Sky One
Encyclopedia
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

.

The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 (2 November 1936), ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 (22 September 1955) and BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 (20 April 1964). S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...

 and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 begin over 6 months later on the 1 and 2 November 1982 respectively.

In the United Kingdom the channel is available on digital satellite via Sky on channel 106 as well as through digital cable via Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 and as well as through IPTV via Sky Go and TalkTalk TV.
In Ireland the channel is available on Sky Ireland on channel 106, UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland
UPC Ireland is Liberty Global Europe's telecommunications operation in Ireland. UPC Ireland is the largest digital cable television provider within the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2010 the company offers broadband internet, digital television and digital telephony to over 531,000 customers...

 on channel 114 and Magnet Networks
Magnet Networks
Magnet Networks is an Irish company providing telephone, television and internet services via subscription over optical fibre.Magnet Networks was launched in Dublin on 1 December 2004, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based international investment company Columbia Ventures Corporation...

.

Sky1 listings include some very popular broadcasts—many imported from North America—including 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...

, The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...

, Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...

 (SG1
, SGA
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...

& SGU
Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way...

), Caprica
Caprica (TV series)
Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons who would later plot to destroy humans in...

, Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

, Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...

, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...

, Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...

, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...

, House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, and Lie to Me
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

.

History

Sky1 started on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television Ltd., a consortium set up by Brian Hayes, formerly a sales executive at Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

, and it was Europe's first ever cable and satellite channel, originally broadcasting from the Orbital Test Satellite
Orbital Test Satellite
The Orbital Test Satellite programme was an experimental satellite system inherited by the ESA in 1975 from its predecessor, the European Space Research Organization ....

 aimed to cable operators
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 all over Europe; Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 being the first two countries to permit the new service's transmission via cable. (Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 were the next two countries to legalise cable transmission of the service, followed by West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

). Reception of the OTS satellite in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 required a satellite dish of approximately 10 feet wide, and it was believed that there were fewer than 50 privately-owned installations in the United Kingdom, that would enable direct-to-home reception of the service. Many programmes from the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 companies' archives appeared on the schedules of the new channel, such as Please, Sir!, Dickens of London
Dickens of London
Dickens of London is a 1976 television miniseries from Yorkshire Television based on the life of English novelist Charles Dickens. Both Dickens and his father John were played by British actor Roy Dotrice. The series was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Marc Miller...

, The Rag Trade
The Rag Trade
The Rag Trade was a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by LWT between 1977 and 1978.The scripts were by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, who later wrote Wild, Wild Women, a period variation of The Rag Trade....

and Within These Walls
Within These Walls
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...

, which in time were accompanied by some limited self-made programming, such as the music show Cable Countdown hosted by Mike Read
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.-Early life:...

. Initially, the channel's self-made programming and continuity played out from the Molinare Studios at Fouberts Place in Central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

.

However, at first the station struggled financially, due to disappointing ratings in the countries in which it was officially available, which in turn lead to insufficient advertising revenue and increasing difficulty of covering the high transmission costs, and by the second half of 1983, the station's ex-ITV management realised that they "could not capture Europe on the budget of Border Television
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...

", and put up the majority of the station's shares (approximately 65%, subsequently increased to 82%) for sale. It would be Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

, who described cable and satellite television as being "the most important single advance since Caxton
William Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...

 invented the printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...

" and saw it as the ideal way into making his definitive breakthrough into the world's television industry, that would buy the shares (through his News International
News International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....

 conglomerate) for the symbolic price of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

1 plus outstanding debts. Eventually, Murdoch would buy the remaining shares of the company, taking full control.

