Creator / Sky

Believe in better.

Sky is a subscription satellite TV/cable TV network; originally pan-European until 1989, but now available legally only in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It forms the cornerstone of Sky Television (a British satellite service now known as British Sky Broadcasting) and belonged (originally wholly, later in part) to Rupert Murdoch. In 2018 Murdoch's company made a bid to reacquire the shares they'd sold off, only to be outbid by Comcast (owners of NBCUniversal), meaning Murdoch lost control of the company he largely created.

It originally launched with only four channels— Sky Channel (renamed to Sky One by July of 1989), Sky News, Sky Movies, and Eurosport (a channel backed by the EBU to show all the sporting events they had no time to air), broadcasting on the free-to-air Astra satellite platform (though Sky Movies was scrambled after the first year). It beat the government-backed BSB (British Satellite Broadcasting) to air by over a year, and in turn a "satellite war" was briefly waged between the two rivals. BSB had hoped people would wait for its promised high-quality originals and superior technical quality which included the infamous "squarial" receiving dish), but Sky's early launch proved people would be just fine with Sky's populist programming. BSB and Sky wound up heavily bleeding cash and therefore merged to survive in November 1990— this resulted in the rename to BSkyB. The healthier advertising contracts, as well as the rights to films and sport, held by BSB were picked up by Sky, which then expanded its network to five channels (BSB's Movie Channel— redesigned to fit Sky's slick CGI aesthetic— and Sky Sports, previously BSB's Sports Channel, were the survivors {Sky sold their stake in Eurosport as a result}; BSB's Galaxy and Now channels were merged into Sky One and Sky News; BSB's music/youth channel, The Power Station, was shuttered in favor of MTV Europe, and was replaced by Sky Movies for ex-BSB customers). Sky kept broadcasting over BSB's Marcopolo satellites for a little bit before abandoning the platform in favor of Astra (due to the Marcopolo system's government regulation and lack of channel expansion).

1993 saw the launch of "Sky Multichannels", which meant that all Sky channels, and not just the sports and film channels, as well as certain channels operated by outside companies, were scrambled and customers would pay subscription fees (this was to ensure only UK viewers received these programs). Over the next few years, Sky opened more channels for movies and sports, as well as various other channels and services as Astra launched more satellites. Sky Digital was launched in 1998, offering viewers interactive services and a boatload of new channels; the analogue service was shuttered by 2001. Since then, the service has grown by leaps and bounds, offering DVRs, HDTV and even internet and telephony services to customers. In 2016, they launched their "Sky Q" DVRs, which integrates Netflix and other streaming services into the guide and menu system, offers 4K resolution, a new touch remote, and boxes that double as Wi-Fi hotspots. Their most recent innovation is currently the Sky Glass, a TV that streams television channels to said TV over Wi-Fi without the need for a satellite.

They also operate a cord-cutting service known as NOW (formerly NOW TV), which can be used by non-Sky customers and offers different packs of channels, including timed passes where customers can buy channels for a limited time (ie. if there's a big event on Sky Sports so they buy it for 24 hours). Rebadged Roku devices are offered as part of the service, though you can use your own device if you want to.

Essentially Fox's UK counterpart; during the early years they shared much of the same programming and The Simpsons is still a part of Sky's lineup, while Sky News and Fox News frequently team up to cover global news, though with the split of Sky from Murdoch's other assets their relationship with Fox is slowly coming to an end, as Comcast had planned to launch a global news network in 2020 that combines the resources of Sky News and NBC News, but never came to fruition.

The network includes the channels:

