Sky One facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sky One

Final logo, used from 2020 to 2021
Broadcast area	United Kingdom Ireland
Programming
Picture format	HDTV 1080i (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SD feed)
Timeshift service	Sky One +1
Ownership
Owner	Sky Group (Comcast)
Sister channels	List of Sky UK channels
History
Launched	26 April 1982; 43 years ago (26 April 1982)
Closed	1 September 2021; 3 years ago (1 September 2021)
Replaced by	Sky Showcase (channel) Sky Max (programming)
Former names	Satellite Television (1982–1984) Sky Channel (1984–1989) Sky 1 (1996–1997, 2011–2017) Sky1 (2008–2011)
Availability (at time of closure)
Streaming media
Sky Go	Watch live
Now	Watch live
Virgin TV Anywhere (UK)	Watch live (UK only)
Virgin TV Anywhere (Ireland)	Watch live (Ireland only)

Sky One was a popular British TV channel. You paid to watch it, and it was owned by Sky Group. It first started on April 26, 1982, as Satellite Television. It was special because it was Europe's very first TV channel broadcast by satellite, not from ground antennas.

On July 31, 1989, it became Sky One. It then broadcast only in the United Kingdom and Ireland as British Sky Broadcasting's main channel. Sky One stopped broadcasting on September 1, 2021. Its shows moved to new channels called Sky Showcase and Sky Max.

Sky One showed many popular programmes. Some were made in the UK, like Brainiac: Science Abuse and The Russell Howard Hour. Many others came from North America, including The X-Files, The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Modern Family, and Glee.

Sky One's History

Early Days: Satellite Television (1982–1984)

Sky One began its journey on April 26, 1982. It was first called Satellite Television Limited. This channel was Europe's very first TV channel that used cable and satellite. It broadcast from the Orbital Test Satellite to cable companies across Europe.

At first, the channel had money problems. Not enough people watched it, so it didn't get much money from adverts. This made it hard to pay for broadcasting. The channel's shows were first made in studios in London.

In June 1983, a company called News International bought 65% of Satellite Television. With a new satellite launched in October 1983, Rupert Murdoch (who owned News International) could broadcast for more hours and to more countries.

Becoming Sky Channel (1984–1989)

Sky Channel management in 1984: Patrick Cox, Gary Davey and Malcolm Tallantire

On January 16, 1984, Satellite Television Limited changed its name to Sky Channel. It became available in the UK to Swindon Cable's customers. The channel started showing many American programmes. It also made more of its own shows. These included new music shows with presenters like Gary Davies and Anthea Turner. There were also new children's programmes like Fun Factory and The DJ Kat Show.

In June 1988, Rupert Murdoch announced plans to make Sky bigger. He wanted to create the Sky Television Network with four channels. On February 5, 1989, this new service launched. It included Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies, and Eurosport. Sky Channel stopped broadcasting to European cable operators in the evenings. Eurosport, a sports channel for all of Europe, took its place.

New shows were made for the channel. These included a talent show called Sky Star Search and game shows like Sale of the Century. There were also daily talk shows and advice shows. Sky by Day was a daytime show with entertainment and gossip.

The "New Sky Channel" also kept its popular children's shows. It added more daytime programmes, including many soap operas. Classic comedies like The Lucy Show and dramas like The Love Boat were also added. Sky Channel also showed old movies and TV films. It broadcast World Wrestling Federation shows too.

Sky One's Main Era (1989–2021)

On July 31, 1989, the channel was renamed Sky One. It stopped broadcasting in most European countries and focused only on the UK and Ireland. Sky One started showing newer programmes. Early hits included Moonlighting and ALF. It also showed the British TV premiere of 21 Jump Street. More action shows and Australian dramas were added. Some Australian children's shows like Skippy the Bush Kangaroo also aired.

After merging with British Satellite Broadcasting's Galaxy in November 1990, Sky One added new comedies and dramas. A new cartoon, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, joined the children's lineup. Science fiction shows became a big part of the evening schedule. These included Alien Nation and reruns of Battlestar Galactica. In 1992, Sky One started showing Star Trek: The Next Generation twice a day.

In its early years, Sky One often showed long American TV series called miniseries. In 1993, Sky One replaced its Sunday night drama with The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and later Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. New episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place then took the Sunday night spot. On September 1, 1993, Sky One became a paid channel as part of the new Sky Multichannels package.

By 1995, Sky One started broadcasting 24 hours a day. At first, music videos filled the overnight hours. Later, the same types of shows broadcast during the day filled the night.

On October 1, 1998, Sky One launched its digital version with Sky Digital. Sky One was one of the last channels on the old analogue system. This system was switched off on September 27, 2001. In 2000, a special version of Sky One for Ireland was launched. The only difference was the adverts and show promotions. In June 2003, the channel started broadcasting in widescreen.