Murdoch and the new management he put in charge of the channel changed the channel's programming mix greatly, and in January 1984 renamed the channel Sky Channel. The channel among other things incorporated a big amount of American imports to its schedules, and also increased the quantity produced of home grown programmes, including Sky Trax which covered European music, and children's programmes like Fun Factory
Fun Factory (TV series)
Fun Factory was a children's programme on the satellite television channel Sky Channel that ran from 1985 to 1991. It continued as a programming block without a host up until 1994.-Original Programme:...

 and The DJ Kat Show
The DJ Kat Show
The DJ Kat show was a children's television programme presented by the puppet DJ Kat and his friend Linda de Mol, the sister of Endemol founder John de Mol, which ran from 1986 to 1995. The show was first broadcast to Europe on satellite and cable channel Sky Channel and later on Sky One and Sky...

, many of which came not only from Sky's own studios in Central London (having already abandoned the Molinare facilities by then), but also included programmes produced in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 by John de Mol's production company
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...

. Also, the new management adopted a more aggressive policy to reach an increasing number of cable households throughout Europe. Shortly after the channel's relaunch, the first cable system in the United Kingdom to incorporate it was Swindon Cable
Swindon Cable
Swindon Cable was Swindon's local television channel. It closed permanently in 2000 after 16 years of putting out mostly local programming on the Wiltshire industrial town's radio and television relay cable network.-Swindon Viewpoint:...

. In Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, Sky Channel started to become widely available among cable systems in around 1987.

Murdoch's changes made the channel the most successful of the early cable and satellite stations that launched in Europe in that period, and it gained very good ratings in those countries with a high penetration of cable television, such as the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...

 and Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

 countries. In Britain (where cable television, although already having a notable number of subscribers, had not yet developed as much as in Central and Northern Europe), market research gave it 13% audience share in cable homes, surpassing both BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 in those homes, with its children's programming (the station's then most successful field) increasing to a share of 22.4% (similar to the programmes seen on both Children's BBC and Children's ITV). However Sky 1 Popularity has fallen and the current viewing shares are below 1%. Some of Sky's special programmes, mainly WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 wrestling specials, managed to surpass both BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 and ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 among cable audiences. Even still, the channel continued to be a loss-making enterprise, losing £10 million in 1987. In contrast to the station's founders, Murdoch had pockets deep enough to sustain the operation even though it still failed to gain a profit despite its success.

On 8 June 1988, Murdoch announced at a press conference his plans to expand Sky's service to four channels, thus creating the Sky Television network. Sky Channel alongside the other three channels would move to the Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...

 satellite system (intended to direct-to-home reception), and the new network would centre its operations more specifically to the UK. (Up to then, Sky had from its initial satellite moved to the ECS-F1 (Eutelsat I-F4)
Eutelsat
Eutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...

 satellite aiming at a pan-European audience).

On 5 February 1989, the Sky Television Network (Sky Channel, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...

, Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...

 and Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

) was launched, hence the move to the Astra 1A
Astra 1A
Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES . During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally....

 satellite was made effective. At the same time, prime-time broadcasts to European cable operators ended, being replaced by Eurosport, a joint venture between Sky and the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...

, and aimed at a pan-European audience (like Sky Channel had up to then).

Initially, Sky Channel's programming remained much the same (children's programmes, soaps, and US action series), except for a number of new game shows and a few international travel documentaries. Another notable programme that also came with the relaunch was Sky By Day, Sky TV's variation on ITV's more popular This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...

, hosted by ex-Radio One
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 DJ Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

 (who had moved to commercial radio by then) and ex-Magpie
Magpie (TV series)
Magpie was a children's television programme shown on ITV from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. It was a magazine format show intended to compete with the BBC's Blue Peter, but attempted to be more "hip", focusing more on popular culture...

 presenter Jenny Hanley
Jenny Hanley
Jenny Hanley is an English actress, the daughter of Dinah Sheridan and Jimmy Hanley.She remains best known for being one of the presenters of the ITV children's magazine programme Magpie....

. The show had a mix of entertainment, gossip, fashion, etc. Yet it was noticeably low budget and had a small fan base.

On 30 July 1989 the channel was renamed Sky One and confirmed its broadcasting to Britain and Ireland only. But it was not until 1990–91 that it begin to acquire more recent programming, an early success being Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...

