Sky Television (1984–1990)

"Sky Television plc" redirects here. This article covers the incarnation of the British broadcaster that existed between 1984 and 1990. For its present-day successors and other broadcasters of a similar name, seeSky Television (disambiguation)

Sky Television

Company type	Public limited company
Industry	Media
Founded	16 January 1984
Defunct	2 November 1990
Successor	British Sky Broadcasting
Headquarters	London,England
Key people	Brian Haynes Rupert Murdoch Andrew Neil
Products	Pay TV services and programming
Parent	News International (News Corporation)

Sky Television plcwas apublic limited companywhich operated a nine-channel satellite television service, launched byRupert Murdoch'sNews Internationalon 5 February 1989. Sky Television and its rivalBritish Satellite Broadcastingsuffered large financial losses, and merged on 2 November 1990 to formBritish Sky Broadcasting.A programming merger took effect on 1 December 1990.

History

Development

Sky Television plcwas originallySatellite Television Limited,a consortium set up by Brian Haynes in November 1980, backed byGuinness MahonandBarclays Merchant Bank.Haynes was a formerThames Televisionjournalist; he had produced a documentary titled "What's on the Satellite Tonight?" forTV Eyeon 15 March 1979, which looked atTed Turnerand his satellite broadcasting operations in the United States from 1970 through theTurner Broadcasting System,an Americanmedia conglomerate(nowWarner Bros. Discovery), and also at with how many European countries were developing the technology.Haynes soon realised that satellites could be the basis of a new kind of television broadcasting. He initially sought cooperation from Thames Television, theIndependent Broadcasting Authorityand an industry group, but their refusal resulted in him setting up SATV alone.

On 21 October 1981, SATV began test transmissions on theOrbital Test Satelliteafter theEuropean Space Agencyallowed the company to test the satellite for the use of commercial television, with an hour oflight entertainmentin English every night. At firstMaltawas its official target, but it had a widepan-Europeanfootprint.Broadcasts from the low-powered satellite were mostly only available to cable systems, for individual satellite dishes were too large and too costly for most consumers.

In the late 1960s, planning began for an experimental satellite which to broadcast TV in Europe. The Orbital Test Satellite was launched using theDelta rocket(then manufactured byMcDonnell Douglas,thenBoeing,now theUnited Launch Alliance) on 12 May 1978 and allowed the testing required for Europe's first commercial venture in telecommunications and television. Between 1978 and 1981, OTS proved thatKu-Bandtechnology could be used in Europe. Following the completion of its test programme, excess transponder capacity was leased to SATV.While governments in Britain and other European countries wrestled with the allocation of their channels, Satellite Television played a pioneering role, providing Europe's first satellite-delivered cable television service.

Satellite Television (Super Station Europe)

Satellite Television (also known asSuper Station Europeon screen) began regular transmissions on 26 April 1982,becoming Europe's first-ever cable and satellite channel, originally broadcasting from OTS and aimed at cable operators all over Europe. Norway and Finland were the first two countries to permit the new service's transmission via cable, followed by Malta and Switzerland, and then West Germany.Originally it did not have a UK broadcasting licence, and consequently was in a similar legal situation to thepirate radio stationsof the 1960s and 1970s; however, reception of the channel required a satellite dish approximately 10 feet (3 metres) wide, and it was believed that there were fewer than 50 privately owned installations.

The new channel broadcast many programmes from the archives ofITVcompanies such asLWTandYorkshire Television;these includedPlease Sir!,Dickens of London,The Rag Trade,Within These Walls,Bouquet of Barbed WireandHadleigh.The channel gradually added some programmes it produced itself, such as the music showCable Countdownhosted byBBC Radio 1DJMike Read.Initially, the channel's own programming and continuity was played out from the Molinare studios atFouberts Placein theWest End of London.

Starting on 10 March 1983, the channel hoped to start broadcasting to the United Kingdom, aiming to prove the service could reach sufficient viewers to be profitable.However, the station struggled financially because of a limited audience, mainly due to the weak signal from OTS that made direct-to-home reception of the service extremely difficult. The channel had to rely on cable audiences, and was restricted to countries where receiving the channel via cable was legal. Transmission costs were also high. That same year, on 25 March,Rupert Murdochhad shown interest in the project and held talks with SATV's owners about buying a substantial stake in the company.

On 27 June 1983, the shareholders of Satellite Television agreed a £5 million offer to giveNews International65% of the company.Murdoch described cable and satellite television as being "the most important single advance sinceCaxtoninvented theprinting press"and saw it as a way to fulfil his long-held ambition of breaking into the British television industry. Eventually, Murdoch bought the remaining shares of the company, taking full control.