• Sky Showcase (the flagship channel showing a selection of programmes from across Sky's portfolio of channels including Sky Witness, Sky Documentaries, Sky Crime, Sky Nature, Sky Arts, Sky Max, Sky Comedy, Sky History, Sky Kids, Syfy and E! - as well as selected highlights from Sky Cinema and Sky Sports)
• Sky Witness (formerly just Living, and Sky Living; airs ABC and CBS content, with a new focus on crime shows)
• Sky Atlantic (which airs HBO/Showtime/etc content, as well as British originals for some reason)
• Sky Max (which airs entertainment and drama output previously shown on Sky One)
• Sky Comedy (Shows US comedy shows both new e.g. Miracle Workers and old e.g. Parks and Recreation. Most comedy acquired from HBO or Showtime moved here from Sky Atlantic. Replaced Universal TV on January 27, 2020). From 1 September 2021, the comedy output on Sky One transferred to here.
• Sky Documentaries (shows human interest documentaries, mostly from Sky Arts)
• Sky Crime (A true crime channel. Replaced Real Lives, itself a rebranding of (Sky) LivingIt, which was Living2 before that)
• Sky History (formerly History and The History Channel. The co-branded (since 2020) UK version of The History Channel. Also has a secondary channel, Sky History2, formerly History 2, H2 and Military History)
• Sky Nature (dedicated to nature documentaries)
• Sky Arts (and from 2008-2015, Sky Arts 2) (airing shows about contemporary and classical art^note this wasn't the first Sky Arts; there was a channel planned by that name when Sky launched in 1989, but it never made it to air; after the BSB merger, the name was used for a weekend opt-out of Sky News on the BSB Marcopolo satellites that showed the arts programming BSB had contracted to air on their news/current affairs/lifestyle channel Now; when all of those programs were broadcast, it reverted to Sky News only. The current Sky Arts was previous the independent Artsworld and was purchased by Sky in 2007. From 2020 onwards, it became one of their three free-to-air entertainment networks)
• Sky Replay (formerly Sky Two, basically a catch-up service for Sky One and Sky Witness (after the relaunch as Sky Replay), showing the same shows at different times)
• Sky Mix (formerly Sky Three, later Pick TV and Pick; the second of the network's four free-to-air stations, effectively an advert for a full Sky TV package)
• Challenge (the third free-to-air station, acquired from Living TV Group (formerly Virgin Media Television). Dedicated to game shows, basically a Transatlantic Equivalent of Game Show Network)
• Sky News (the network's fourth free-to-air station, and pretty much (formerly) Murdoch's only TV news network that's impartial; started out looking cheap and cheerful, but is now considered an important part of Britain's TV news media)
• Sky Sci-Fi (reborn from the ashes of Syfy UK on July 26, 2022, shows various Speculative Fiction series and movies)
• Sky Kids (shows children's TV shows)
• Also contains two multipack networks:
  • Sky Cinema (formerly Sky Movies, split into channels based on specific genres, as well as the occasional temporary channel dedicated to a specific franchise like James Bond and Star Wars. Airs films uncut and ad-free, and requires the user to enter a customisable PIN, done so it can get around Watershed restrictions)
  • Sky Sports (contains Sky Sports News and channels dedicated to specific sports. Sky Sports News was on Freeview until 2010)

Most of Sky's channels are also carried by cable operators like Virgin. Pick, Challenge, Sky Arts and Sky News can also be seen on broadcast (Freeview). The exception is Sky Atlantic, launched as a Sky-exclusive showcase channel, though rumors have swirled about other services carrying it^note although from 2020 onwards, it has been available on BT YouView following a trade deal with Sky to allow their NOW service on BT.

Other Sky-branded TV services are available in Italy and Germany; a similar service is available via both cable and satellite in Australia called Foxtel (up until the 2013 split of Murdoch's entertainment and print assets, they also owned NDS, the people who made the encryption software; hence the services also share similar equipment and on-screen guides). Murdoch also tried a few times to enter the US market; both attempts failed.^note  His first attempt was in 1990, with his planned Sky Cable operation alongside Hughes Electronics, Cablevision Systems and NBC. The plan called for a 108-channel service with HDTV capabilities and 12-to-18 inch satellite dishes to be launched by 1993. However, due to NBC and Fox both fearing upset affiliates if they were to provide their feeds, cable providers not wanting the operation to carry cable networks, and News Corp's financial drain related to BSkyB and Murdoch's acquisition of TV Guide, the project was abandoned by early 1991. (Hughes would later launch their own service, DirecTV in 1994 (since acquired by AT&T); News Corp. from 2003 to 2006 held a 38% stake of DirecTV, several of DirecTV's foreign operations use Sky branding, and DirecTV also owns some former Fox Sports Networks stations under the branding of Root Sports.) 1996 saw the planned American Sky Broadcasting or ASkyB, a joint venture between News Corp. and MCI Communications. At one point, a merger between EchoStar- owners of Dish Network- and ASkyB was near completion (with plans calling for Dish Network to be rebranded as Sky), but the merger fell apart for various reasons, including Congressional opposition to ASkyB's planned carriage of local TV stations and EchoStar's founder Charlie Ergen repeatedly clashing with News Corp. executives. The satellites were sold to PrimeStar (which had briefly planned to merge with ASkyB, but did not due to the cable operators who owned Primestar unable to come to an agreement), who planned to use the satellites but went out of business shortly after (the assets went to DirecTV). Meanwhile, the 110-degree orbital slot and the uplink facility in Gilbert, AZ were sold to EchoStar, who would use the orbital slot to launch their new Dish 500 service.

