British television broadcasting started in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are up to 600 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most viewing. There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year at a cost of £2.6 billion. Analogue terrestrial transmissions are currently being switched off and this is due to be completed in 2012.

Television providers

Free and subscription providers are available, 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. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive these services; however Integrated Digital Televisions (IDTVs) can also be used to receive Freeview or Freesat. Top Up TV and BT Vision utilise hybrid boxes which receive Freeview as well as additional subscription services. Households viewing TV from the internet (YouTube, Joost, downloads etc) are not tracked by Ofcom. The UK's five most watched channels, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, are available from all providers (although in many areas, including almost the whole of Wales, Five is not receivable on analogue terrestrial television).

Provider	Free or pay	No. broadcast channels	VOD	HD	Red button	Households	Transmission
Analogue terrestrial	Free	Up to 6	No	No	No	3,000,000	Analogue terrestrial
Freesat	Free	79 (TV), 36 (radio)	No	Yes	Yes	147,000	Digital satellite
Freesat from Sky	Free + PPV	Over 240	No	No	Yes	453,000	Digital satellite
Freeview	Free	Up to 44 (TV), 24 (radio)	No	No	Yes	9,300,000	Digital terrestrial
Freewire	Free and subscription	25 free, 19 subscription	No	No	No	40,000	IPTV
The Internet	Varies	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	16,710,169	Internet television
BT Vision	Pay	As Freeview	Yes	No	No	150,000	IPTV and digital terrestrial
Orange	Pay	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	Unknown	Mobile television
Sky TV	Pay	Around 600 (TV and radio)	Push	Yes	Yes	8,800,000	Digital satellite
Smallworld	Pay	99	No	No	No	¶	Digital cable
T-Mobile	Pay	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	Unknown	Mobile television
Tiscali TV	Pay	73	Yes	No	No	80,000	IPTV
Top Up TV	Pay	As Freeview	Push	No	No	400,000	Digital terrestrial
Virgin [analogue]	Pay	35	No	No	No	20,000	Analogue cable
Virgin [digital]	Pay	Around 150 (TV)	Yes	Yes	Yes	3,407,900¶‖	Digital cable
Vodafone	Pay	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	Unknown	Mobile television
WightCable	Pay	120	No	No	No	¶	Digital cable

‖ Figure in table is from Virgin Q3 2008 results as quoted in Ofcom report ¶ Smallworld, Virgin and Wightcable have 3,300,000 subscribers combined according to Ofcom figures UK households receiving pay vs free TV

	Type	Percentage	Households	Providers
	Free	51.1%	13,030,500	Freesat, Freesat from Sky, Freeview, analogue terrestrial TV
	Pay	48.9%	12,469,500	Sky TV, Smallworld Media, Tiscali TV, Top Up TV, Virgin Media, Wightcable

UK households by broadcast/reception system

	Type	Percentage	Households	Providers
	Terrestrial	49.8%	12,700,000	Analogue terrestrial, Freeview, Top Up TV
	Satellite	36.9%	9,400,000	Freesat, Freesat from Sky, Sky TV
	Cable	13.0%	3,320,000	Smallworld Media, Virgin Media, Wightcable
	IPTV via ADSL	0.3%	80,000	Tiscali TV

Reception devices for the UK's television providers

Provider	TV or IDTV	STB	Computer	Mobile phone
(Unbranded analogue terrestrial)	Yes	N/A	Yes	No
Freesat	Yes	Yes	No	No
Freesat from Sky	No	Yes	No	No
Freeview	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Freewire	No	No	Yes	No
The Internet	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
BT Vision	No	Yes	No	No
Orange	No	No	No	Yes
Sky TV	No	Yes	No	No
Smallworld	No	Yes	No	No
T-Mobile	No	No	No	Yes
Tiscali TV	No	Yes	No	No
Top Up TV	No	Yes	No	No
Virgin [analogue]	No	Yes	No	No
Virgin [digital]	No	Yes	No	No
Vodafone	No	No	No	Yes
WightCable	No	Yes	No	No

Analogue terrestrial television

This was the traditional way of receiving television in the UK, however it has now largely been supplanted by digital providers. There are 5 channels with regional variations, plus a limited number of local channels. Analogue terrestrial transmissions are currently being switched off in phases as part of the Digital Switchover. The last region is due to be switched off in the second half of 2012. See Digital switchover dates in the United Kingdom for more information.

As of January 2009, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and Channel 4 broadcast from a network of 1,134 transmitters. Five broadcasts from 52 transmitters, and the Restricted Service Licence stations broadcast from 14 transmitters. See Category:Transmitter sites in the United Kingdom for information on some of these.

Digital terrestrial television

Digital terrestrial television launched in 1998 as a subscription service named ONdigital. Since October 2002, the primary broadcaster is Freeview, with Top Up TV and Setanta Sports providing additional subscription services.

Ofcom reports that, at the end of September 2008, there are

• 25,700,000 television sets equipped to view digital terrestrial in the UK (directly or via a set-top-box)
• 17,200,000 homes using digital terrestrial equipment
• 9,700,000 homes where digital terrestrial is the only form of digital television received

As of January 2009, digital terrestrial is broadcast from a network of 100 transmitters.

Cable television

There are three providers of cable television, targeting different geographic areas within the UK. In all cases cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband.

Smallworld Media is available in south-east Scotland and north-west England. Pricing ranges from £10.50 (cost of phone line with 'free' TV) to £80 per month.

WightCable is available in the Isle of Wight.

Virgin Media is available to 55% of UK households,. Pricing ranges from £11 a month (phone line with 'free' TV) to £30.50 a month, with additional fees for premium services such as Sky Sports. Virgin also market V+, a digital video recorder and high-definition receiver.