On 5 August 1983, Murdoch outlined plans which saw broadcasting hours extended to 5.50 pm to 10.30 pm daily with a mix of music, sport, news, comedy and films. Plans were also made to start broadcasting from the new European communications satelliteECS-1and additional cable operators, allowing it to increase its audience across Europe and gain access to British viewers.By 16 October of that year, the station unofficially started broadcasting to the United Kingdom, to anyone that had Satellite dish

Sky Channel

On 16 January 1984, Satellite Television Limited was renamedSky Channel,as Rupert Murdoch and Jardin Owens put in new management. Swindon was the first area in the UK to start receiving the channel via its Cable operations before expended to many othersBroadcast hours were extended by April and various English-language sports and entertainment shows were added to the schedule.These included new music programmes withGary Davies,Linda de Mol,Pat Sharp,David "Kid" JensenandAnthea Turner,such asEuro Top 40,andUK Top 50 Chart.The new management also sought to increase the number of cable households throughout Europe able to see the channel. Shortly after the relaunch,Swindon Cablebecame the first cable system in the United Kingdom to add the channel to its service on a permanent basis. In theRepublic of Ireland,Sky Channel was added to cable systems from 1987 onwards.

Despite the programming changes resulting in increased viewership across Europe (from 291,470 in December 1983 to 4,003,000 in June 1985, before reaching 9,001,905 by April 1987), Sky Channel was still considered underperforming, generating under $20 million per year in advertising revenue. By the mid-1980s, Murdoch was looking to use newly emerging direct satellite broadcasting technology, and to focus primarily on the British market. Rather than paying for the rights to beam Sky's single-channel signal to cable providers, which in turn supplied the channel's programming to subscribers, direct satellite broadcasts meant multichannel programming could be provided directly to subscribers' homes via small satellite dish and decoder. In 1984, Sky began negotiations withTDFof France, with a view to using the company's planned high-powered satellites for direct-to-home broadcasting. However, nothing came of the negotiations.

In Britain (where cable television had not yet developed as much as in Central and Northern Europe), market research gave Sky a 13% audience share in cable homes, surpassing bothBBC2andChannel 4.Its children's programming (then the channel's most successful segment) had a share of 22.4%, similar to the figures forCBBCandCITV.A few of Sky's programmes, mainlyWorld Wrestling Federation,managed to surpass bothBBC1andITVamong cable audiences. For all of its early life, the channel was a loss-making enterprise, losing £10 million in 1987. However, Murdoch had the financial resources to sustain the operation. The other main English-language pan-European cable and satellite television channel at the time,Super Channel,launched on 30 January 1987 by variousITV companies,was also loss-making.

Launch of Sky Television Network

Murdoch bid for an IBA satellite broadcasting license on 11 December 1986, but lost out toBritish Satellite Broadcasting,which announced plans to begin broadcasting in mid-1989 with three channels on satellite frequencies allotted to the United Kingdom by international agreement. Murdoch attempted to join the BSB consortium, but was rejected, spurring him to set up his own satellite service.

On 8 June 1988, Murdoch announced plans to expand Sky's service to four channels, creating theSky Television Network,and that he planned to distribute the service throughout the United Kingdom by early 1989. Sky Channel and the other three channels would move to the pan-EuropeanAstrasatellite system (leasing four transponders onSociété Européenne des Satellites'RCA Astro-built satellite,Astra 1A,intended for direct-to-home reception), and the new network would concentrate on the United Kingdom.

By renting space on the Luxembourg-based Astra satellites, Murdoch circumvented British ownership laws. Using existingPALbroadcast technology, Sky Television began broadcasting four channels on 5 February 1989:

• An upgraded version of the original Sky Channel, renamedSky Onelater on 31 July 1989
• Eurosport,a joint-venture between theEuropean Broadcasting Unionand News International
• Sky Movies,a film channel which became a subscription service on 5 February 1990
• Sky News,a 24-hour news and current affairs channel

Start-up costs reached £122 million; losses for its first year of operations were £95 million. Initially, Sky Channel's programming remained much the same (children's programmes, soaps and American action series), except for a number of new game shows and a few travel documentaries. One new programme wasSky by Day,a variation on ITV's more popularThis Morning,hosted by ex-BBC Radio 1DJTony Blackburn(who had moved to commercial radio by then) and ex-MagpiepresenterJenny Hanley.The show's mix of entertainment, gossip and fashion was noticeably low-budget and had low viewership. Prime-time broadcasts to European cable operators of Sky Channel were replaced by Eurosport, which was the only one of Sky's new channels officially aimed at a pan-European audience.

On 16 May 1989, Sky began giving away set-top boxes and dishes in a bid to increase customer numbers. Its joint venture withDisneycollapsed at around the same time. Discussions about the venture had been taking place since November 1988, but Disney felt the 50:50 was no longer equal. Disney was supposed to start two channels, but when talks broke down, Sky initiated a lawsuit against Disney, claiming £1.5 billion in damages.The suit was later settled with Disney selling its stake to Sky, and agreeing to license its movie library for a five-year period on 3 June of that year.

Competition and merger

Murdoch's failure to win an IBA UK satellite television license was the impetus for Sky's relaunch. The new multichannel environment led to a ruinous battle for customers. Sky had the advantage of launching first, and leasing transponder space meant it was in the stronger position when Sky and BSB merged. By contrast, BSB was only licensed to broadcast five channels, had to pay for the construction and launch of its own satellites, and used more ambitious and expensive technology. Also it had higher capital expenditure overall, such as the construction of itsMarco Polo Househeadquarters in London compared to Sky's industrial estate accommodation inIsleworth.

