Sky UK Limited, trading as Sky is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Sky Group and, from 2018 onwards, part of Comcast. It is the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster, with 12.7 million customers as of the end of 2019 for its digital satellite TV platform. Sky's flagship products are Sky Q and the internet-based Sky Glass, and its flagship channels are Sky Showcase, Sky Max, and Sky Atlantic.
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group. In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on demand content are available through these as well as via Now, EE TV and TalkTalk TV.
NXE Australia Pty Limited, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was established as a 50/50 joint venture between News Corporation and Telstra, with News Corp and Telstra holding 65% and 35% ownership shares respectively.
Eurosport is a French group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, and streams on Max and Discovery+, which superseded Eurosport Player.
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24.
ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports including Football, Rugby, Snooker, Cycling, Darts and Horse Racing, cult classic films such as James Bond, US dramas and classic ITV action series of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
BBC iPlayer is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services delivered to UK-based viewers feature no commercial advertising. The terms BBC iPlayer, iPlayer, and BBC Media Player refer to various methods of viewing or listening to the same content. To use the service, a valid TV Licence is required by law.
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.
Sky+ HD was the brand name of the HDTV service launched by Sky plc on 22 May 2006 in the United Kingdom and Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky to be viewed. For the first two years after launch, the service was branded Sky HD. The service requires the user to have a Sky+ HD Digibox and an HD ready TV. A subscription to the original HD pack carries an extra fee of £10.25 a month in addition to the standard Sky subscription, allowing customers to view HD channels corresponding to the channel packs subscribed to. Additional Pay-Per-View events on Sky Box Office HD are not available to customers unless they subscribe to the Sky HD pack.
BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast only during the afternoon and evening and only broadcast material shot in high definition, either in a simulcast with another channel or by inserting a repeat of an HD programme.
ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition. ITV1 HD is available to view in England, Wales, Scottish Borders and the Channel Islands on Freesat via channel 103, Freeview channel 103, Sky channel 103, Virgin Media channel 103 and in Switzerland on SwisscomTV.
EE TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by EE; a brand of British telecommunications company BT Group. It requires the signing up to and use of the EE Broadband internet and phone service, with connection via EE's official router, the EE Smart Hub.
Virgin TV is a digital pay cable television service in the United Kingdom, owned by Liberty Global (50%) and Telefónica (50%) after the merger its UK businesses to form Virgin Media O2. Its origins date from NTL and Telewest, formerly two of the UK's largest cable operators, which merged on 6 March 2006. All NTL:Telewest services were rebranded as Virgin Media in February 2007. Since the acquisition of Smallworld Cable in 2014, Virgin is the sole national cable TV provider in Great Britain. Currently about 51% of UK households have access to Virgin's network, which is independent from BT's Openreach network.
On Demand was the brand name of a range of video on demand services from Sky UK designed to compete with rival companies such as Virgin TV or EE TV as well as internet television services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in late 2005 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.
3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an active shutter 3D system or a polarized 3D system, and some are autostereoscopic without the need of glasses. As of 2017, most 3D TV sets and services are no longer available from manufacturers.
Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO programming until 2025. It also broadcasts many original British produced Sky dramas. It is exclusively available on the Sky satellite TV platform and Sky's Now TV platform. Unlike the other channels from Sky Group, Sky Atlantic is not on Virgin Media. On 15 January 2024, select programming begun being simulcast on Sky Showcase.
World Heritage Channel is a documentary channel available in Asia. World Heritage Channel is operated by Warner Bros. Discovery International. It first launched in Philippines through ACCION on April 20, 2015.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.
Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living.