Virgin Media is the only cable provider to supply high-definition television and video on demand, although these aren't available in areas provided with their analogue TV service.

Existing Virgin Media customers can end their ongoing subscriptions, and opt for their set-top box to be configured to receive digital 'freeview' channels, giving them a freeview service via Virgin Media.

Satellite television

There are three distinctly marketed satellite services.

Sky TV is a subscription service owned by British Sky Broadcasting. It is the dominant satellite provider with the largest number of channels compared to other providers. As of September 2008, subscription starts at £18 per month and rises to £47 per month. Installation is from £0 to £150 depending on the chosen set-top-box. Additional pay-per-view films, events and individual subscription channels are available. Sky TV markets Sky+ and Sky+HD, digital video recorders; the latter additionally provides high-definition television. Sky TV does not provide video on demand.

Freesat from Sky, is a free satellite service owned by British Sky Broadcasting. Installation is priced at £75 or £150, which includes the receiver, dish, viewing card and access to all free-to-air and free-to-view channels in the UK. Existing Sky TV customers can also end their ongoing subscriptions, and opt for the Free-To-View viewing card, giving them the Freesat from Sky service. Freesat from Sky does not provide high-definition television or video on demand.

Freesat is a free satellite service created jointly by the BBC and ITV. In contrast to Freesat from Sky, it does not need a viewing card. It is the UK's first provider of high definition television without a subscription; one channel was available at launch. Freesat does not provide video on demand, or access to specific free channels which use BSkyB's encryption, including Channel 4 HD and Fiver.

Freesat, Freesat from Sky and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east (Astra 2A/2B/2C/2D) and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5° East. As the satellites are in geostationary orbit, they are positioned above the earth's equator(0°00′N 28°12′E / 0°N 28.2°E / 0; 28.2 (Satellites transmitting Sky TV, Freesat and Freesat from Sky to the UK and Ireland)) approximately 35,786 km above mean sea level; this places them above the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

IP television (IPTV)

In contrast to Internet TV, IPTV refers to services operated and controlled by a single company, who may also control the 'Final Mile' to the consumers' premises. BT Vision, Freewire and Tiscali TV are the UK's three providers of IPTV services.

BT Vision and Tiscali TV offer a range of broadcast channels as well as additional on demand content. BT Vision also offers high-definition programmes for download and playback (near on-demand),

Freewire offers free and subscription channels to students at 40 universities. It is received on PCs and distributed via the academic computer network, JANET.

Mobile television

Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone provide mobile television services for reception on third generation mobile phones. They consist of a mixture of regular channels (marketed as 'live TV') as well as made for mobile channels with looped content.

Orange provide 9 packages of TV channels, starting from £5/month.

T-Mobile provide 4 packages of TV channels, marketed as T-Mobile TV or Sky Mobile TV. The cheapest package is £3.50/month.

Vodafone provides 5 packages of TV channels collectively marketed as Sky Mobile TV, with the cheapest package at £3/month.

Internet television

Television received via the Internet may be free, subscription or pay-per-view, multicast, unicast, or peer-to-peer, streamed or downloaded, and use a variety of distribution technologies. Playback is normally via a computer and broadband Internet connection, although digital media receivers or media centre computers can be used for playback on televisions, such as the Netgear Digital Entertainer or a computer equipped with Windows Media Center.

Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. These services are available to UK residents with a broadband Internet connection (some may block users outside of the UK). The services often employ digital rights management technologies to reduce the threat of illegal distribution. The providers have adopted several different models of distribution:

• Download programmes from the BBC and Five
• Streamed programmes from the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV and Sky
• Catch-up services from the last 7 (BBC) or 30 days (other providers)
• Rent or buy individual programmes from providers other than the BBC
• Access to streamed channels ('live TV') as well as indivudal programmes

Internet video on demand services from UK providers

Service name	Pricing	Owner	Distribution method	Notes
4oD	30-day Catch-Up: Free Other programmes: Rent/buy	Channel 4 Television Corporation	Download	Requires software install (Windows XP/Vista only); UK and Ireland only
BBC iPlayer (download version)	Free	BBC	Download	Software install required; programmes from last 7 days; 30 days to watch
BBC iPlayer (stream version)	Free	BBC	Streamed	Requires Adobe Flash; programmes from last 7 days
Catch-Up	Free	Channel 4 Television Corporation	Streamed	Programmes from last 30 days; Requires Windows Media Player 11; UK and Ireland only
Demand Five	Free and pay	RTL Group	Free - streamed Pay - download	Programmes from last 30 days and series; UK only
ITV Player	Free	ITV plc	Streamed	Programmes from last 30 days; requires Microsoft Silverlight
STV Video	Free	STV Group plc	Streamed	Programmes from last 30 days; uses Brightcove video technology
Sky Player	Free, subscription and PPV	BSkyB	Streamed	Channels and programmes available; requires Microsoft Silverlight; pricing variations for existing Sky TV subscribers

In addition to the BBC iPlayer, the BBC simulcasts various channels via BBC Online, offers news reports and other short video items through its website, and a channel on YouTube.

Ofcom does not consider the use of Internet television in its quarterly reports of digital TV penetration.

Forthcoming providers

Provider	Launch date	Free or pay TV	No. broadcast channels	VOD	HD	Red button	Transmission	Status
O2	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	IPTV	Awaiting launch date
Smallworld [IPTV]	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	IPTV	Awaiting launch date
Virgin [IPTV]	2009	Pay	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	IPTV and digital terrestrial	Awaiting launch date

In December 2007, Telefónica O2 (branded O2) announced the roll out of IPTV services in 2008.

In May 2007, Smallworld Media stated their intention to roll out an IPTV solution across their unbundled network in early to mid 2008.

