Television in the United Kingdom

Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, while the introduction of television and the first tests commencing in 1922. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed. 
There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year at a cost of £2.6 billion. Since 24 October 2012, all television broadcasts in the United Kingdom have been in a digital format, following the end of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP. As of 2003, 53.2% of households watch through terrestrial, 31.3% through satellite, and 15.6% through cable.
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world.
Broadcast television providers.
Free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription providers operate, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via the red button, and coverage across the UK. All providers make available the UK's five most-watched channels: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Broadcast television is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the UK, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in the UK (as well as much of the rest of Europe) come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner. Following the financial failure of digital terrestrial pay TV service ITV Digital in 2002, UK digital terrestrial TV services were rebranded as Freeview and do not require a subscription. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. Most services have integrated their broadcast TV services with additional video streams distributed via the Internet, or through their own Internet Protocol network.
The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board publish quarterly statistics of the number of UK households per broadcast TV platform. Aggregating the statistics for Q1 2020 show that 56% subscribe to one or more broadcast TV services, vs 44% who receive free TV.
Digital terrestrial television.
The primary digital terrestrial TV service is Freeview, which launched in 2002 and is free-of-charge to view. It replaced the subscription service named ONdigital or ITV Digital, which ran from 1997-2002. Digital terrestrial television was itself the replacement for analogue terrestrial TV, which ran from 1936-2012.
As of March 2021, Freeview contains up to 70+ TV and radio channels, which are received via an aerial. It is operated by DTV Services Ltd., a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. The transmitter network is predominately operated by Arqiva.
The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes, and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. Three multiplexes, carrying channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, S4C, and Channel 5 as well as radio, are available to 98.5% of the population from 1,154 transmitters. A further 3 multiplexes transmit to 90% of homes from 80 transmitters, and another 2 multiplexes are available to 76% of homes from 30 transmitters. The terrestrial service consisting of just the 3 public service multiplexes, available to 8.5% of the population, is informally called 'Freeview Light' by some websites. In Northern Ireland, a multiplex carrying channels from the Republic of Ireland can reach 90% of Northern Irish homes from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available from an additional multiplex at 42 transmitters.
Multiple vendors sell hybrid set-top-boxes or smart TVs which combine terrestrial channels with streamed (Internet TV) content. Internet-based TV services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and All 4 are available via the broadband connection of Freeview Play and YouView receivers. These also support optional subscription services such as Netflix and Prime Video. BT TV and TalkTalk TV offer additional subscription channels for their respective broadband customers using YouView devices. Netgem TV offers set-top-boxes combining Freeview Play with subscription channels, and is available directly or from several broadband suppliers.
Cable television.
Many regional companies developed cable-television services in the late 1980s and 1990s as licenses for cable television were awarded on a city-by-city basis. The mid-1990s saw the companies start to merge and the turn of the century only three big companies remained. In 2007 Telewest and NTL merged, resulting in the formation of Virgin Media, which is available to 55% of households. Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband.
Satellite television.
There are two distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception).
Sky TV is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd, owned by Comcast, which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service which had launched in 1989, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder, the ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go, which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet.
Freesat is a free satellite-service developed jointly by the BBC and ITV. In contrast to Freesat from Sky, it does not need a viewing card. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via the broadband connection. The on-screen programme guide lists the available channels, rather than encrypted channels which need a subscription to view.
Sky previously marketed Freesat from Sky as a distinct service, but after March 2020, the website redirects to Sky's subscription service.
Freesat and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east (Astra 2E/2F/2G). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit, they are positioned above the earth's equator () approximately 35,786 km above mean sea level; this places them above the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Internet video services.
TV via the Internet can be streamed or downloaded, and consist of amateur or professionally produced content. In the UK, most broadcasters provide catch-up TV services which allow viewing of TV for a window after it was broadcast. Online video can be viewed via mobile devices, computers, TVs equipped with a built in Internet connection, or TVs connected to an external set-top-box, streaming stick or games console. Most of the broadcast TV providers have integrated their set-top-boxes with Internet video to provide a hybrid broadcast and online service.
Catch-up services.
Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK.
Online video services for professionally produced content.
There are numerous online services targeting the UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video. 
BARB tracks the number of households subscribing to Netflix, Prime Video and Now, referred to as SVOD households. Their statistics for Q1 2020 show that 53% of households subscribe to at least one of these, and 24% to at least two. Netflix has 13.01 million subscribers, Prime Video (Amazon) has 7.86 million, and Now has 1.62 million, according to BARB's figures for Q1 2020. BARB's equivalent figures for broadcast TV show that 56% of households subscribe.
The table following summarises some of the available Internet TV services in the UK. For brevity, it does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, or services which don't target the UK.
Channels and channel owners.
Viewing statistics.
Most viewed channels.
The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in the UK. As of 1 March 2020, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 11 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 17 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%.
Most viewed broadcaster groups.
As of March 1, 2020, there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and ViacomCBS individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to)
BBC and UKTV.
