in 2003 relaunched as Sky Travel Shop) and showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies, and documentaries, with Sky Travel Shop being the adverts for travel ag ...

launch as part-time weekday channels. * 1995 ** 1 November – Sky Sports Gold launches. * 1996 ** 16 March – The boxing match between Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson is the UK's first pay-per-view event. ** 16 August – ***

Sky Sports 3 Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

launches. *** Sky Sports is renamed Sky Sports 1 *** Sky Sports Gold closes. ** 1 September –

Sky 2 Sky Replay is a British pay television channel operated by Sky as a sister channel to Sky Max and Sky Witness. The current channel began broadcasting (as Sky One Mix) in December 2002. The 'Sky 2' name and format had earlier been used for a si ...

and The Computer Channel launch. ** 1 October – Granada Sky Broadcasting, in conjunction with ITV, launches. The channel line-up consists of

Granada Plus Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it ...

Granada Good Life Granada Breeze was a lifestyle channel operated by Granada Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting. The channel was launched as Granada Good Life on 1 October 1996. Programming It was aimed a ...

, Granada Men & Motors and Granada Talk TV ** 1 November – A joint venture between

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

and BSkyB results in the launch of

Sky Scottish Sky Scottish was a short-lived satellite television channel operating on the analogue service broadcasts between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. History The service was a joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting and ITV franchise Scottish Televisio ...

. * 1997 ** 31 January – BSkyB enters into a joint venture with ITV companies Granada Television and Carlton Television to create British Digital Broadcasting (BDB) so that they can apply to operate three

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

(DTT) licences. ** 25 June – BSkyB is forced by the

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

to pull out of BDB on competition grounds. ** 31 August – Granada Talk TV and

stops broadcasting. ** 1 September – Sky Sports 2 becomes a full-time service. ** 1 November – Sky Movies and

are rebranded under the Sky Movies Screen banner and are now called Sky Movies Screen 1 and Sky Movies Screen 2. ** 1 December –

Sky Box Office Sky Box Office is Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, th ...

launches a four-channel near on-demand movies service. It also carried by Cable & Wireless chooses not to use the service, instead opting for Front Row. * 1998 ** 1 May –

is renamed Granada Breeze. ** 31 May –

stops broadcasting. ** 15 August – On the first day of the 1998–99 football season, the first edition of ''

Soccer Saturday ''Gillette Labs Soccer Saturday'' is a weekly television programme broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the football season. The programme updates viewers on the progress of association football games in the United ...

'' is broadcast. The afternoon-long football scores and results service replaces ''Sports Saturday''. ** 10 September – Sky Movies Screen 1 becomes Sky MovieMax, Sky Movies Screen 2 becomes Sky Premier, and Sky Movies Gold is renamed Sky Cinema. ** 1 October – Sky Digital launches,

Sky Sports News Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British paid television sports news channel run by Sky, a division of Comcast. History Since 1992, Sky Sports had broadcast sports news, initially a brief ''Football Update'' and later this was expanded into a ...

launches, Sky Movies launches seven more channels and many more Sky Movies Box Office channels start broadcasting. ** 15 November – Rival digital television service

ONdigital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television Broadcasting, broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada ...

launches and despite Sky no longer being a partner in the venture, some Sky channels include Sky One, and **

channels (Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 3 – Sky Sports 2 is added later) and two Sky Movies channels, do appear on the service. * 1999 ** April – Sky Sports launches its interactive service,

Sky Sports Active Sky Sports Active is a term used by British TV channel, Sky Sports, to describe its interactive sports service. It was launched in April 1999, on Sky Sports 1. Presented by Richard Keys, the first football game that was interactive was Arsenal ...

. ** 30 April –

closes. ** June – Sky News launches

Sky News Radio Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations aro ...

. ** 22 August – Sky Sports Xtra launches, initially primarily as an interactive service. ** 1 October – Sky MovieMax 5 launches.

