Timeline of Sky Group facts for kids

Welcome to the exciting history of Sky Television! This timeline will take you through the key moments of how Sky became one of the biggest TV companies in the UK, from its early days of broadcasting across Europe to the launch of its latest technologies. Get ready to explore how satellite TV changed the way we watch shows, movies, and sports!

The Early Years: 1970s and 1980s

• 1977
  • 21 October – A big meeting called the World Administrative Radio Conference decided that each country could have five strong satellite TV channels for their own use. This was a big step for TV broadcasting!

• 1980
  • People started planning for a TV station that would broadcast across all of Europe. In November, a company called Satellite Television Ltd. (SATV) was created to make this happen.

• 1981
  • 21 October – SATV began testing its broadcasts using a special satellite. They showed one hour of fun English shows each night. Because the satellite wasn't super strong, the shows had to go to big cable systems first, not directly to homes.

• 1982
  • February – The BBC was given two of the new satellite TV channels.
  • 26 April – The channel called Satellite Television officially launched across Europe. It was sometimes called Super Station Europe. At first, it was only available in a few countries like Norway, Finland, Malta, Switzerland, and West Germany.

• 1983
  • 27 June – A company called News International bought most of Satellite Television.
  • 16 October – Satellite Television started broadcasting in the United Kingdom.
  • Autumn – The government decided to give the last three satellite channels to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). This was to let private companies compete with the BBC. Soon, the BBC and other companies like Granada and Virgin teamed up to share the costs of launching new satellite channels.

• 1984
  • 16 January – Satellite Television changed its name to Sky Channel.
  • 25 June – The group planning to launch satellite TV in the UK announced that their launch would be delayed until 1989.

• 1985
  • 15 June – The group planning the UK satellite TV service broke apart because it was too expensive.

• 1986
  • 2 April – The IBA asked private companies to bid for the chance to run a commercial TV service on three of the UK's satellite channels.
  • 11 December – The IBA announced that BSB won the fifteen-year contract to run the satellite TV service.

• 1988
  • 8 June – Rupert Murdoch, who wanted to be part of BSB, announced his own plan. He would launch a four-channel service using a new satellite called Astra.
  • 11 December – The Astra 1A satellite, which Sky Television would use, was successfully launched into space.

• 1989
  • 5 February – Sky Television officially launched at 6:00 PM. It had four channels: Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies, and Eurosport.
  • 3 June – Sky Television and The Walt Disney Company made a deal to broadcast Disney movies for five years.
  • June – BSB was given the last two satellite channels, meaning they would launch with five channels.
  • 31 July – Sky Channel became a service only for the UK and Ireland and was renamed Sky One.

The 1990s: Mergers and New Channels

• 1990
  • 5 February – Sky Movies became a paid channel, meaning you had to subscribe to watch it.
  • 11 February – Sky Movies showed its first special event: a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas.
  • 25 March – BSB launched its channels, including Galaxy, Now, and The Movie Channel.
  • 2 September – Sky One started showing the popular American cartoon The Simpsons.
  • 2 November – Sky TV and BSB joined forces to create a new company called BSkyB.
  • 2 December – Some BSB channels closed, and Sky One and Sky News took their place on the satellite.

• 1991
  • 8 April – The Power Station channel closed, and Sky Movies launched in its place on the Marcopolo satellite.
  • 15 April – The Movie Channel launched, showing the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
  • 20 April – Sky Sports launched, replacing BSB's Sports Channel.
  • 6 May –
    • Eurosport briefly closed due to a complaint, but reopened later in May with a new owner.
    • Sky Movies and The Movie Channel started broadcasting 24 hours a day.
  • 1 October – The Comedy Channel launched.

• 1992
  • 18 May – Sky bought the rights to show live matches from the new Premier League football for a huge £304 million.
  • 15 August – Sky Sports launched Sports Saturday, a show with different sports and football results.
  • 16 August – To celebrate its Premier League coverage, Sky Sports launched Super Sunday, a long football show.
  • 1 September –
    • Sky Sports became a subscription channel.
    • Sky Movies stopped showing non-movie content like boxing.
  • 1 October – The Comedy Channel closed. In its place, Sky Movies Gold launched, showing classic films.

• 1993
  • 1 September – Sky Multichannels launched, offering many more channels.

• 1994
  • 19 August – Sky Sports 2 launched, initially only on weekends.
  • 3 October – Sky Soap and Sky Travel launched as part-time channels during the week.

• 1996
  • 16 March – A boxing match between Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson became the UK's first pay-per-view event, meaning you paid to watch just that one show.
  • 16 August –
    • Sky Sports 3 launched.
    • Sky Sports was renamed Sky Sports 1.
  • 1 September – Sky 2 and The Computer Channel launched.
  • 1 October – Granada Sky Broadcasting launched new channels like Granada Plus.