, which the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 had previously screened but not repeated. Sky One also picked up some programming (and more importantly, advertisers) from its merger with BSB
British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...

's Galaxy.

After many years in the clear
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...

, on 1 September 1993 Sky One was encrypted as part of the Sky Multichannels
Sky Multichannels
Sky Multichannels was a package of analogue television channels offered by BSkyB on the Astra satellites at 19.2° east. The service started on 1 September 1993 based on the idea from the then chief executive officer, Sam Chisholm and Rupert Murdoch, of adjusting BSkyB's business strategy to include...

 subscription package, and could no longer be viewed outside England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland without exporting a box, or receiving it over cable (although it had already been encrypted for a while since its original launch and first went in the clear in around 1987). It continued to be the most-watched satellite channel in Britain and Ireland, a position it held for most of the 1990s, with many first-run US imports such as The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

(which traditionally has been the channel's main selling-point, remaining a satellite exclusive until it finally made its terrestrial television appearance on BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 in 1996), Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

and The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...

, as well as some older programmes such as the various Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

series, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...

, M*A*S*H*, and Lucille Ball's
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

 various comedy series.

The success of the channel lead to the launch on 1 September 1996 of a companion channel, Sky 2, but it was not a success and closed after just a day behind one year, on 31 August 1997. In contrast to the Sky2
Sky2
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...

 that was later relaunched, this channel featured even more first-run programmes, and it broadcast only at night, from 19.00 (7.00 pm) to 06.00 (6.00 am).

In 2000, a dedicated feed of Sky One for Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 was launched. For most of this Irish feed's existence, the only difference between it and the United Kingdom feed has been differing commercials and programme promotions.

On 9 December 2002, Sky One launched their new logo along with new idents. Sky One again gained a sister channel, Sky One Mix, which was intended as a "catch-up" channel, screening repeats of key Sky One programmes later in the same week.

In June 2003, the channel started broadcasting in 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...

 widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

. However all TV commercials were broadcast in 4:3
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...

 until November 2005, because they were played off the same servers for all Sky channels, many of which were not broadcast in widescreen.

On 21 September 2004, Sky One Mix was subsequently renamed as Sky Mix.

On 31 October 2005, Sky Mix was renamed as Sky Two
Sky2
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...

 with the launch of a second sister channel Sky Three.

'Sky One' was rebranded as 'Sky1' on 31 August 2008 at 18:00, with presentational elements featuring blue gem shards as 'solids' to fit the element theme also used by Sky2
Sky2
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...

 and Sky3 (which use 'liquids' and 'gases' respectively in their presentational elements). At launch there were four idents: "Bones", "Whack", "Twister" and "Boxes".

On 1 February 2011, Sky unveiled new presentation for many of its channels – Sky1 being no exception. The idea behind the idents is reflecting everyday life, the sequences are filmed in typical meeting places with people coming together having fun, whilst making up part of the scene is giant mirror-finished '1' icon.

Sky1 HD

To coincide with launch of Sky HD, Sky1 HD is begin to broadcasting on 22 May 2006. The channel is a simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...

 of Sky1 and screens high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 versions of some of the channel's programming, which include Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...

, Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...

, 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...

, Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...

, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...

, House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

, and most recently new episodes of The Simpsons. Programmes that are not available in HD are upscaled (Although Sky1 does show the original widescreen film from Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...

, unlike most US broadcasts, since the series was originally filmed on Panavision widesceen film but cropped to full-screen by most broadcasters. This airing of the original film preserves the shows appearance without stretching or upscaling, although some scenes were compromised for widescreen and had to be upscaled).

Sky have stated that they intend to increase the amount of HD content they show, and hoped that by the end of 2008, two thirds of all prime time shows, and 90% of their own original commissions, would be in HD. There was also a new Sky1 HD logo which was introduced along with the rebrand on 31 August 2008.