On August 25, 2012, Sky announced that a one-hour timeshift version of Sky One would launch. This meant you could watch shows an hour later. It launched on November 12, 2012. For New Year's Day 2014, Sky One was briefly called Sky Onesie. This was to encourage viewers to relax in their onesies after New Year's Eve parties. In 2017, Sky One started showing some sports, like parts of Soccer Saturday and highlights of Formula One racing.

Sky Two and Sky Three

Because Sky One was so successful, a sister channel called Sky 2 launched on September 1, 1996. It showed more new programmes in the evenings. But it wasn't very successful and closed on August 31, 1997. National Geographic took its place.

On December 9, 2002, the channel was relaunched as Sky One Mix. It was renamed Sky Mix on September 21, 2004. On October 31, 2005, Sky Mix became Sky Two again. A second sister channel, Sky Three, also launched.

Sky Two was renamed Sky Replay on August 27, 2020. Sky Three was renamed Pick on February 28, 2011.

High-Definition TV

To go with the launch of Sky HD, Sky One HD started broadcasting on May 22, 2006. This channel showed high-definition versions of some of Sky One's programmes. These included Lost, Bones, and The Simpsons. Shows not available in HD were "upscaled" to look better.

Sky said they wanted to show more HD content. They hoped that by the end of 2008, most of their main evening shows would be in HD. A new logo was introduced on August 31, 2008.

On October 1, 2010, Sky1 HD launched on Virgin Media.

Virgin Media Dispute

On March 1, 2007, Sky's basic channels, including Sky One, were removed from Virgin Media cable TV. This happened because Sky and Virgin Media could not agree on a new deal. Virgin Media even started legal action against Sky.

In March 2008, the two companies started talking again. Virgin Media's boss said they still wanted Sky's channels back.

On November 4, 2008, Sky and Virgin Media reached a deal. Sky's channels became available on Virgin Media's cable service again from November 13, 2008.

Channel Closure

On July 27, 2021, it was announced that Sky One would close. A new channel, Sky Showcase, would take its place on Sky's TV guide. Another channel, Sky Max, launched on the same day. Most of Sky One's original shows and dramas moved to Sky Max. Most of its comedy shows moved to Sky Comedy. Prodigal Son was the very last programme shown on Sky One.

When it closed, Sky One was available through Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV, and online via Sky Go and Now. In Ireland, it was available on Sky Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland, and Eir Vision.

Voice Announcers

Bruce Hammal was the channel's voice announcer from 1984 to 1997. Absolute Radio DJ Claire Sturgess became a voice of Sky One in 1998. She was the only announcer from 2001 to 2005. Her voice-overs were recorded once a week and played automatically.

Live announcements were made every evening. In 2009, these were done by Dave Kelly, Faye Bamford, and Philippa Collins. In 2010, new announcers were hired: Katie Morton, Katie Hudson, and Paul Daniels. In 2011, two more part-time announcers joined. During the day, pre-recorded announcements promoted shows from all Sky channels.

Former Logos

• 

  (1989–1993)

• 

  (1995–1996)

• 

  (1996–1997)

• 

  (1998–2002)

• 

  (2002–2004)

• 

  (2008–2011)

• 

  (2015–2017)

• 

  (2017–2020)

Sky One's Programmes

Shows from the 1980s and 1990s

Sky started making its own programmes in 1984. But it wasn't until 1989 that they made more than just music and children's shows.

In the early years, they ordered new game shows like:

The channel also made its own dramas, such as Dream Team and Space Island One. They also showed more Australian TV series, including:

• Chances (March 4, 1992)
• Paradise Beach (September 6, 1993)

Shows from the 2000s and 2010s

In the 2000s, Sky One focused on science fiction and other series. Some of these were not very successful, like The Strangerers (a sci-fi comedy that was cancelled). Other shows included:

• Al Murray's comedy Time Gentlemen Please
• Hex, another science fiction show
• Mile High, which was on from 2003 to 2005
• Sky also helped make The 4400 and Battlestar Galactica.
• Dream Team, about a made-up football team.

Sky One also showed reality television programmes like:

The channel had good success with science shows like Brainiac: Science Abuse and its spin-offs.

Sky One made a two-part series called Terry Pratchett's Hogfather for Christmas 2006. It was very popular. So, in 2008, Sky made an adaptation of The Colour of Magic. In 2010, Sky One also released Terry Pratchett's Going Postal.

Sky One also brought back some older game shows. Blockbusters returned from 2000 to 2001. Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old? was a game show based on a US format. In 2008, Sky One announced plans to bring back the combat game show Gladiators, but it was cancelled in 2009.