The British Broadcasting Corporation is the world's oldest and largest broadcaster, and is the country's principal public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded primarily by a television licence and from sales of its programming to overseas markets. It does not carry advertising. The licence fee is levied on all households that watch or record TV as it's being broadcast and the fee is determined by periodic negotiation between the government and the BBC.
Its first analogue terrestrial channel, the BBC Television Service, launched in 1936. It rebranded to BBC 1 in 1964, the same year that BBC 2 launched, the UK's third analogue terrestrial channel after ITV. Both channels styled as BBC One and BBC Two from 1997. BBC News 24 launched as an analogue cable channel in 1997, later rebranding to BBC News. BBC Parliament, which was originally an analogue cable channel known as The Parliamentary Channel, was acquired by the BBC in 1998. From 1998 onwards the BBC started digital TV transmissions, launching new channels and broadcasting via satellite in addition to terrestrial and cable. BBC Three closed as a broadcast channel in 2016, continuing as an Internet video service.
The BBC's Internet-based service iPlayer contains content from the BBC's TV channels, the Welsh-language public-service broadcaster S4C, as well as videos created from BBC radio programmes, with Radio 1 in particular appearing as a channel alongside the normal TV channels.
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster owned by BBC Studios, one of the BBC's commercial units. Originating in 1992 with UK Gold, UKTV expanded its channels from 1997 onwards, with the BBC taking full ownership in June 2019. Unlike the BBC's public service channels, the UKTV channels contain advertising.
ITV.
ITV is the network of fourteen regional and one national commercial television franchise, founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements, and has been the most popular commercial channel through most of its existence. Each region was originally independent and used its own on-air identity. Through a series of mergers, takeovers and relaxation of regulation, thirteen of the franchises are now held by ITV plc, and the remaining two by STV Group. STV Group uses the on-air brand name of "STV" for its two franchises in Scotland. ITV plc uses the on-air brand name of "UTV" in Northern Ireland, and "ITV" for the remaining regions, although UTV has used ITV branding and presentation since April 2020 due to the impact of Coronavirus on staffing. The national breakfast-time franchise is held by ITV plc, which appears as an indistinguishable programming block across the network. Legally, the network has been referred to as "Channel 3" since 1990, which is the name Ofcom uses.
Since 1998, ITV plc has operated additional free or subscription channels, starting with ITV2.
Channel 4.
Launched in 1982, Channel 4 is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA, especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4, Film4, More4, 4Music, 4seven and various timeshift services. Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of the six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4. Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have 6 set advertising regions.
With Bauer Media Group, Channel 4 jointly owns a range of music channels under the Box Plus Network banner.
Sky.
Sky is a European broadcaster owned by global American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Television launched in 1989, with a 4-channel service received via satellite. The channels at launch were Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport. They were initially free to receive, and Sky Movies was the first to move to a subscription early in 1990. Sky News was the UK's first dedicated news channel. The new service was the UK's first consumer satellite TV service, beating rival BSB, with which Sky would later merge to become BSkyB. Sky's satellite service grew to become a subscription platform through which Sky offer their own channels, pay-per-view services and channels from other broadcasters. Sky's digital platform launched in 1998, with the original analogue service closing in 2001. Sky was acquired by Comcast in 2018.
Since 2012, Sky operate Now, an Internet TV streaming service offering subscriptions without a fixed-term contract.
Sky's channel portfolio has grown greatly since the launch of digital TV. Sky make their channels available via rival cable and Internet services as well as their own satellite service and Now.
ViacomCBS.
Channel 5 was the fifth analogue terrestrial channel to launch, in March 1997. Due to constraints with the available UHF frequencies at the time, many households had to retune their video recorders, which shared the frequency on their RF output with the frequency used by Channel 5's new broadcasts. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial channel to also broadcast via satellite. From 2006 onwards, Channel 5 launched new digital channels and an Internet on-demand service. After changing ownership several times, in May 2014 Channel 5 and its sister channels were acquired by Viacom, an American media conglomerate.
By the time it acquired Channel 5, Viacom already operated a large number of subscription channels in the UK, including the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, which are available via Sky TV, Virgin Media and Now. In terms of viewing share, the combined viewing across ViacomCBS's channels make the group the UK's 5th largest broadcaster, according to BARB's viewing figures for 1 March 2020. Viacom merged with CBS in December 2019.
Local and regional television.
Local television.
Since 2012, additional local TV channels are available via Freeview channel 7 or 8. The channels are licensed by Ofcom, with 34 local TV channels licensed as of 2 July 2020. 19 of the licenses are held by That's TV, and 8 are held by Made Television. The remainder are held independently. Each license contains the amount of local TV programming required. As an example, the license for Scarborough, which is held by That's TV, requires 7 hours of local programming per week (1 hour/day on average). 13 additional licenses were originally intended, but Ofcom decided not to advertise these in June 2018.
