Satellite television is broadcast across the globe and is widely used throughout the United Kingdom. Millions of households now subscribe and a broad spectrum of entertainment is provided via hundreds and hundreds of different channels, from fact based programmes to the latest movie blockbusters.
Sky television is provided by BSkyB, the largest digital television provider in Great Britain. Sky television started out in 1989 when a 'Direct to Home' satellite television service was broadcast via the Astra satellite.
One year later Sky and rival broadcaster BSB agreed to merge and BSkyB was then formed. It was also in 1990 that Sky was able to use encryption technology to launch the first subscription service, Sky Movies.
In 1991 Sky Sports showcased its first channel and the next year another victory occurred for sports fans when Sky signed a £304 million deal which secured exclusive live coverage of the new FA Premier League.
1993 seen Sky launch the first multi-channel package which offered fourteen basic subscription channels for viewers to choose from.
Five years after Sky was founded, 17% of the organisation was floated on the British and American stock exchanges, helping to further develop the business.
Less than ten years after initial start-up, in 1998, Sky Digital was launched, offering the United Kingdom's first digital television service and boasting more than 140 channels.
1999 was another good year for sports enthusiasts as Sky Sports broadcast the world's first interactive football coverage, during an Arsenal vs Manchester United match. Viewers were given the ability to choose certain features, such as which camera they viewed during the game. The concept proved popular and Sky used the new interactive service, known as Sky Sports Active, for other sports and offering other options like access to various statistics and match highlights.
The interactive developments continued into 2000 when the world's first interactive television news service, Sky News, was instigated.
In 2001 another new service, Sky Plus, was launched. This put customers in control of how they watched television as they could record, pause and instantly rewind live programmes. Sky Plus, or Sky+, can perform these functions thanks to an internal hard drive inside the set top box.
More technological developments came about in 2005 when Sky News and Sky Sports News were streamed live to mobile phones as part of the new Sky Mobile TV service.
In 2006 Sky enabled movies, sport and entertainment to be downloaded to personal computers, giving users more viewing flexibility. Sky Broadband was also launched during this year as well as Sky+HD which was Britain's first nationwide high definition television service.
Skip forward to 2008 and Sky now has more than nine million customers, meaning around one in three homes in the United Kingdom and Ireland use the service.
On 5 February 2009 Sky Television celebrated 20 years of broadcasting.
Andrew Regan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
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