2000s

* 2000 ** March – Sky News Active launches. ** 10 April –

is renamed Sky Sports.com TV. * 2001 ** The first

Sky+ The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

boxes go on sale. ** 1 July – The Sky Sports.com TV brand is scrapped and the channel reverts to its original name of

. ** 18 August –

PremPlus PremPlus (originally Premiership Plus) was Sky Sports' first and only pay-per-view channel which was dedicated to airing live and interactive football from the Premier League. The main presenter on PremPlus was Marcus Buckland with former Arsena ...

launches. ** 2 September –

.tv The domain name .tv is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Tuvalu. Except for reserved names like com.tv, net.tv, org.tv and others, any person may register second-level domains under .tv. The domain name is popular, and thus ...

stops broadcasting. ** September – Sky launches its first

personal video recorder A digital video recorder (DVR) is an electronic device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card, SSD or other local or networked mass storage device. The term includes set-top boxes with direct to d ...

, Sky +. ** 27 September – Sky stops broadcasting via analogue. Sky had originally planned to switch off its analogue service earlier in 2001 but delayed it by three months due to the possibility of lost revenue from the remaining analogue subscribers, thereby giving those customers extra time to switch to Sky's digital service. The last channel to stop broadcasting via analogue satellite is Sky One. ** 1 October – Following its acquisition of interactive service Open..., Sky launches

Sky Active Sky Active was the brand name for interactive features on Sky Digital and was available in the UK and Ireland. It enabled a viewer to interact with TV content, respond to an advertisement or access internet-based services. History and techn ...

. * 2002 **7 January – Sky News content becomes available on terrestrial television for the first time in a decade when Channel 5 begins simulcasting part of its breakfast news programme ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

''. ** 1 March –

F1 Digital+ F1 Digital+ (also known as just F1 Digital) was the name of the enhanced world feed package for Formula One coverage that existed from 1996 to 2002. The service offered additional features to the standard, single analogue television feed of th ...

launches. It offers enhanced multi-screen coverage of

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

on a pay-per-view basis. ** 1 May –

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

stops broadcasting. ** 1 July – In another major rebranding of Sky Movies, the Sky Premier channels are renamed Sky Movies Premier, the Sky MovieMax channels become Sky Movies Max and the Sky Cinema channels become Sky Movies Cinema. ** 30 October –

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

launches and Sky contributes three channels – Sky News,

and

– to the platform. ** 9 December – Sky One Mix launches. ** 12 December – After just one season,

closes. * 2003 ** February – Sky Travel Shop launches as a full-time travel retail channel. ** 17 April – Sky launches three music channels –

The Amp The AMP was a youth center and music venue in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Established in October 2003 by Billy Luetzen, the AMP provided a place for local youth to hang out, and on most weekends staged a concert. Generally concerts had ...

Scuzz Scuzz was a British 24-hour rock and metal music television channel owned and operated by Sony Pictures Television. It was launched on 17 April 2003 and went on to be the highest-rated rock TV station on the Sky satellite platform, available i ...

and

Flaunt ''Flaunt'' is an American fashion and culture magazine based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with an office in New York. History The magazine was founded in 1998 by the current C.E.O. Luis Barajas, and Creative Director Jim Turner, who had previousl ...

. The channels are operated on Sky's behalf by

CSC Media Group CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British cable television broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019. Background CSC Media Group was named ...

channels. ** June – The Sky Movies Premier Widescreen channel is closed and the majority of films on the remaining channels are now shown in widescreen. ** 1 November – The Sky Movies Premier and Sky Movies Max channels are brought under one banner as Sky Movies 1 through 9 and Sky Movies Cinema 1 and 2 become Sky Cinema 1 and 2. * 2004 ** 24 May – Sky News launches

Sky News Ireland Sky News Ireland was a programming block on Sky News broadcast in Ireland. It was a separate feed from the UK and international versions of Sky News. Sky News Ireland was broadcast from its studios in Dublin. The service was also available in th ...

– a 30-minute news bulletin for viewers in the Republic of Ireland. ** 11 June – At the Races relaunches as a stand-alone venture. Between 2000 and 2003 the channel had been on air in conjunction with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. ** August – ''

Football First ''Football First – Match Choice'' is an interactive television programme on Sky Sports that shows extended highlights of every Premier League match played on the day, except matches shown live on BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay televis ...