On 1 October 2010, Sky1 HD launched on Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 channel 122, with Sky2
Sky2
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...

 moving to channel 123 and Sky3 (now Pick TV) moving to channel 180 on 22 September 2010, to make way for the new channel.

Virgin Media dispute

On 1 March 2007, at 00:00 GMT, Sky's basic channels, which included Sky1, Sky2
Sky2
Sky2 is a British television channel originally launched on 2 December 2002 as Sky One Mix. Sky2 is now available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable and TalkTalk TV platforms in the UK. It is also available in the Republic of Ireland on the UPC Ireland platform.-Rebrand:Sky One Mix was...

, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...

, Sky Sports News
Sky Sports News
Sky Sports News is a 24-hour sports news channel in the United Kingdom. It is run by BSkyB whose sports channels include Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as Sky Sports HD1, HD2, HD3 and HD4....

, Sky Travel
Sky Travel
Sky Real Lives was an in-house channel from BSkyB that showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies and documentaries. The channels closed on 19 August 2010.-History:...

 and Sky Travel Extra were removed from the Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 cable television services after a dispute between Virgin Media and BSkyB. This was due to the expiry of their previous carriage agreement and the companies' inability to reach a new deal. Virgin issued legal proceedings against Sky over the dispute in April 2007.

The Virgin Media predecessor Telewest
Telewest
Telewest, formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications was a cable Internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom...

 was involved in a similar situation in late 2004 when negotiations for renewed carriage of the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...

 channels broke down. Telewest was unwilling to pay extra to keep the channels and preferred to simply drop them. Other Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...

 owned channels remained such as MTV and Paramount Comedy 1
Paramount Comedy 1
Comedy Central in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a localised version of Comedy Central which first began in the United States in the 1990s. The television channel is available through the Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV in the United Kingdom, Sky Ireland, UPC Ireland and Magnet Networks in the...

. The reaction to this by customers was fairly large and many left the provider to rival Sky, others were retained as Telewest offered them a free upgrade to the Disney Channel for periods of between one and three months, others were reportedly offered upgrades to Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...

 packages in a desperate attempt to keep them from leaving. The Nickelodeon channels returned to the Telewest platform on 12 February 2005 following successful renegotiations in Nickelodeon's favour.

At the beginning of March 2008 the two companies were reported to have resumed discussions over the dispute. Virgin chief executive Neil Berkett
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 was reported as saying they had "continued interest in securing Sky basics back on our platform". The resumed talks had followed shortly after both Virgin and BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

 had launched appeals against a recent Competition Appeal Tribunal
Competition Appeal Tribunal
The Competition Appeal Tribunal of the United Kingdom was created by Section 12 and Schedule 2 to the Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2003.-Functions:The current functions of the CAT are:...

 ruling on BSkyB's 17.9% stake in ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...

.

On 4 November 2008, a carriage deal between BSkyB
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....

 and Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...

 channels was reached and BSkyB's channels were available on Virgin's cable service from 13 November 2008. The Sky basic channels were spread across each tier of Virgin's cable TV service: Sky3 and Sky News were made available in the lowest M tier; Sky Sports News joined the M+ tier; Sky1 and Sky2 were made available in the L tier; and Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 joined the XL tier.

US programmes

The channel relies heavily on screenings of American television programmes, with many coming from Murdoch's Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

. The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

has been airing on Sky1 since both of its early years, making the series not only the longest running program on Sky1 but also the longest running prime time animated series to date. As many as five episodes of The Simpsons are broadcast each evening, with any new episodes generally being shown on Thursday. Sky1 has exclusive rights in the United Kingdom to show the most recent series of The Simpsons. Another early and long running fixture was Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...

, which ran all through the 1990s, but in the early 2000s the show suddenly disappeared from its regular schedule and has not been screened on any Sky channel since.