In February 2007, Virgin Media announced a hybrid IPTV and digital terrestrial service to target the half of the country unable to receive their cable TV services. In November, they stated it will be at least 2009 before launch.

Channels and channel owners

Most-viewed channels

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in the UK. The following table shows viewing shares for different channels from 1999 to 2009. The figures for 2009 only include the month of January.

Channels	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
BBC One	20.8%	20.0%	20.2%	20.0%	19.3%	19.6%	19.3%	20.0%	19.9%	20.4%	19.5%
BBC Two	6.6%	6.6%	6.8%	7.0%	7.0%	6.8%	6.8%	6.9%	7.1%	6.9%	7.3%
ITV	24.6%	22.3%	20.6%	19.8%	19.3%	18.8%	18.4%	17.5%	17.6%	17.2%	16.8%
Channel 4/S4C	6.9%	7.1%	7.0%	7.1%	6.8%	7.3%	7.9%	8.2%	7.5%	6.8%	7.0%
Five	4.2%	4.2%	4.3%	4.5%	4.7%	5.0%	5.3%	4.9%	4.6%	4.7%	4.5%
Sky1	4.0%	4.3%	3.5%	3.7%	2.9%	2.4%	1.9%	1.7%	1.1%	1.0%	1.3%
G.O.L.D.	2.3%	2.4%	2.2%	1.7%	1.5%	1.3%	1.1%	1.0%	0.7%	0.6%	0.6%
Sky Sports 1	2.2%	1.6%	1.8%	1.7%	1.8%	1.8%	1.7%	1.7%	1.7%	1.4%	1.3%
Sky Movies Comedy	2.1%	1.4%	1.2%	0.8%	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Cartoon Network	2.0%	1.4%	1.1%	0.7%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
Nickelodeon	1.7%	1.3%	1.1%	0.8%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
Sky Sports 2	1.5%	1.2%	0.8%	0.8%	0.7%	0.8%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%
Sky Movies Action & Thriller	1.3%	0.8%	0.7%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
Living	1.3%	1.2%	1.0%	1.1%	0.7%	0.9%	0.9%	0.8%	0.6%	0.5%	0.7%
Disney Channel	1.1%	0.9%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%
MTV One	1.1%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Sky News	1.0%	0.7%	0.7%	0.8%	1.2%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%
Eurosport	0.8%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Discovery Channel	0.7%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
VH1	0.7%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Sky Sports 3	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	0.4%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%
Trouble	0.6%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Challenge	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
Sci Fi Channel	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
Bravo	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Discovery Real Time	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Comedy Central	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%
Nick Jr.	0.1%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
Film4	0.0%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%
ITV2		0.1%	0.3%	1.2%	1.6%	1.8%	2.0%	2.0%	2.0%	1.9%	1.9%
E4			0.7%	1.5%	1.2%	0.9%	1.2%	1.4%	1.3%	1.2%	1.1%
UKTV Style			0.6%	1.0%	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Sky Sports News				0.4%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.8%
CBeebies				1.1%	1.2%	1.3%	1.3%	1.2%	1.3%	1.3%	1.3%
BBC Four				0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%
BBC News				0.6%	0.7%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%
Boomerang				0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
E4 +1				0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%
CBBC				0.1%	0.3%	0.5%	0.6%	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%
Dave				0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.4%	0.6%	1.1%	1.1%
G.O.L.D. +1				0.1%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%
Hallmark Channel				0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	0.8%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%
Sky2					0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%
Yesterday					0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.3%	0.4%
Virgin1					0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.5%	0.5%
BBC Three						0.7%	0.9%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%	1.3%
ITV3							1.2%	1.4%	1.3%	1.6%	1.9%
ITV4								0.5%	0.6%	0.9%	0.9%
More4								0.6%	0.7%	0.9%	1.1%
Sky3								0.5%	0.7%	0.7%	0.8%
Fiver									0.4%	0.5%	0.5%
Five USA									0.5%	0.6%	0.7%
ITV2 +1									0.2%	0.4%	0.5%
Watch											0.5%

Availability of channels from various providers

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

The BBC is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster, and is the country's first and largest public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded by a television licence fee that all households with a television must pay. Its analogue channels are BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC first began a television service, initially serving London only, in 1936. BBC Television was closed during World War II but reopened in 1946. The second station, BBC Two, was launched in 1964. As well as these two analogue services, the British Broadcasting Corporation now also offers digital services BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC Channel, CBeebies, BBC Red Button and BBC HD.

Independent Television (ITV)

ITV (Independent Television) is the network of fifteen regional and three national commercial television franchises, originally founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements, and has been the most popular commercial channel through most of its existence. Through a series of mergers, takeovers and relaxation of regulation, eleven of these companies are now owned by ITV plc, two by STV Group plc while UTV and Channel Television remain independent. ITV plc, the operator of all English, Welsh and Southern Scotland franchises, has branded the channel as ITV1 since 2001, with regional names being used prior to regional programmes only. STV Group plc, which operates the two other Scottish franchises, has now unified the regions under the single name of STV. UTV, the Northern Ireland franchisee operated by UTV plc, uses its own name on air at all times, while the independent Channel Television uses the generic ITV1 stream and its own name prior to regional programmes. ITV has been officially known as Channel 3 since 1990. ITV plc also operates digital channels ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, Men & Motors and the CITV Channel. ITN currently holds the national news franchise, GMTV operates the breakfast franchise and Teletext Ltd operates the national teletext franchise.

Channel 4

Launched in 1982, Channel 4 is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA, especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4, Film4, More4 and various timeshift services. Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of the six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4. Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have set advertising regions.