In 2010, Sky One started making several popular comedy shows. These included A League of Their Own and An ... Abroad. In 2011, Sky One showed the supermarket comedy Trollied. It ran for six series and became Sky One's longest-running comedy. Not all shows were popular, like Parents in 2012. However, Moone Boy, a series written by and starring Chris O'Dowd, became a big hit in 2012. It ran for three series until 2015.

In 2017, Sky One stopped showing factual programmes. It focused more on comedy, drama, and some sports coverage.

Music Shows

American pop group E.Y.C. being interviewed on the Coca-Cola Hit Mix weekly show

British singer Matt Goss on the music brand which would simultaneously broadcast on Sky One and Sky Two's Hit Mix (Long Play)

In 1994, Sky One started its own music show called The Coca Cola Hit Mix. It was hosted by Terry Christian and featured music news and guests. This show later became Hit Mix Long Play, which played music videos overnight on both Sky One and Sky Two. It often had exclusive first plays of new music.

Later, Sky One also had a show called Morning Glory. It played music videos in the early morning before regular programmes started. Viewers could also request songs.

Films

Sky One sometimes showed feature films with advertisement breaks. It also had other premium movie channels like Sky Cinema.

American Imports

The channel was well-known for showing American programmes first in the UK. These included Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and South Park. Older shows like Hill Street Blues and M*A*S*H were also popular. Sky One often showed programmes from Rupert Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting Company, such as The X-Files, The Simpsons, and Family Guy.

Sky One was also the first place in the UK to show ER and Friends for series 4–6. These shows brought Sky One some of its highest ratings. In 2000, 2.8 million viewers watched an episode of Friends. However, when Channel 4 launched its digital channel E4, they won the rights to show these programmes first. Sky One still had the rights to repeat earlier series for several years. Since 2011, Friends has been shown on Comedy Central.

WWF/WWE Wrestling

From 1989, Sky Channel (later Sky One) was the home of World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the UK. Some special events like Royal Rumble were shown on Sky One. Other big events like WrestleMania VI were shown on Sky Movies a few days after they happened.

In 1991, all special events moved to Sky Movies. Then, on September 1, 1992, they moved to Sky Sports when it became a paid channel. From 1995, Sky Sports subscribers could watch these events live. Sky One continued to show WWF/WWE programmes on Friday nights and Saturday/Sunday mornings. These were shows made for general TV in the US.

While the big pay-per-view events were on Sky Sports, other shows like Superstars and Wrestling Challenge aired only on Sky One. These shows were often edited for younger viewers and sometimes had special commentary for the UK audience.

Sky One continued to broadcast a one-hour version of Raw on Sunday mornings. Eventually, all WWE programmes moved to a different network, BT Sport (now TNT Sports).

The Simpsons

On September 2, 1990, Sky One started showing the American cartoon series The Simpsons. It became a very important show for the channel and aired continuously for 31 years until 2021. Sky One was the only British broadcaster for The Simpsons for a long time, until the BBC and later Channel 4 also showed it.

On March 17, 2009, Sky One showed an episode from the 20th season called "In the Name of the Grandfather" five days before it aired in the US. Over one million people watched it in the UK. Sky One also aired episodes within three days of their US premiere. In November 2012, The Simpsons was not shown on the timeshift channel because of licensing rules. Viewers were told to watch it on the main Sky One channel. By 2017, The Simpsons was available on the timeshift channel again.

After the voice actress Marcia Wallace (who voiced Edna Krabappel) passed away, Sky One showed three of her best episodes on October 28, 2013.

Star Trek Shows

Sky One got the rights to show Star Trek first on July 1, 1990. Before that, the BBC had shown it. Sky One showed all episodes of The Original Series, including some that the BBC had not shown.

The Next Generation was first shown five nights a week at 5:00 PM. Sky One also got the rights to repeat earlier seasons that had been on BBC2. The whole series was shown again, and the seventh season premiered on July 31, 1994. The very last episode aired on January 29, 1995.

Sky One also bought the rights to show other Star Trek series first:

• Deep Space Nine (August 15, 1993)
• Voyager (October 22, 1995)
• Enterprise (January 6, 2002)

These later series were shown in the same way as in the United States. Monday nights at 8:00 PM was the usual time for Star Trek. However, the fourth season of Enterprise moved to Tuesdays. This continued until the final episode aired on August 2, 2005.

Most Watched Shows

Sky One share of viewing 1992–2008. Peak was 9.5%, July 1993, current 0.9%.

Here are the ten most watched shows on Sky One, based on data up to November 30, 2020. These numbers do not include repeats:

See also

In Spanish: Sky One para niños