Not to be confused with Sky One, which is the name of a submarine-launched fighter aircraft in Gerry Anderson's UFO (1970).

Series produced by Sky:

• The 4400 ^note International Coproduction with CBS
• Baddiels Syndrome
• Battlestar Galactica ^note Co-financed the first season. It even got to show most seasons before it aired in North America.
• Das Boot
• Brainiac: Science Abuse
• Breeders
• Britannia ^note Coproduced with Amazon Prime
• The British
• The Cafe
• Chernobyl ^note International Coproduction with HBO

• Curfew
• A Discovery of Witches
• Discworld made for TV movies:
  • Hogfather
  • The Colour of Magic
  • Going Postal
• The DJ Kat Show
• Dream Team
• Frayed
• Guerrilla
• HEX
• Hit & Miss
• Hitmen (2020)
• Hunderby
• An Idiot Abroad
• I Hate Suzie
• Intergalactic
• Landscapers
• The Lazarus Project
• A League Of Their Own 2010
• Mad Dogs
• Mary & George
• The Midwich Cuckoos
• Mile High
• Moone Boy
• Parents
• Penny Dreadful
• Road Wars
• Sally4Ever (co-produced with HBO)
• Spy (2011)
• Stan Lee's Lucky Man
• Starlings
• Stella (UK)
• The Strangerers
• The Third Day
• Time Gentlemen Please
• Trollied
• UK Border Force
• Yonderland
• You, Me And The Apocalypse
• A Young Doctor's Notebook
• The Young Pope
• The New Pope

As well as various US imports, either first-run or bought from other networks:

• 24
• Angel
• Arrowverse
  • Arrow
  • The Flash (2014)
  • Supergirl
  • Legends of Tomorrow
• The Blacklist
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Chucky
• The Conners (while While O.G. Roseanne was on Channel 4, no UK broadcaster has acquired the revival)
• Dark Angel
• Day of the Dead
• Deadwood
• Dilbert
• Family Guy (eventually moved to BBC and later ITV)
• Futurama
• The Last of Us (2023)
• Las Vegas
• Lie to Me
• Lost
• Malcolm in the Middle
• Manifest
• The Middle (moved to Comedy Central)
• Miracle Workers
• Modern Family
• Nip/Tuck
• Raising Hope
• Peacemaker (2022)
• The PJs
• Rescue Me
• The Rookie
• SEAL Team
• Stargate SG-1
• The Simpsons
• Silicon Valley
• Stargate Atlantis
• SurrealEstate
• The West Wing (seriously, Sky showed the first season before Channel 4)
• The White Lotus
• WWE RAW and SmackDown! (also shown on Challenge)
• The X-Files

There are also Sky Cinema Originals:

• The Amazing Maurice
• Anon (2018)
• A Christmas No. 1
• Dragon Rider
• Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile
• Final Score
• Four Kids And It
• The Hurricane Heist
• Last Train To Christmas
• Monster Family
  • Monster Family 2
• Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
• Promising Young Woman
• Riverdance: The Animated Adventure
• The Secret Garden 2020
• Serenity (2019)
• Unhinged (2020)

This is Sky Tropes. Part of the British Sky Broadcasting network.

• The Pioneer: In 1989, People who already had a satilite were given a free 6 months of Sky.

Sky has also become famous to fans of game shows The Price Is Right and Sale of the Century for airing low-budget versions in 1989 that, despite being short-lived, nonetheless have their fans.

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