Sky1 was also the original home to the United Kingdom's first run showings of episodes of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

and Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, for seasons 4–6 of both shows (Channel 4 had shown Seasons 1–3 first), giving Sky1 some of the highest ratings for any satellite channel. In 2000, 2.8 million viewers watched an episode of Friends, the highest rated show on any satellite channel. However when Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 launched their own digital sister channel E4 they outbid Sky1 for exclusive first run rights to both shows. However, Sky1 still held the repeat rights for the early seasons of both shows for several years.

Sky1 previously broadcast WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 (formally World Wrestling Federation (WWF)) programming, before moving it all to Sky Sports 3
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

. Sky1 currently broadcasts The WWE Experience
The WWE Experience
The WWE Experience, is a television program produced by WWE, Inc. which recaps events taking place on WWE Raw, and WWE SmackDown that started in May 2004.-History:...

, a one-hour round-up of Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, SmackDown and NXT
WWE NXT
WWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...

 programming and WWE Superstars
WWE Superstars
WWE Superstars is a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment that originally aired on WGN America in the United States. It debuted on April 16, 2009 and ended its domestic broadcasting on April 7, 2011...

.

Sky1 occasionally screens older 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 films such as Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...

as part of its evening schedule, although they are shown with ad breaks, unlike films on premium film channels.

Programmes that have received their United Kingdom premiere screenings on Sky1 include:
  • The X-Files
    The X-Files
    The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...

    (former)
  • Stargate SG-1
    Stargate SG-1
    Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...

  • Futurama
    Futurama
    Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...

  • Family Guy
    Family Guy
    Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

    (former)
  • Dilbert
    Dilbert
    Dilbert is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. First published on April 16, 1989, Dilbert is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character...

    (former)
  • Malcolm in the Middle
    Malcolm in the Middle
    Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...

    (former)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (former)
  • 24
    24 (TV series)
    24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...

    (former)
  • Stargate Atlantis
    Stargate Atlantis
    Stargate Atlantis is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper as a spin-off series of Stargate SG-1, which was created by Wright and Jonathan Glassner and was itself...

  • Nip/Tuck
    Nip/Tuck
    Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...

    (series 1–3)
  • Las Vegas
    Las Vegas (TV series)
    Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and...

    (former)
  • Battlestar Galactica
    Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
    Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

  • Caprica
    Caprica (TV series)
    Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons who would later plot to destroy humans in...

  • Lie To Me
    Lie to Me (TV series)
    Lie to Me is an American television series that originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009 to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr...

  • Rescue Me
    Rescue Me (TV series)
    Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...

    (former)
  • Father of the Pride
    Father of the Pride
    Father of the Pride is an American animated television series that began broadcasting on NBC on August 31, 2004 and was part of a short-lived trend of CGI series in prime-time network TV .-Overview:...

    (former)
  • Bones
    Bones (TV series)
    Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...

    (former)
  • A Town Called Eureka
    Eureka (TV series)
    Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...

  • Lost
    Lost (TV series)
    Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...

    (series 3–6)
  • Prison Break
    Prison Break
    Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...

    (series 3 & 4)
  • Fringe
    Fringe (TV series)
    Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...

  • Cold Case (former)
  • House
    House (TV series)
    House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

    (series 5 onwards)
  • NCIS: Los Angeles
  • Stargate Universe
    Stargate Universe
    Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way...

  • The Simpsons
    The Simpsons
    The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

  • Modern Family
    Modern Family
    Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...

  • Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
    Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
    Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus , the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua representing Lentulus Batiatus...

  • WWE Smackdown
  • WWE Experience
    The WWE Experience
    The WWE Experience, is a television program produced by WWE, Inc. which recaps events taking place on WWE Raw, and WWE SmackDown that started in May 2004.-History:...

  • Terra Nova
    Terra Nova (TV series)
    Terra Nova is an American science fiction drama television series that airs on Fox on Monday nights. It premiered September 26, 2011 with a one-and-a-half-hour episode...

  • The Glee Project
    The Glee Project
    The Glee Project is an American reality television series from Oxygen. It serves as an audition for the FOX TV series Glee. Although originally planned to begin broadcasting in late May 2011, The Glee Project premiered on June 12, 2011...