Five

Five (previously known as Channel 5) was the final analogue broadcaster to be launched, in March 1997. Its analogue terrestrial coverage is less than that of the other analogue broadcasters, and broadcast in re-assigned frequencies, often at a lower power from major transmitters only. Many ex-VHF transmitters which were used for black and white transmissions prior to the switchover to UHF transmissions in the 1970s–80s are now used to broadcast Five, mainly due to capacity restraints on the masts. It was also the first terrestrial broadcaster to broadcast on satellite and carry a permanent digital on-screen graphic (DOG). The channel was re-named "Five" in 2002, which saw an overhaul of the channel's identity and removal of the infamous DOG. RTL Group, Europe's largest television broadcaster and a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, took full control of the channel in August 2005. Five launched two new channels, Five US and Five Life (now known as Fiver) in October 2006. All of these channels are also carried on satellite television, cable television and digital terrestrial television services. Five also owns 20% of the digital terrestrial pay-TV provider, Top Up TV. Like Channel 4, Five does not have programming regional variations, however it does so for advertising.

British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)

British Sky Broadcasting operates a satellite television service and numerous television channels including Sky1, Sky2, Sky3, Sky Movies and Sky Sports.

UKTV

UKTV is a joint venture between the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, and Virgin Media Television. Both companies additionally wholly-own a number of other channels, broadcast domestically or internationally.

Channels under the joint venture are Alibi, Blighty, Dave, Eden, G.O.L.D., UKTV Food, UKTV Gardens, UKTV Style, Watch, Yesterday plus a number of timeshift services.

Other channel owners

The most watched digital channels are owned by the six broadcasters above. Other broadcasters who have secured a notable place on British television include Virgin Media, Viacom, Discovery Networks and Disney.

Programming

British television differs from other countries, such as the United States, in as much that programmes produced in Britain do not generally have a long 'season' run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of a few months. See List of British television series.

100 Greatest British Television Programmes

100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as the most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are:

Fawlty Towers BBC2 1975-1979

Cathy Come Home (The Wednesday Play) BBC1 1966

Doctor Who BBC1 1963-1989, 1996, 2005-

The Naked Civil Servant ITV 1975

Monty Python's Flying Circus BBC2 1969-1974

Blue Peter BBC1 1958-

Boys from the Blackstuff BBC2 1982

Parkinson BBC1/ITV 1971-1982, 1998-2007

Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister BBC2 1980-1988

Brideshead Revisited ITV 1981

List of most-watched television broadcasts

In 2005, the British Film Institute compiled a list of programmes with the biggest audience since 1955. The top 10 are:

Rank	Show	Episode	Number of Viewers	Date	Network
1	1966 World Cup Final		32.30 million	30 July 1966	BBC/ITV
2	Funeral of Princess Diana		32.10 million	6 September 1997	BBC1/ITV
3	British Royal Family documentary		30.69 million	1969	BBC1/ITV
4	EastEnders	Den divorces Angie	30.15 million	25 December 1986	BBC1
5	Apollo 13 splashdown		28.60 million	17 April 1970	BBC1/ITV
6	FA Cup replay: Chelsea vs. Leeds		28.49 million	29 April 1970	BBC1/ITV
7	Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana		28.40 million	29 July 1981	BBC1/ITV
8	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips		27.60 million	14 November 1973	BBC1
9	Coronation Street	Alan Bradley killed by tram	26.93 million	8 December 1989	ITV
10	Coronation Street	Hilda Ogden leaves	26.00+ million	25 December 1987	ITV

Genre lists

100 Greatest Kids' TV shows

The 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows was a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4 in 2001. The top 5 UK-produced programmes are:

The Muppet Show 1976-1981

Danger Mouse 1981-1992

Bagpuss 1974

Grange Hill 1978-2008

Mr Benn 1971-1972

Britain's Best Sitcom

Britain's Best Sitcom was a poll conducted in 2004 by the BBC to identify the United Kingdom's best situation comedy. The top 5 programmes were:

Only Fools and Horses 1981-2003 — 342,426 votes

Blackadder 1983-1989, 2000 — 282,106 votes

The Vicar of Dibley 1994-2007 — 212,927 votes

Dad's Army 1968-1977 — 174,138 votes

Fawlty Towers 1975, 1979 — 172,066 votes

British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series

The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards. The last 5 winners are:

• 2008: The Street - Granada Productions / BBC One
• 2007: The Street - Granada Productions / BBC One
• 2006: Doctor Who - BBC Wales / BBC One
• 2005: Shameless - Company Pictures / Channel 4
• 2004: Buried - World Productions / Channel 4

Soap operas

Award totals for soap operas as awarded by the British Soap Awards:

EastEnders - 51

Coronation Street - 47

Emmerdale - 17

Hollyoaks - 9

Brookside - 7

Doctors - 4

Family Affairs - 2

Night and Day - 1

Analogue terrestrial programming

Weekday

Weekday programming on terrestrial channels begins with breakfast national news programmes (along with regional news updates) on BBC One and GMTV, with children's programming on BBC Two and Five. Channel 4 and S4C predominately broadcasts teen-orientated programmes in its morning slot, T4, including soaps, music and comedy programming. The weekday breakfast news programme ends at 9:15 am on BBC One and 9:25 am on GMTV.

Following this on BBC One, lifestyle programming is generally shown, including property, auction and home/garden makeover. BBC One continues this genre until after the lunchtime news, whereby afternoon has a soap called Doctors followed by US dramas with the word "Murder" in the title currently occupy the schedule. ITV on the other hand takes over from GMTV at 9:25 am, and generally broadcasts more human-interest chat-style shows, including The Jeremy Kyle Show, This Morning and Loose Women, in the morning to mid-afternoon slots, with the ITV Lunchtime News (including a regional bulletin) at 1:30 pm. Channel 4 continues its T4 slot, often with home-project and archaeology lifestyle programming in the early afternoon after the News at Noon. Five broadcasts chatshow programmes in the morning including The Wright Stuff and Trisha Goddard with regular news bulletins. In the afternoon it shows a drama followed by an hour of Australian soaps such as Home and Away and Neighbours and a film.