• 1997
  • 25 June – Sky had to pull out of a deal to operate digital TV channels due to competition rules.
  • 31 August – Granada Talk TV and Sky 2 stopped broadcasting.
  • 1 September – Sky Sports 2 became a full-time channel.
  • 1 November – Sky Movies and The Movie Channel were rebranded as Sky Movies Screen 1 and Sky Movies Screen 2.
  • 1 December – Sky Box Office launched, offering movies almost on demand.

• 1998
  • 15 August – Soccer Saturday launched, replacing Sports Saturday as a show for football scores and results.
  • 10 September – Sky Movies channels were renamed again: Sky MovieMax, Sky Premier, and Sky Cinema.
  • 1 October – Sky Digital launched, bringing many more channels. Sky Sports News also launched, along with more Sky Movies and Sky Movies Box Office channels.
  • 15 November – A rival digital TV service called ONdigital launched, and it also included some Sky channels like Sky One and Sky Sports.

• 1999
  • April – Sky Sports launched its interactive service, Sky Sports Active, allowing viewers to do more than just watch.
  • 30 April – Sky Soap closed.
  • June – Sky News launched Sky News Radio.
  • 22 August – Sky Sports Xtra launched, mainly for interactive services.

The 2000s: Digital Age and HD

• 2000
  • March – Sky News Active launched.
  • 10 April – Sky Sports News was briefly renamed Sky Sports.com TV.

• 2001
  • The first Sky+ boxes went on sale, allowing people to record TV shows.
  • 1 July – The channel went back to its original name, Sky Sports News.
  • 27 September – Sky stopped broadcasting TV using old analogue signals. The last channel to switch off was Sky One.
  • 1 October – Sky launched Sky Active, an interactive service.

• 2002
  • 7 January – For the first time in ten years, Sky News content was shown on regular TV when Channel 5 started showing parts of its breakfast news program.
  • 1 March – F1 Digital+ launched, offering special multi-screen coverage of Formula One races.
  • 1 July – Sky Movies channels were rebranded again: Sky Movies Premier, Sky Movies Max, and Sky Movies Cinema.
  • 30 October – Freeview launched, and Sky contributed three channels: Sky News, Sky Sports News, and Sky Travel.
  • 12 December – After just one season, F1 Digital+ closed.

• 2003
  • February – Sky Travel Shop became a full-time channel for selling travel deals.
  • 17 April – Sky launched three music channels: The Amp, Scuzz, and Flaunt.
  • 1 November – Sky Movies channels were simplified to Sky Movies 1 through 9, and Sky Cinema 1 and 2.

• 2004
  • 24 May – Sky News launched Sky News Ireland, a news bulletin for viewers in Ireland.
  • August – Football First launched, letting viewers choose which football game they wanted to watch.

• 2005
  • 1 January – Sky News took over providing news for Channel 5.
  • 31 October – Sky One Mix was renamed Sky Two, and Sky Three launched on Freeview, replacing Sky Travel.

• 2006
  • January – Sky launched its online TV service, Sky By Broadband, later renamed Sky Anytime on PC.
  • 30 January – A tenth Sky Movies channel launched, and Sky Movies started broadcasting two HD channels.
  • 22 May –
    • Sky Sports became the only place to watch live cricket matches in the UK.
    • Sky launched its high-definition (HD) service with Sky One HD and Sky Sports 1 HD.
  • July – Sky Sports 2HD launched.
  • December – Sky sold its three music channels.

• 2007
  • 1 March –
    • Sky's basic channels stopped broadcasting on Virgin Media because the companies couldn't agree on a new deal.
    • Sky Arts launched, replacing Artsworld.
  • 27 March – Sky launched its on-demand service, Sky Anytime, allowing viewers to watch shows whenever they wanted.
  • 4 April – Sky Movies was updated, with each channel focusing on a specific type of movie (like comedy or action).
  • 7 November – Sky Real Lives launched. Sky Travel became a holiday shopping channel.

• 2008
  • 17 March – Sky Sports 3HD launched.
  • 16 May – Sky Anytime on PC was renamed Sky Player and included live broadcasts of Sky News and Sky Sports.
  • 31 August – Sky One, Sky Two, and Sky Three were renamed Sky1, Sky2, and Sky3.
  • October – More HD versions of Sky Movies channels launched.
  • 13 November – The Sky basic channels returned to Virgin Media.

• 2009
  • 26 October – Sky Movies Indie HD launched.

The 2010s: New Services and Rebrands

• 2010
  • 6 January – Sky Sports Xtra was renamed Sky Sports 4.
  • 3 April – Sky 3D launched, but at first, it was only available in places like pubs and clubs.
  • 6 May – Sky News HD launched.
  • June – Sky TV removed Music Choice, a service that had been available since 1998.
  • 24 June – Sky Travel closed because more people were booking holidays online.
  • 13 July – British Sky Broadcasting bought Virgin Media Television, adding channels like Channel One and Living to its collection.
  • 19 August – Sky Real Lives closed, and some of its factual shows moved to Sky 2.
  • 23 August – Sky Sports News stopped broadcasting on Freeview, and an HD version of the channel launched.
  • 1 October – Sky 3D became available to homes for the first time.