  • Glee
    Glee (TV series)
    Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...

    (series 3-)

Programmes commissioned by Sky1

Sky has commissioned a number of United Kingdom-made programmes such as Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....

, a drama series based on a fictional football team; The Strangerers
The Strangerers
The Strangerers is a British television science fiction comedy drama serial written by Rob Grant and was broadcast on Sky One between February and April 2000....

(a science fiction sitcom
Science fiction sitcom
The science fiction sitcom genre is a relatively new one having started significant growth only during the last few decades of the twentieth century...

 that was dropped after one series and never repeated); Al Murray
Al Murray
Alastair James Hay "Al" Murray , is a British comedian best known for his stand-up persona, The Pub Landlord, a stereotypical xenophobic public house licensee. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy...

's sitcom Time Gentlemen Please
Time Gentlemen Please
Time Gentlemen Please is a British sitcom. Commissioned by Sky One, it was primarily written by Richard Herring and Al Murray and ran for two series between 2000 and 2002.- Premise and characters :...

; and Baddiel's Syndrome
Baddiel's Syndrome
Baddiel's Syndrome is a British television comedy series that originally aired on Sky One in 2001. It centered around a therapy-attending architect played by David Baddiel.-Cast:*David Baddiel as David...

. Hex
Hex (TV series)
Hex is a British television programme developed by Shine Limited and aired on the Sky One satellite channel. The story is about a remote English country school that becomes the battleground between a demonic entity and the witches who oppose it...

, another sci-fi show, had proved popular but was cancelled in April 2006 and Mile High
Mile High
Mile High is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of "fresh!", a budget airline based in London. The name of the show comes from the "Mile High Club". The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005.-Background:...

also proved quite popular but it only lasted from 2003–2005. Sky One commissioned Terry Pratchett's Hogfather for Christmas 2006 proving to be their most successful programme ever. Following the success of The Hogfather Sky brought out in 2008 an adaptation of The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic (TV film)
The Colour of Magic is a two-part television adaptation of the bestselling novels The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett. The fantasy film was produced for Sky One by The Mob, a small British studio, starring David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Christopher Lee as the...

and its second half The Light Fantastic
The Light Fantastic
The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. It was published in 1986. The title is a quote from a poem by John Milton and in the original context referred to dancing lightly with extravagance....

, and in 2010 Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal is a two-part television adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob, which was first broadcast on Sky1, and in high definition on Sky1 HD, at the end of May 2010.It is the third in a...

, the 33rd book in The Discworld series. Sky also co-produces The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...

and co-financed the first season of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

.

It also screens many "reality" shows such as Cruise with Stelios, Road Wars, Shock Treatment, World's Deadliest Gangs, Pineapple Dance Studios
Pineapple Dance Studios (TV series)
Pineapple Dance Studios is a docusoap which aired on Sky1 during 2010. The show gave viewers an insight into the world of Pineapple Dance Studios, a London dance complex, and introduced several employees including Louie Spence and Andrew Stone. The show was first broadcast on 14 February 2010 on...

, World of Pain, Road Raja
Road Raja
Road Raja was a comedy-based reality TV series broadcast on Sky1 in 2004. Set in Mumbai, the series followed six celebrities as they completed a number of driving tasks in and around the city, culminating in the Road Raja Grand Prix - a mad dash around the city....

, Ibiza Uncovered, Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité was a celebrity reality TV show broadcast on Sky One. The show features celebrities training for and then performing various circus acts. The winner of the 2006 series was Grace Adams-Short....

and the most recent series Hairspray: The School Musical
Hairspray: The School Musical
Hairspray: The School Musical is a 2008 reality TV series, broadcast on Sky1 in the UK, charting the development of a comprehensive school's production of the Broadway and West End musical Hairspray.-Format:...