At around 3:05 pm, BBC One switches to its CBBC children's output, before the game show The Weakest Link at 5:15 pm. BBC Two often carries lifestyle programming such as Animal Park and often many sporting events. ITV shows a lifestyle programme followed by a chat show called The Alan Titchmarsh Show and a daily soap opera called The Royal Today before repeats of classic ITV shows, such as Heartbeat, Poirot and Midsomer Murders in late-afternoon, before a gameshow-style programme at 5:00 pm, which have included Golden Balls and The Price Is Right.

News bulletins are broadcast between 6pm and 7pm on both BBC One and ITV, with BBC One beginning with the national 6 O'Clock news and ITV with the flagship regional news programme. At around 6.30, BBC One broadcasts the regional news programmes whilst ITV broadcasts the national news. Both Channel 4 and Five have news programmes at around 7pm.

Primetime programming is usually dominated by further soaps—including EastEnders on BBC One, Coronation Street and Emmerdale on ITV, and Hollyoaks on Channel4. These soap operas or 'continuing dramas' as they are now called can vary throughout the year, however weekly dramas, such as Holby City, are also fixed to scheduling. Because of this, the UK can often rely more heavily on TV guides, be it with the newspaper, online on as available on information services on the television: Ceefax/Teletext/BBC Red Button as well as built in Electronic Programme Guides.

Weekend

Weekend programming traditionally contains further children's, lifestyle programming, as well as sporting events and the occasional afternoon film. There are further battles for viewers in the weekend primetime slot, often featuring reality or talent game shows in the evening. Morning and late evening news programmes still continue on BBC One and ITV, yet even these can be shifted about due to delays in sporting events.

After midnight, when late evening films are shown, many channels cease broadcasting "normal" programming or simulcast with another channel. Before 2000, the channels simply closed down, displaying news in the form of Ceefax or a test card. However, recently programming has been shown continuously. BBC channels will join BBC News in a multichannel simulcast. Since 2005, ITV has broadcast the ITV Play strand of phone-in participation TV programmes. Depending on the time of year, Channel 4 will close down to show live feeds of Big Brother (in the summer) and its spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother (in January). On weeknights, Five generally shows various sports from around the world, including boxing and football from European leagues, with phone-in participation-TV Quiz Call on weekends.

Cultural impact

Moral decline of the country

In 1963, Mary Whitehouse claimed Sir Hugh Greene, then director of the BBC, was "more than anybody else [...] responsible for the moral collapse in this country". She subsequently launched the Clean Up TV Campaign, and founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1965, now known as Mediawatch-uk.

In 2005, the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera elicited 55,000 complaints, and provoked protests from Christian organisation Christian Voice, and a private prosection against the BBC by the Christian Institute. A summons was not issued, however as a reaction against the campaigns, the website MediaWatchWatch.org.uk was formed, claiming to "keep an eye on those groups and individuals who, in order to protect their beliefs from offence, seek to limit freedom of expression."

In 2007, the General Synod of the Church of England claimed that programmes such as Celebrity Big Brother and Little Britain were eroding moral standards. The Synod criticised broadcasting trends that "exploit the humiliation of human beings for public entertainment", and called for research to determine the behavioural impact of sexual or violent images.

In 2008, the BBC broadcast a docudrama entitled Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story. In a commentary of this, a journalist of The Independent speculated at the time that Whitehouse had been right in the sense that "allowing channels to broadcast [...] what they like after the 9pm watershed [has led to] a dramatic decline across the board [in programming quality]". He concluded "On the wider question of whether sex and violence on TV has led to a general moral collapse in society at large, the jury is still out. No one doubts that Western civilization is teetering on the brink – scarcely a day passes without a teenager being stabbed to death in broad daylight – but it is unfair to lay the blame entirely at the feet of BBC2 and Channel 4."

Awards

The British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs) are the most prestigious awards given in the British television industry, analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States. They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are only open to British programmes. After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all eligible members of the Academy. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a special jury of nine academy members for each award, the members of each jury selected by the Academy's Television Committee.

The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, sponsored by ITV and initiated in 1995. Although not widely held to be as prestigious as the BAFTAs, the National Television Awards are probably the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Unlike the BAFTAs, the National Television Awards allow foreign programmes to be nominated, providing they have been screened on a British channel during the eligible time period.

Regulation

Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom, including television. As the regulatory body for media broadcasts, Ofcom's duties include:

• Specification of the Broadcast Code, which took effect on 25 July 2005, with the latest version being published October 2008. The Code itself is published on Ofcom's web site, and provies a mandatory set of rules which broadcast programmes must comply with. The 10 main sections cover protection of under-eighteens, harm and offence, crime, religion, impartiality and accuracy, elections, fairness, privacy, sponsorship and commercial references. As stipulated in the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom enforces adherence to the Code. Failure for a broadcaster to comply with the Code results in warnings, fines, and potentially revokation of a broadcasting license.
• Rules on the amount and distribution of advertising, which also took effect July 2005
• Examining specific complaints by viewers or other bodies about programmes and sponsorship. Ofcom issues Broadcast Bulletins on a fortnightly basis which are accessible via its web site. As an example, a bulletin from February 2009 has a complaint from the National Heart Forum over sponsorship of The Simpsons by Domino's Pizza on Sky1. Ofcom concluded this was in breach of the Broadcast Code, since it contravened an advertising restriction of food high in fat, salt or sugar. (Restrictions in food and drink advertising to children were introduced in November 2006)
• The management, regulation and assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum in the UK, and licensing of portions of the spectrum for television broadcasting
• Public consultations on matters relating to TV broadcasting. The results of the consultations are published by Ofcom, and inform the policies that Ofcom creates and enforces.