• 2011
  • 1 January – Sky closed four channels it had bought from Virgin Media Television.
  • 1 February –
    • Sky Atlantic launched, bringing new shows to Sky.
    • Channel One closed, and its spot on Freeview went to Challenge.
    • Living was renamed Sky Living.
  • 28 February – Sky 3 was rebranded as Pick TV.
  • 6 July – Sky Anytime and Sky Mobile were combined and renamed Sky Go, allowing people to watch live channels on their devices.
  • 12 October – The last edition of Sky Magazine was published.

• 2012
  • 9 March – Sky Sports F1 launched, dedicated to Formula 1 racing.
  • 17 July – Sky launched Now TV. This service lets people watch Sky TV without a long contract or a satellite dish, starting with movies.

• 2013
  • 28 March – Sky Movies Disney launched, replacing Disney Cinemagic.
  • 30 June – Sky Sports launched its first temporary channel, Sky Sports Ashes, for cricket coverage. Sky now often creates temporary channels for big sports or movie events.
  • 7 October – Pick TV was rebranded as Pick.

• 2014
  • 12 August –
    • Sky Sports 5 launched, mainly for European football.
    • Sky Sports News was rebranded Sky Sports News HQ.
  • September – Sky Sports News Radio closed.
  • 13 October – After buying other Sky companies in Europe, British Sky Broadcasting Group plc changed its name to Sky plc. The UK part of the company also changed its name to Sky UK Limited.

• 2015
  • 31 January – Sky Active closed.
  • 9 June –
    • The two Sky Arts channels merged into one.
    • Sky 3D stopped being a regular channel, with 3D shows moving to on-demand services.
    • Sky Livingit was rebranded as Real Lives.

• 2016
  • 9 February – Sky launched its newest TV box, Sky Q. Later in the year, Sky stopped selling its older Sky+ box to new customers.
  • 8 July – Sky Movies was rebranded as Sky Cinema.
  • 13 August – Sky Sports showed its first event in UHD (super high definition).
  • 24 August – Sky Sports Mix launched, available to all Sky customers, offering a taste of Sky Sports.

• 2017
  • 4 January – Sky Cinema Box Office closed.
  • 18 July – Sky Sports was updated, with numbered channels replaced by channels for specific sports like football, cricket, and golf. New channels called Action and Arena were launched, and Sky Sports Main Event showed the top events of the day. Sky Sports News also dropped the HQ label.

• 2018
  • 23 January – A bid by Fox to take full control of Sky was temporarily blocked due to concerns about competition.
  • 27 February – US cable company Comcast made a higher bid for Sky, challenging Fox's offer.
  • 6 August – Sky Living was rebranded as 'Sky Witness', ending the 'Living' brand after 25 years.
  • 26 September – Fox announced it would sell its share in Sky UK to Comcast, ending Rupert Murdoch's long connection with Sky.

• 2019
  • 1 January – Sky Sports Racing launched, replacing At The Races.
  • 1 October – Sky Crime launched, replacing Real Lives.

The 2020s: Streaming and New Horizons

• 2020
  • 27 January – Sky Comedy launched, replacing Universal TV.
  • 27 May –
    • Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature launched, offering new types of shows.
    • History and History 2 were rebranded as Sky History and Sky History 2.
  • 23 July – Sky Cinema Animation launched, showing animated movies.
  • 27 August – Sky Replay replaced Sky Two.
  • 17 September – Sky Arts launched on Freeview and Freesat, becoming a free channel for everyone.

• 2021
  • 16 March – NOW TV was rebranded as NOW.
  • 1 September –
    • Sky One closed after more than 30 years. Its entertainment and drama shows moved to a new channel called Sky Max, and comedy shows moved to Sky Comedy.
    • Sky Showcase launched, showing a selection of programs from across Sky's channels.
  • 18 October – Sky released Sky Glass, a TV with Sky built-in, so you didn't need a separate box or satellite dish.

• 2022
  • 31 March – Sky stopped broadcasting some Sky Cinema channels in standard definition, focusing on HD.
  • 26 July – Syfy rebranded as Sky Sci-Fi.
  • 18 October – Sky launched its new streaming box, Sky Stream, offering another way to get Sky without a satellite dish.
  • 31 October – Sky sold its share in Nickelodeon UK Ltd. This allowed Sky to plan its own children's channel.

• 2023
  • 13 February – Sky Kids launched, a new channel aimed at children aged 1–7, with no advertisements.

See also

• Timeline of Sky Cinema
• Timeline of Sky News
• Timeline of Sky One
• Timeline of Sky Sports