. It also recently has received success with entertainment science shows Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac: Science Abuse
Brainiac: Science Abuse is a British entertainment TV show with a science motif. Numerous experiments are carried out in each show, often to verify whether common conceptions are true or simply to create impressive explosions...

and spin-offs, Brainiac: History Abuse
Brainiac: History Abuse
Brainiac: History Abuse was an eight part British TV programme co-produced by London Weekend Television and Granada Television for broadcast on Sky1. It was a spin-off of the show Brainiac: Science Abuse concentrating on historical subjects...

and Brainiac's Test Tube Baby
Brainiac's Test Tube Baby
Brainiac's Test Tube Baby was a live British parody popular science entertainment TV show hosted by Dominic Wood. It was a spin off of the highly successful Sky1 show Brainiac: Science Abuse and first aired on Thursday, August 3, 2006...

and also Mission Implausible
Mission Implausible
Mission Implausible is a television series on Sky One featuring Jason Plato and Tania Zaetta. On each episode, they do a series of three stunts, and whoever wins the most stunts wins the show. At the end of the series, the competitor with the most shows wins....

. Less successful shows include Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show
Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show
Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show was a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield. It was first broadcast on Sky 1 in 2000 for one series.A compilation of some of the best sketches from the series was released on DVD in 2000....

.

Sky1 have also commissioned a number of game shows including Blockbusters. The most recent game show is from Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett is a British television producer and executive producer, based in the United States. He currently is the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition...

, Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year Old
Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old? (UK)
Are You Smarter Than a/Your 10 Year Old? was a British quiz show which aired on Sky1. There were two editions, one broadcast weekly in primetime, hosted by Noel Edmonds and a daily version, originally hosted by Dick and Dom, but later hosted by Damian Williams...

, based on a United States format. On 30 January 2008, Sky One announced plans to bring back the UK 1990s game show Gladiators
Gladiators (2008 UK TV series)
Gladiators was a British television series which aired on Sky1 from 11 May 2008 to 25 October 2009. It was filmed in Shepperton Studios and was produced by Shine Limited. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name and based on the American version of the show. The US, UK and...

which was subsequently cancelled in 2009.

In 2011, Sky1 also commissioned several new comedies including Trollied
Trollied
Trollied is a British sitcom about employees in a fictional supermarket named "Valco", which debuted on Sky1 on 4 August 2011 at 9:00pm, and is the first sitcom made for Sky1 since Time Gentlemen Please in 2002...

 and Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant
- Australia :* Mount Pleasant * Mount Pleasant, New South Wales* Mount Pleasant * Mount Pleasant, South Australia* Mount Pleasant, Western Australia* Mount Pleasant, Victoria- Canada :...

.

Continuity announcers

Current NME Radio
NME Radio
NME Radio is the radio station from NME magazine, that broadcasts in a new commercially oriented alternative music format. It first began broadcasting on 24 June 2008.- History :...

 DJ Claire Sturgess
Claire Sturgess
Claire Sturgess is a British disc jockey, and voiceover artist. She was a presenter on BBC Radio 1 from 1993, after working as a production assistant on the Simon Bates mid-morning show...

 has been a "voice" of Sky1 since 1998, and was the sole announcer from 2001 until 2005. As one of Sky1's four announcers, her voice-overs are pre-recorded once a week and played out by an automated system.

Live continuity announcements air each evening, in 2009 they were voiced by announcers Dave Kelly, Faye Bamford and Philippa Collins
Philippa Collins
Philippa Collins is a British DJ and voice-over artist-History:Philippa's first full-time presenting job was in 2002, where she hosted evenings at 96.4 The Eagle. Less than a year later, she moved to 97.6 Chiltern FM in Dunstable to present mid mornings...

. In 2010 three new continuity announcers were hired, Katie Morton, Katie Hudson and Paul Daniels, replacing all the previous announcers. In 2011, two new part time announcers were hired. . During the day pre-recorded announcements air, promoting shows from all the different Sky channels.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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