The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP, or BCAP) is the body contracted by Ofcom to create and maintain the codes of practice governing television advertising. The Broadcast Advertising Codes (or the TV codes) are accessible on CAP's web site. The Codes cover advertising standards (the TV Code), guidance notes, scheduling rules, text services (the Teletext Code) and interactive television guidance. The main sections of the TV Code concern compliance, progammes and advertising, unnacceptable products, political and controversial issues, misleading advertising, harm and offence, children, medicines, treatments, health claims and nutrition, finance and investments, and religion.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is an independent body responsible for resolving complaints relating to the advertising industry within the UK. It is not government funded, but funded by a levy on the advertising industry. It ensures compliance with the Codes created by CAP. The ASA covers all forms of advertising, not just television advertisements. The ASA can refer problematic adverts to Ofcom, since the channels carrying the adverts are ultimately responsible for the advertising content, and are answerable to Ofcom. Ofcom can issue fines or revoke broadcast licenses if necessary.

Licensing

In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, a television licence is required to receive any publicly broadcast television service, from any source. This includes the commercial channels, cable and satellite transmissions. The money from the licence fee is used to provide radio, television and Internet content for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Welsh-language television programmes for S4C. The BBC gives the following figures for expenditure of licence fee income:

• 50% - BBC One and BBC Two
• 15% - local TV and radio
• 12% - network radio
• 10% - digital (BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, CBBC, CBeebies)
• 10% - transmission costs and licence fee collection
• 3% - BBC Online, Ceefax, and Interactive Content (including bbc.co.uk and BBC Red Button)

Recent technical developments

Digital television

Digital television has been available in the UK since 1998 via satellite, cable or terrestrial, and since 1999 via IPTV. It introduced interactive television, 16:9 widescreen, electronic programme guides and audio description.

UK households receiving digital vs analogue TV

	Type	Percentage	Providers
	Analogue	12.3%	Virgin Media (analogue), analogue terrestrial
	Digital	87.7%	Freesat, Freesat from Sky, Freeview, Sky TV, Smallworld Media, Tiscali TV, Top Up TV, Virgin Media (digital), Wightcable

Ofcom is tracking digital television penetration as part of the digital switchover, and releases quarterly reports. The report for Q3 2008 states:

• 88.2% (22.6 million of 25.6 million televisions) of main TV sets now receive digital television
• 60% (20.9 million of 34 million televisions) of secondary TV sets now receive digital television
• 72.1% (43.3 million of 60 million televisions) of all TV sets now receive multichannel TV; the remainder receive analogue terrestrial television. Multichannel refers to cable (analogue and digital), satellite, digital terrestrial or IPTV.

Ofcom does not consider households which use Internet television as their primary source, whether connected to a TV set or not, nor television from the mobile TV providers or Freewire.

Video on demand

Video on demand (VOD) offers the viewer a choice of programmes in an on-screen programme guide. When the viewer selects a programme to watch, it starts playing immediately. The programmes may be free, pay-per-view or subscription.

BT Vision, Tiscali and Virgin Media are the UK's three providers of video on demand delivered via IPTV or cable. They offer a combination of catch-up and archive content from programme makers and channel owners. Virgin is the UK's largest provider of on-demand content, with over 3,000,000 subscribers. Video on demand in the UK is also seeing overseas programme makers such as HBO launching VOD services. Virgin also offers high-definition VOD.

BSkyB and Top Up TV market Sky Anytime and Top Up Anytime. Sky Anytime is available to subscribers of Sky+ or Sky+HD with a particular model of set-top-box. Both are 'push VOD' services which offer access to pre-selected programmes which are played back from the set-top-boxes hard disk drive.

Internet television also provides access to VOD, e.g. YouTube and other streamed video websites.

High-definition television

Close-up view
HDTV resolution	SDTV resolution

High-definition television (HDTV) has four to five times as much picture information compared to standard-definition television, which results in sharper pictures. HDTV uses three resolutions, with equipment baring the HD ready or HD ready 1080p logos to signal their display capability and connectivity. The 1080p logo signifies reproduction of the three HD resolutions without distortion or overscan, however the 1080p resolution itself is not currently used for broadcasting. Unlike standard-definition television, all HD is widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio).

Resolution	Aspect ratio	Standard definition	HD ready	HD ready 1080p
576i (720 x 576 interlaced)	4:3 or 16:9	Yes	Yes	Yes
720p (1280 x 720 progressively scanned)	16:9	No	Yes	Yes
1080i (1920 x 1080 interlaced)	16:9	No	Yes	Yes
1080p (1920 x 1080 progressively scanned)	16:9	No	No	Yes

BT Vision, Freesat, Sky TV and Virgin Media are the UK's four providers of high-definition television. Freesat is the only free provider, and also the only provider of ITV HD. Sky is the only provider of Channel 4 HD. BT Vision and Virgin Media are the only providers of on-demand high-definition. Sky TV's and Virgin's services are marketed as Sky+ HD and V+ respectively. BT Vision does not offer channels, but pay-per-view programmes which are downloaded and then played back.

Provider	Free/Pay	BBC HD	ITV HD	Channel 4 HD	Other HD channels	On-demand	Households
BT Vision	Pay-per-view	No	No	No	0	Yes	Unknown
Freesat	Free	Yes	Yes	No	0	No	73,000
Sky TV	Subscription/pay-per-view	Yes	No	Yes	32	No	591,000
Virgin	Subscription/pay-per-view	Yes	No	No	0	Yes	468,700
Total households							1,132,700

Ofcom has stated that high-definition broadcasts will begin on Freeview in late autumn 2009 in the Granada region, with nation-wide coverage in 2012.

