1.2 1998 launch
1.3 HD

2 Digibox
3 EPG
4 Transmission
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

The present service can trace its heritage back to 1990 when BSkyB's predecessors Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broadcasting encrypted their respective film channels – Sky Movies and The Movie Channel which required viewers to get decoding equipment and a subscription to watch the channels. After the two companies merged, subscribers could get access to both channels, and later the sports channel Sky Sports also became encrypted.

In September 1993, BSkyB launched Sky Multichannels which was the present digital platform's analogue predecessor. Sky Multichannels was a subscription package that gave access not only to Sky's own channels but also those of third party broadcasters.

1998 launch[edit]

Sky's digital service was officially launched on 1 October 1998 under the name Sky Digital, although small-scale tests were carried out before then. At this time the use of the Sky Digital brand made an important distinction between the new service and Sky's analogue services. Key selling points were the improvement in picture and sound quality, increased number of channels and an interactive service branded Open.... now called Sky Active, Sky competed with the ONdigital (later ITV Digital) terrestrial offering and cable services.

The new service used the Astra 2A satellite which was located at the 28.5°E orbital position, unlike the analogue service which was broadcast which was broadcast from 19.2°E. The old position was shared with broadcasters from several European countries, while the new position at 28.5°E came to be used almost exclusively for channels that broadcast to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In addition to most channels from the Sky Multichannels package, Sky Digital launched with several new channels that were exclusive to the digital offer.

The switchover from analogue to digital proceeded relatively quickly. In Q3 1998, there were 6 million 'multichannel' TV homes in the UK (i.e. homes that watch television other than the traditional analogue terrestrial), and over half of these homes watched television using Sky's analogue service. Sky's digital service surpassed the analogue service in terms of subscribers in late 1999.[3] BSkyB's analogue service ended in October 2001, and the digital service would eventually be marketed as just 'Sky'.

New Astra satellites joined the position in 2000 and 2001, and the number of channels available to customers increased accordingly. This trend continued with the launch of Eurobird 1 (now Eutelsat 28A) in 2001.

HD[edit]

Main article: Sky+ HD

Sky launched its HDTV service, Sky+ HD, on 22 May 2006. Prior to its launch, Sky claimed that 40,000 people had registered to receive the HD service. In the week before the launch, rumours started to surface that Sky was having supply issues with its set top box (STB) from manufacturer Thomson. On Thursday 18 May 2006, and continuing through the weekend before launch, people were reporting that Sky had either cancelled or rescheduled its installation. Finally, the BBC reported that 17,000 customers had yet to receive the service due to failed deliveries.[4]

In early 2012, Sky released an update to its Sky Anytime service. This update offers customers the chance to buy and rent films from the Sky Store. In June 2012, Sky launched a new EPG for Sky+ HD boxes. The update included a new modernised look and improved functionality. As of 1 October 2012, Sky Anytime was rebranded as Sky On Demand which included ITV player and 5 Demand. BBC iPlayer followed in late Autumn with 4oD, launched in early 2013.[5]

Digibox[edit]

Originally Sky launched with a set top box known as the Sky digibox, however, in more recent years the Sky+ and Sky+ HD boxes have launched alongside the original box. Sky+ is a digital video recorder with an internal hard drive which allows viewers to 'pause live television' (by switching from a live feed to a paused real-time recording that can be restarted at any point) and schedule programs to record in the future.

Sky launched HDTV services in May 2006. The first photos of a prototype Sky HD receiver began appearing in magazines in August 2005. All Sky+ HD receivers incorporate a version of Sky+ using either a 300GB or 500GB hard drive (of which 160GB or 250GB is available to the user) to accommodate the necessary extra data.