'' launches. The programme allows viewers to choose the game they want to watch. ** 1 November – ITV buys out BSkyB's stake in Granada Sky Broadcasting. *2005 ** 1 January – Sky News takes over the contract to provide Channel 5's news service from ITN. The first scheduled Sky produced news programme had been due to air on 3 January, but two shorter bulletins for 1 and 2 January were hastily added to provide updates following the Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. ** January –

+1 launches. ** June – Sky takes full control of Artsworld, two years after it bought a 50% stake in the channel. ** 31 October – Sky One Mix is rebranded as Sky Two, and

Sky Three Pick (formerly Sky 3 and Pick TV) is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Sky UK. History Sky Three launched on 31st October 2005. It was essentially a barker channel for Sky's main entertainment channel Sky One and its other s ...

launches on Freeview which replaced

. * 2006 ** January – Sky launches its online television service Sky By Broadband, which is rebranded later in 2006 to Sky Anytime on PC. ** 30 January – A tenth Sky Movies channel is launched and Sky Movies starts broadcasting two HD channels. Sky Movies 9 and the new Sky Movies 10 are

PIN A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch ...

-protected, meaning that for the first time 15 rated films were able to be shown as early as 5.00pm. ** 2 March – Alternative/indie music channel

is relaunched as a classic hits channel called

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

. ** 22 May – ***

becomes the exclusive broadcaster of all live cricket matches in the UK following the ECB awarding Sky exclusive coverage of all of England's home tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. ***Sky launches its high definition service when Sky One HD and Sky Sports HD1 begin broadcasting. ** 31 July – Sky Sports HD2 launches. ** 3 November – The final edition of

is broadcast. ** December – Sky sells their three music channels

(previously

, and

to Chart Show Channels. CSC had previously operated the channels on Sky's behalf. * 2007 ** 1 March – ***The Sky basics channels stop broadcasting on

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

when the two companies cannot agree a new carriage deal. ***

launches, replacing Artsworld. ** 27 March – Sky launches its on-demand service

Sky Anytime On Demand was the brand name of a range of video on demand services from Sky UK designed to compete with rival companies such as Virgin TV or BT TV as well as internet television services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. On Demand, pr ...

. ** 4 April – Sky Movies is revamped with each channel now covering a specific genre and are renamed. The new line-up is Sky Movies Premiere, Sky Movies Premiere +1, Sky Movies Comedy, Sky Movies Action & Thriller, Sky Movies Family, Sky Movies Drama, Sky Movies Classics, Sky Movies Sci-Fi & Horror, Sky Movies Modern Greats, Sky Movies Indie, Sky Movies HD1 and Sky Movies HD2. ** 6 May –

closes. ** 7 November – ***

Sky Real Lives Sky Real Lives was an in-house channel from BSkyB that showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies and documentaries. The channels closed on 19 August 2010. History Sky Real Lives first launched as Sky Travel on 3 Octobe ...

launches. ***Sky Travel is relaunched as a holiday retail channel, replacing Sky Travel Shop. Sky Travel +1 is renamed Sky Real Lives +1 and Sky Travel Extra becomes Sky Real Lives 2. * 2008 ** 17 March – Sky Sports HD3 launches. ** 20 March – A HD simulcast of

Sky Movies Premiere Sky Cinema is a British pay television, subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky UK, Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and i ...

is launched. ** 16 May – Sky Anytime on PC is rebranded as Sky Player, along with updated software to include live simulcasts of Sky News and

. ** 18 August – Sky Arts +1 starts broadcasting. ** 31 August – Sky One,

Sky Two Sky Replay is a British pay television channel operated by Sky as a sister channel to Sky Max and Sky Witness. The current channel began broadcasting (as Sky One Mix) in December 2002. The 'Sky 2' name and format had earlier been used for a si ...

and

are renamed Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3 respectively. ** October – High-definition simulcast channels of Sky Movies Action/Thriller, Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror, Sky Movies Drama, Sky Movies Modern Greats, Sky Movies Family and Sky Movies Comedy launch. ** 20 October – Sky Arts 2 launches and focusses on classical music, opera, dance and fine arts programming. ** 13 November – The Sky Basics channels return to

. * 2009 ** 26 October – Sky Movies Indie HD launches.