As of June 2008, there are almost 10 million high-definition TVs in the UK.

Production

As of 2002, 27,000 hours of original programming are produced year in the UK television industry, excluding news, at a cost of £2.6bn. Ofcom has determined that 56% (£1.5bn) of production is in-house by the channel owners, and the remainder by independent production companies. Ofcom is enforcing a 25% independent production quota for the channel operators, as stipulated in the Broadcasting Act 1990.

In-house production

ITV plc, the company which owns 11 of the 15 regional ITV franchises, has set its production arm ITV Productions a target of producing 75% of the ITV1 schedule, the maximum allowed by Ofcom. This would be a rise from 54% at present, as part of a strategy to make ITV1 content-led chiefly in order to double production revenues to £1.2bn by 2012. ITV Productions currently produces programmes such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Heartbeat.

In contrast, the BBC has implemented a Window of Creative Competition (WOCC), a 25% proportion over and above the 25% Ofcom quota in which the BBC's in-house production and independent producers can compete. The BBC produces shows such as All Creatures Great and Small and F*** off I'm a Hairy Woman.

Channel 4 commissions all programmes from independent producers.

Independent production

As a consequence of the launch of Channel 4 in 1982, and the 25% independent quota from the Broadcasting Act 1990, an independent production sector has grown in the UK. Notable companies include Talkback Thames, Endemol UK, Hat Trick Productions, and Tiger Aspect Productions. A full list can be seen here: Category:Television production companies of the United Kingdom

History

Timeline

1936	Analogue terrestrial	Following mechanical television test transmissions starting in 1926, and the first official broadcast in 1929, the BBC launches electronic television broadcasts, the BBC Television Service, from Alexandra Palace. The picture format is monochrome, 405-line, and the transmission analogue terrestrial VHF
1938	Analogue cable	Community Antenna TV launches in Bristol and Kingston upon Hull, the UK's first cable services, distributing the 405 line service
1955	Regulation	The Independent Television Authority is appointed to oversee the creation of ITV by the Television Act 1954
1955	Analogue terrestrial	ITV, the UK's second channel, begins when Associated-Rediffusion, the first ITV franchise, launches
1964	Analogue terrestrial	BBC Two launches, in a higher definition 625-line format (576i). As it is broadcast in UHF frequencies and a different format, owners of 405 line TVs are unable to receive it
1960s	Analogue cable	Rediffusion Vision start a 625-line cable service
1967	Analogue terrestrial	Colour transmissions begin on BBC Two using the PAL format
1969	Analogue terrestrial	Colour transmissions begin on BBC One and ITV
1972	Regulation	The Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 reconstitutes the ITA as the Independent Broadcasting Authority
1976	Analogue terrestrial	Ceefax and ORACLE, the UK's first teletext services, launch
1982	Analogue terrestrial	Launch of Channel 4 and S4C, the UK's second and third independent channels. S4C broadcast to Wales, and Channel 4 the remainder of the country
1985	Analogue terrestrial	The two-station analogue terrestrial VHF transmissions cease on January 3rd
Late 1980s	Analogue cable	Issue of franchises to local cable operators, which will eventually merge to become Virgin Media, Smallworld and WightCable
1989	Analogue satellite	Sky launches, a subscription satellite service, with pay-per-view movies and events
1990	Regulation	The Broadcasting Act 1990 abolishes the Independent Broadcasting Authority and Cable Authority and replaces them with the Independent Television Commission. The Act makes mergers between ITV franchises possible - they will ultimately condense to ITV1, STV and UTV

1990	Analogue satellite	BSB launches, a subscription 5-channel satellite service
1991	Analogue terrestrial	Two ITV regions and Channel 4 broadcast stereo sound transmissions using NICAM, with the rest of the ITV network following in the next couple of years. The BBC launches NICAM stereo broadcasting on 31 August, having started test transmissions in 1986
1992	Analogue satellite	After merging with Sky, BSkyB ceases transmissions on BSB's old satellite
1997	Analogue terrestrial	Five launches; it is the UK's first terrestrial broadcaster to also launch on Sky
1998	Digital satellite	BSkyB launches SkyDigital, now marketed as Sky TV, the UK's first digital satellite service. Unlike the analogue service, it includes an Electronic Programme Guide, interactive TV and text services, widescreen picture format from certain channels (16:9), audio description and near video-on-demand pay-per-view movie channels. This also sees the BBC, Channel 4 and S4C to broadcast via satellite for the first time; as such, Channel 4 becomes available in Wales, and a new Welsh-only version of S4C broadcasts nationally. The BBC is initially encrypted and non-regional; it will drop encryption and launch regional variations from May 2003. ITV will not join SkyDigital until October 2001. SkyDigital launches with around 200 TV or radio channels
1998	Digital terrestrial	Launch of OnDigital, a subscription digital terrestrial service
1998	Digital cable	NTL, Telewest and Cable and Wireless begin digital cable services with similar characteristics to SkyDigital. Unlike SkyDigital, cable remains a regional service, carrying all versions of BBC channels and ITV
1999	IPTV	Kingston Interactive Television (KIT), the UK's first IPTV service, launches in Hull. It is the UK's first video on demand service
2001	Analogue satellite	BSkyB ceases its analogue satellite service
2002	Digital terrestrial	Closure of ITV Digital (né OnDigital)
2002	Digital terrestrial	Launch of Freeview, a free digital terrestrial service to replace ITV Digital
2003	Regulation	The Communications Act 2003 abolishes the Independent Television Commission and replaces it with Ofcom
2004	Digital terrestrial	Launch of Top Up TV, a subscription service on digital terrestrial
2006	Cable	Merger of NTL and Telewest; they will later merge with Virgin Mobile and relaunch as Virgin Media
2006	Cable	The UK's first public high-definition broadcasts, as BBC and ITV show the 2006 FIFA World Cup in high-definition via NTL:Telewest
2006	IPTV	Kingston Communications cease KIT
2006	IPTV	Launch of BT Vision, a subscription video on demand service combined with a Freeview receiver
2006	Internet television	BSkyB launches Sky Anytime, a program to download television shows to PCs via the Internet, for subscribers to Sky TV
2006	Internet television	Channel 4 launches 4 on Demand, allowing free and paid-for downloads via the Internet of television shows
2007	Internet television	ITV relaunch itv.com as an on-demand portal
2007	Analogue terrestrial	The digital switchover begins as a consequence of switching off analogue terrestrial UHF transmissions
2007	Internet television	The BBC launches BBC iPlayer, a tool for watching BBC programmes online
2008	Digital satellite	Freesat launches, a free satellite television service
2012	Analogue terrestrial	Analogue terrestrial UHF transmissions cease in all regions.