By 2 November 1990, Sky and BSB were struggling under the weight of massive losses and the companies merged, with Sky taking management control. The new company was calledBritish Sky Broadcasting(marketed as "Sky" ), its name composed from the three letters of BSB and the remainder from Sky. Marco Polo House was sold, BSB's channels largely scrapped in favour of Sky's, and theMarcopolo satelliteswere eventually sold, leaving thesquarialobsolete. (Marcopolo 1 on 21 December 1993 toNSABof Sweden and Marcopolo 2 on 1 July 1992 toTelenorof Norway).

Financial turnaround

BSkyB made heavy losses in its early years. To turn around the company's finances, New Zealand television executiveSam Chisholmwas brought on board to manage the day-to-day operations and build the subscriber base, and the company moved into profit.

Timeline

1980s

• 1980
  • November – Satellite Television Limited is set up by Brian Haynes, backed byGuinness MahonandBarclays Merchant Bank.
• 1981
  • 21 October – SATV begins test transmissions on theOrbital Test Satelliteafter theEuropean Space Agencyallowed it to be used for commercial television, and broadcast to cable systems rather than directly to individual dishes.
• 1982
  • 26 April –Satellite Television(SATV) launches as a pan-European network, whether the channel often referred on-screen asSuper Station Europeis initially only available inNorwayandFinlandto permit the new service's transmission via cable followed byMalta,SwitzerlandandWest Germany.
• 1983
  • 27 June –Rupert Murdoch'sNews Internationaltakes control of Satellite Television UK.
  • 16 October – SATV begins broadcasting in theUnited Kingdomand most of Western Europe via Satellite
• 1984
  • 16 January – Satellite Television Limited is renamedSky Channel,also beging broadcast on Swindon Cable company in the UK. New original programmes are commissioned although mainly consist of various music and children's shows were included.
• 1986
  • 2 April –Granada,Anglia,Pearson,VirginandAmstradto formBritish Satellite Broadcastingand winIndependent Broadcasting AuthorityUK satellite television franchise.
  • 11 December – BSB awarded licence from the IBA and complete over £200 million funding with additional shareholdersReed Elsevier,Chargeurs,London Merchant Securitiesand others.
• 1988
  • 8 June – Having failed to become part of the BSB consortium, Murdoch announces his intention to relaunch Sky Channel asSky Television Networkon theAstra satellitesystem.
  • 11 December – The satellite on which Sky Television was to broadcast,Astra 1Ais successfully launched by communications companySES.
• 1989
  • 5 February – The four-channel Sky Television package launches at 6.00pm.
  • 3 June – Sky Television agrees withThe Walt Disney Companyto broadcast movies for a five-year period, this agreement comes a few weeks after plans to create afull-time servicewere scrapped, although a Disney-branded version eventually launched on 1 October 1995.
  • 31 July – Sky Channel becomes a United Kingdom andIreland-only service and is renamedSky Onealthough for a short time after the relaunch, some of Sky Channel's former pan-European programming is broadcast in the hours beforeEurosport's broadcasts, and the programme block is brandedSky Europe.

1990s

• 1990
  • 5 February –Sky Moviesis fully encrypted, becoming Sky's first pay channel.
  • 11 February – Sky Movies broadcasts its first special event – a bo xing match betweenMike Tyson and Buster Douglas.
  • 25–29 March – BSB launches oncable television,consisting of five channels:Galaxy,Now,The Movie Channel,The Sports ChannelandThe Power Station.BSB planned to launch in September 1989 but problems with the supply of receiving equipment led to six-month delay.
  • 29 April – BSB launches its satellite television service on theMarcopolosystem.
  • 2 November – As both companies have been suffering heavy losses, they merge, formingBritish Sky Broadcasting.The new company announces that BSB customers will receive Sky equipment (for Astra system) free of charge, and the Marcopolo satellite transmissions will cease.
  • 2 December – Galaxy and Now are closed and are replaced on the Marcopolo satellite by Sky One andSky Newsalthough arts programmes are shown for a short time as a weekend opt-out service.
• 1991
  • 6 May – Eurosport briefly closes afterScreensportfiled a complaint to theEuropean Commissionover its corporate structure.TF1 Groupsubsequently steps in to replace BSkyB as joint owners when the service resumed on 22 May.
• 1992
  • 1 July – BSB satellite Marcopolo 2 sold toTelenorof Norway.
  • 31 December – Sky stops broadcasting via the Marcopolo satellite.
• 1993
  • 21 December – BSB satellite Marcopolo 1 sold toNSABofSweden.

Sources

Further reading

• "From Satellite to Single Market": New Communication Technology and European. Author: Richard Collins Publication Date: 24 Sep 1998 |ISBN041517970X|ISBN978-0415179706
• "High Above: The untold story of Astra, Europe's leading satellite company" Author: Chris ForresterISBN978-3642120084
• "Satellite television in Western Europe" Volume 1 of Acamedia research monographs, Author: Richard CollinsISBN0861963881,9780861963881