2010s

*2010 ** 6 January – Sky Sports Xtra is renamed Sky Sports 4. ** 26 March – Some Sky Movies channels are renamed. Sky Movies Showcase replaces Sky Movies Screen 1, Sky Movies Action & Thriller is renamed Sky Movies Action & Adventure, Sky Movies Drama becomes Sky Movies Drama & Romance and Sky Movies Screen 2 becomes Sky Movies Crime & Thriller. ** 3 April –

Sky 3D The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

launches, although it is initially only available in commercial premises. ** 29 April – Sky Sports HD4 launches. ** 6 May – Sky News HD launches. ** 10 May–9 August – Sky conducts three-month experimental revision of Sky Two, under which Sky Two predominantly operated a one-hour

timeshift Time shift or Timeshift may refer to: * ''Timeshift'' (TV series), a BBC documentary series * '' TimeShift'', a video game released in 2007 * Time shifting, a form of personal consumer media recording * Timeshift channel, used in the time-delayed ...

of programming on Sky One. ** June – ***

Sky Sports Radio Sky Sports Radio (formerly 2KY) is a commercial radio station based in Sydney, broadcasting throughout New South Wales and Canberra on a network of over 140 narrowcast transmitters as well as the main 1017 AM frequency in Sydney. It broadcasts ...

launches. *** Sky TV removes

Music Choice Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service that digitally broadcasts audio-based music channels and video-related content to cable television providers in the United States. Music Choice reaches 65 million househol ...

. It had been available on Sky since it launched its digital service in 1998. ** 24 June –

closes due to the increased competition from the internet for the holiday retail market. ** 5 July – Living Loves launches. The channel shows comedy and drama programmes that have recently aired on

Living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...

, and broadcasts each day between 3.00pm and 2.00am. ** 13 July –

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

buys Virgin Media Television., thereby adding several channels, including Channel One, Bravo,

Bravo 2 Bravo 2 was a British television channel. History Player The channel launched as "Player" on March 2, 2006, being a spin-off to a block that previously aired late-at-night on Challenge. Unlike the block, the channel functioned as a sister to B ...

, Challenge,

Challenge Jackpot Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography * Challenge, ...

and

to its portfolio. ** 9 August – Sky Movies Classics HD launches. ** 19 August –

closes and some of the factual content shown on the channel moves to Sky 2. ** 23 August –

stops broadcasting on

and a HD version of the channel is launched. On Freeview, Sky Sports News is replaced by Sky 3 +1. ** 1 October –

becomes available to residential customers for the first time. *2011 ** 1 January – ***Sky closes four of the channels - the Bravo channels and

- that it had bought following its purchase of Virgin Media Television the previous year. ** 1 February – ***

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...

launches. *** Channel One closes and its slot on Freeview is given to Challenge. Much of Channel One's programming moves to Sky's free-to-air channel Pick. ***Living is renamed

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witnes ...

and Living Loves is renamed

Sky Living Loves Sky Living Loves (formerly Living Loves) was a British television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting. It launched on 5 July 2010 and closed on 21 February 2012. It was the sister channel of Sky Living and Sky Livingit. History On 1 July 2 ...

. ** 28 February – Sky 3 is rebranded as Pick TV. ** 6 July – Sky Anytime is merged with Sky Mobile and is rebranded as

Sky Go Sky Go is a streaming television service from Sky Group provided free for Sky TV subscribers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it complements Sky TV by allowing subscribers to watch live and on demand Sky TV via an internet connec ...

. Key changes include the ability to watch live channels in line with your Sky TV subscription at no additional cost, limited to two simultaneous devices. **5 September –

begins broadcasting 24 hours a day. ** 20 September – Pick TV +1 is removed from Freeview. ** 12 October – The final edition of

Sky Magazine Sky Magazine (or 'Sky Mag') was a magazine distributed to subscribers of the BSkyB satellite service Sky Digital. Availability The magazine was available to subscribers of the Variety Pack or all packs of entertainment. Content The magazines ...

is published. ** 8 November – ITN confirms it has secured a five-year contract to resume production of ''

5 News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...

'' from early 2012, meaning Sky News will cease to broadcast on the channel from the end of 2011. *2012 ** 21 February –

stops broadcasting. ** 9 March –

Sky Sports F1 Sky Sports F1 is a television channel created exclusively for Sky's UK and Ireland coverage of Formula One, with Sky having a package of rights from the 2012 season to the 2029 season. From 2012 to 2029, Sky Sports F1 has the exclusive rights ...

launches. ** 17 July – Sky launches

Now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...