Closed and aborted television providers

Provider	Years	Free or pay	No. of channels	Colour	Digital	VOD	Transmission
(Unbranded VHF collection)	1936-1985	Free	2	No	No	No	Analogue terrestrial
405-line cable service	1938-?	Unknown	2	No	No	No	Analogue cable
Sky [analogue]	1989-2001	Pay	Unknown	Yes	No	No	Analogue satellite
BSB	1990-1992	Pay	5	Yes	No	No	Analogue satellite
OnDigital / ITV Digital	1998-2002	Pay	Unknown	Yes	Yes	No	Digital terrestrial
KIT	1999-2006	Pay	Unknown	Yes	Yes	Yes	IPTV

Orange had announced the desire for IPTV services to be launched in 2007. In November 2008, Orange stated there was 'no rollout imminent' as the service was too similar to BT Vision.

Sky Picnic, a subscription digital terrestrial service proposed by BSkyB in October 2007, was aborted in September 2008. BSkyB claimed this was due to regulatory delays, whereas Ofcom claimed BSkyB 'dragged its feet' in providing the necessary information.

'Project Kangaroo' was an on-demand Internet service announced by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in November 2007 to be launched in 2008. After an inquiry, in February 2009 the Competition Commission blocked Project Kangaroo, stating that viewers would benefit from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 competing with each other rather than collaborating. During the inquiry, Sky and Virgin Media had claimed that Kangaroo would concentrate too much power over content.

Defunct channels

There are around 80 defunct British channels. For a list, see Category:Defunct British television channels.

Commentary

The rise of television in the UK

Television caught on in Britain in 1947, but only 9 percent of British homes owned a TV during the first four years of its existence. These statistics were extremely familiar to the United States. In fact most of Britain's TV statistics were identical to the U.S., but two years behind (Smith, 1995, p. 49). Although, Britain was the first country that had a regular daily television schedule direct to homes and they were the first to have technical professions to work on TVs. (A. Smith, Television: An International Hero 1995)

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was established in 1927 to work with radio and inevitably became involved in TV in 1947. The BBC has very close ties with the government because of their financial support to the broadcasts. Even though the government is involved with the BBC financially, the station has the independence to decide what to do with money. (J. Gabriel, Thinking About Television 1973

The British government also appointed people to particular positions on the Board of Governors, (the people who run the station). Instead of appointing someone that would help the government take over the station, the BBC and British government worked together to fill the needs of both organisations and hire someone that would fit the system that is in place. (A. Smith, 1995)

When commercial television was first introduced in Britain, advertising during the broadcasts operated similarly to the way the United States operated. They both received money from advertisers, although how they received their money was very different. English advertisers had nothing to do with the programme they were advertising with. The station controlled where the advertisement would go and the product’s company had no say on this. In America, the advertiser would directly pay for their ad to be played during a particular programme. (J. Gabriel, 1973)

Satellite television

The first commercial DBS service in the United Kingdom, Sky Television, was launched in 1989 and used the newly launched Astra satellite at 19.2° east, providing 4 analogue TV channels. The channels and subsequent VideoCrypt video encryption system used the existing PAL broadcast standard. This gave Sky a distinct advantage over the winner of the UK state DBS licence, BSB.

In the following year, after many delays, BSB was launched, broadcasting five channels (Now, Galaxy, The Movie Channel, The Power Station and The Sports Channel) in D-MAC format and using the EuroCypher video encryption system which was based heavily on the General Instruments VideoCipher system used in the USA. While the BSB system was technologically more advanced than the PAL system and one of the main selling points of the BSB offering was the Squarial, an expensive flat plate antenna and LNB. Sky's system used conventional and cheap dish and LNB technology.

The competition between the two companies was fierce and bidding wars over the UK rights to movies. Sky kept costs to a bare minimum, operating from an industrial park in Isleworth in West London. BSB had expensive offices in London (Marco Polo House). The two services subsequently merged to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) though the new BSkyB was really Sky. The technologically more advanced BSB D-MAC/EuroCypher system was gradually replaced with Sky's VideoCrypt video encryption system.

In 1994 17% of the group was floated on the London Stock Exchange (with ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange), and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation owns a 35% stake.

By 1998, following the launch of several more satellites to Astra's 19.2° east position, the number of channels had increased to around 60 and BSkyB launched the first subscription-based digital television platform in the UK, offering a range of 300 channels broadcast from Astra's new the at 28.2° east position under the brand name Sky Digital. BSkyB’s analogue service has now been discontinued, with all customers having been migrated to Sky Digital.

In May 2008, a free-to-air satellite service from the BBC and ITV was launched under the brand name Freesat, carrying a variety of channels from Astra 28.2°E, including some content in HD formats.