. It is launched to provide access to Sky TV to those who have no existing

pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

subscription and do not want to be tied into a contract. The service offered only films at first, adding sports in March 2013, and entertainment channels in October 2013. ** 12 November – Sky One launches a +1 channel although for licensing reasons, ''

'' is not broadcast on the timeshift channel. *2013 ** 28 March –

Sky Movies Disney Sky Cinema is a British pay television, subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky UK, Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and i ...

is launched, effectively replacing

Disney Cinemagic Disney Cinemagic was a European television brand that consisted of a group of television channels owned by Walt Disney Company Limited (UK) plus two programming blocks by Disney Channels Worldwide. It used to be broadcast on most countries in Wes ...

. To facilitate the new channel, Sky Movies Classics stops broadcasting, Sky Movies Modern Greats is rebranded as Sky Movies Greats and Sky Movies Indie becomes Sky Movies Select. ** 30 June – Sky Sports launches its first temporary channel ''Sky Sports Ashes'' to provide full coverage of the

2013 Ashes Series The 2013 Ashes series (known as the Investec 2013 Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches contested between England and Australia for the Ashes. It formed part of the 2013 Australian tour of England, which al ...

. Temporary channel renaming of this nature is now common practice within Sky, both for sports and movies. ** 7 October – Pick TV is rebranded as Pick. ** 30 October –

digital teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...

service Sky Text closes. *2014 ** 12 August – *** Sky Sports 5 launches, primarily to broadcast European football. ***

is rebranded Sky Sports News HQ. ** September –

Sky Sports News Radio Sky Sports News Radio was a British online radio station broadcasting sports news, results and information 24 hours a day that lasted for 4 years, from June 2010 to September 2014. It was a sister service to the television channel Sky Sports News ...

closes. ** 13 October – Following BSkyB's 2014 acquisition of

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...

and a majority 90.04% interest in

Sky Deutschland Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...

in November 2014, its holding company British Sky Broadcasting Group plc changes its name to Sky plc. The United Kingdom operations also changes the company name from British Sky Broadcasting Limited to Sky UK Limited, and still trades as Sky. *2015 ** 31 January –

closes. ** 9 June – ***The two

channels merge into a single service. ***

closes as a linear channel. with 3D programming transferring to On Demand services. ***Sky Livingit is rebranded as Real Lives. *2016 ** 9 February – Sky launches its latest set-top box

Sky Q Sky Q is a subscription-based television and entertainment service operated by British satellite television provider Sky, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany, Ireland, Italy and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q set- ...

. and later in 2016, Sky stops selling its

Sky+ HD Sky+ HD was the brand name of the HDTV service launched by Sky plc on 22 May 2006 in the United Kingdom and Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky to be viewed. For the first two years after launch, the service was branded Sky H ...

box to new customers. ** 8 July – Sky Movies is rebranded as

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema o ...

. ** 13 August –

broadcasts its first event in UHD. ** 24 August –

Sky Sports Mix Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

launches. It is available to all Sky customers, and is designed to offer a sampling of content from the full range of Sky Sports networks to non-Sky Sports customers. *2017 ** 4 January – Sky Cinema Box Office closes. ** 18 July –

is revamped with the numbered channels being replaced by sports-specific channels. These include two channels dedicated to football, a cricket channel and a golf channel. Other sports are moved to two new channels – Action and Arena – and a showcase channel called Sky Sports Main Event is launched which features simulcasts of the top events being shown on Sky Sports that day. Also,

drops the HQ label. *2018 ** 23 January –

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's £11.7bn bid to take full control of

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

is provisionally blocked by the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

(CMA) amid concerns of plurality. ** 14 February – BT and

have agreed a £4.4bn three-year deal to show live Premiership football matches from 2019 to 2022, but the amount falls short of the £5.1bn deal struck in 2015. ** 27 February – US cable TV giant Comcast makes a £22.1bn bid for

, challenging the existing offer from 21st Century Fox. ** 1 March – Pick +1 returns to Freeview. ** 6 August –

is rebranded as 'Sky Witness', bringing an end to the ''Living'' brand after 25 years. ** 26 September – 21st Century Fox announces it will sell its 39% stake in Sky UK to Comcast, ending

's three decade association with the broadcaster. *2019 ** 1 January –

Sky Sports Racing Sky Sports Racing (formerly At The Races) is a British pay television channel devoted to horse racing. A joint venture between Sky Group and Arena Racing Company, it broadcasts coverage of domestic, European and international horse racing eve ...

launches, replacing At The Races. ** 1 October –

Sky Crime Sky Crime is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel launched on 1 October 2019, replacing Real Lives. Sky Crime broadcasts crime dramas from Oxygen, HBO, Jupiter Entertainment and Woo ...

launches. It replaces Real Lives.

2020s

*2020 ** 27 January –

Sky Comedy Sky Comedy is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 January 2020, replacing Universal TV. It is the first dedicated full-time comedy station in Sky's channel portfolio since t ...

launches, replacing Universal TV. ** 27 May – ***

Sky Documentaries Sky Documentaries is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 May 2020. Sky Documentaries broadcasts imported programming from US networks HBO and Showtime, alongside new origina ...

and

Sky Nature Sky Nature is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 May 2020. Sky Nature broadcasts original Sky content, content from Canadian channel Love Nature, and Sky's collection of Da ...

launch. ***

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and History 2, which operate as a joint venture between

and

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company ...

, are rebranded as Sky History and Sky History 2 respectively. ** 1 June – Challenge +1 closes. **23 July – Sky Cinema Animation launches. Sky Cinema Animation SD replaces Sky Cinema Premiere +1, while Sky Cinema Animation HD is a new channel. **27 August –

Sky Replay Sky Replay is a British pay television channel operated by Sky as a sister channel to Sky Max and Sky Witness. The current channel began broadcasting (as Sky One Mix) in December 2002. The 'Sky 2' name and format had earlier been used for a ...

replaces Sky Two. **17 September –

launches on

and

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...

, thereby becoming a free-to-air channel. **30 December – Sky Cinema Disney closes. It is replaced with a temporary channel called Sky Cinema Five Star Movies. *2021 **6 January – Sky Cinema Premiere +1 resumes broadcasting as Sky Cinema Disney's permanent replacement. **16 March – NOW TV to rebrand as

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

. **1 September – *** Sky One closes after more than 30 years on air. Its entertainment and drama programmes move to a new channel called

Sky Max Sky Max is a British pay television channel which launched on 1 September 2021 along with Sky Showcase. It is owned and operated by Sky Group, a subsidiary of Comcast. The channel was announced on 28 July 2021 to replace Sky One, which had been ...

with its comedy programming moving to

. ***

Sky Showcase Sky Showcase is a British pay television channel which launched on 1 September 2021 along with Sky Max. It is owned and operated by Sky Group, a division of American media company Comcast. The channel was announced on 28 July 2021 to replace S ...

launches. It broadcasts a selection of programmes from across Sky’s portfolio of channels as well as selected highlights from

and

. **18 October – Sky releases Sky Glass, a TV with Sky built-in, thereby removing the need of a set-top-box or a satellite dish. *2022 ** 31 March – ***Sky stops broadcasting channels in standard definition for the first time when it switches off the SD feed of three

channels - Comedy, Drama and Thriller. ***The Pick and Syfy timeshift channels close. ** 26 July – Syfy rebrands as

Sky Sci-Fi Sky Sci-Fi (formerly Sci Fi Channel and Syfy) is a British pay television channel service specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror shows and movies. It is owned by NBCUniversal International Networks, a division of NBCUniversal and ...

. ** 27 July – Sky Sports launches a UHD channel for Sky Sports Main Event. **18 October – Sky launches its new streaming box, Sky Stream, and becomes the second way to receive Sky without in need of a satellite dish. ** 31 October – Sky sells its stake in Nickelodeon UK Ltd. to

Paramount Networks EMEAA Paramount Networks Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA) is a division of Paramount International Networks which is fully owned by Paramount Global. The unit's headquarters are in Berlin, with additional offices in Madrid, Lisbon, Paris, Am ...

. The Nickelodeon agreement had contained a non-compete clause that otherwise restricted Sky and Comcast from launching a children's television network while still holding a stake in Nickelodeon UK Ltd. Less than a month later, Sky announces plans to launch its own linear kids channel. *2023 ** 13 February – Sky Kids launches and is aimed at children aged 1–7. Apart from promos, the channel doesn't carry any advertisements. ** 18 October – Pick rebrands as Sky Mix. *2024 ** 11 February – Sky Sports Tennis launches, beginning transmission shortly after Sky took over as rights holder to the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

and the US Open.

References

{{Sky Group

Sky Group Sky Group Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a division of Comcast, and headquartered in London. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Sky is Europe's ...