The way Ofcom structured local TV - being dependent on terrestrial transmission - was criticised in a Guardian article in 2015 as being 'years behind in its thinking', as it doesn't account for the Internet. In the article, Ofcom responded that the licensing scheme was inherited from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In April 2018, BBC News reported that 'many of the stations have been ridiculed for the poor quality of their output or have been reported to Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules'. The local TV companies receive a subsidy from the BBC of £147.50 per local news story, funded by the license fee, paid whether the BBC uses the content or not. A June 2018 article on BuzzFeed claims that That's TV was created primarily to extract money from the BBC whilst delivering little content of useful value.
Regional television.
BBC One, BBC Two and the ITV network (comprising ITV and STV) are split into regions in which regional news and other programming is broadcast. ITV/STV is split into 14 geographic licencees, with several of these split into 2 or 3 sub-regions, resulting in a greater total number of regional news programmes. Ofcom sets a quota for the BBC and ITV on the amount of regional programming required.
Advertising on ITV/STV and Channel 4 is regional. Channel 4 is split into 6 advertising regions, but has no regional programming.
Country-specific channels.
BBC Scotland and the Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba target Scotland, and the Welsh-language channel S4C targets Wales. In Northern Ireland, channels originating in the Republic of Ireland are available, including RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and the Irish-language TG4.
Programming.
British television differs from other countries, such as the United States, in as much that programmes produced in the United Kingdom do not generally have a long season run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of a few months. See List of British television series.
100 Greatest British Television Programmes.
100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as the most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are:
100 Greatest TV Moments.
100 Greatest TV Moments was a list compiled by Channel 4 in 1999. The top 10 entries are:
List of most watched television broadcasts.
The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most-watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne, shown only on BBC1. The figures in these tables represent the average viewership achieved by each broadcast during its run-time and do not include peak viewership.
"Notes":
Genre lists.
100 Greatest Kids' TV shows.
The 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows was a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4 in 2001. The top 5 UK-produced programmes are:
British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series.
The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards. The last 5 winners are:
Terrestrial channel programming.
Weekday.
Weekday programming on terrestrial channels begins at 6 am with breakfast national news programmes (along with regional news updates) on "BBC Breakfast" on BBC One and "Good Morning Britain" on ITV, with Channel 5 showing children's programmes under the "Milkshake!" brand. Channel 4 predominately broadcasts comedy programmes such as "Everybody Loves Raymond" and in its morning slot. The weekday breakfast news programme ends at 9:15 am on BBC One and 9am on ITV.
Following this on BBC One, lifestyle programming is generally shown, including property, auction and home and gardening. BBC One continues this genre until after the lunchtime news, whereby afternoon has a soap called "Doctors" followed by dramas. BBC Two airs the BBC News updates and political programming between 9 am and 1 pm. Channel 4 often shows home-project and archaeology lifestyle programming in the early afternoon after a "Channel 4 News" summary. Channel 5 broadcasts chat show programmes in the morning including "Jeremy Vine" with regular news bulletins. In the afternoon, it shows dramas followed by an hour of Australian soaps such as "Home and Away" and "Neighbours" and films.
News bulletins are broadcast between 6 pm and 7 pm on both BBC One and ITV, with BBC One beginning with the national BBC News at Six and ITV with the flagship regional news programme. At around 6:30 pm, BBC One broadcasts the regional news programmes whilst ITV broadcasts the ITV Evening News. Channel 4 News starts at 7 pm and 5 News broadcasts for half an hour at 5 pm and 6:30 pm.
Primetime programming is usually dominated by further soaps, including "EastEnders" on BBC One, "Coronation Street" and "Emmerdale" on ITV, and "Hollyoaks" on Channel 4. These soap operas or 'continuing dramas' as they are now called can vary throughout the year, however weekly dramas, such as "Holby City", are also fixed to scheduling. BBC Two broadcasts factual programming, including lifestyle and documentaries. BBC Four begins programming at 7PM. The channel shows a wide variety of programmes including arts, documentaries, music, international film, comedy, original programmes, drama and current affairs. It is required by its licence to air at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes and to premiere 20 foreign films each year. BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 broadcast dramas and documentaries in the evenings. At 10pm with the flagship national news on BBC One in BBC News at Ten (followed by Newsnight on BBC Two) and on ITV on ITV News at Ten followed by the regional late night news. Because of this, the UK can often rely more heavily on TV guides, be it with the newspaper, online, via information services on the television such as the BBC Red Button service or the built in Electronic Programme Guides.
Weekend.
Weekend daytime programming traditionally consists of more lifestyle programming plus films and live and recorded coverage of sporting events on most weekend afternoons. There are further battles for viewers in the weekend primetime slot, often featuring documentaries and game shows in the evening. Lunchtime, early evening and late evening news programmes continue on BBC One and ITV although the length of the bulletins are shorter than during the week. Sunday night schedules usually consist of dramas, light entertainment, documentaries, films, music concerts, festivals or sporting events.
Cultural impact.
Christian morality.
In 1963 Mary Whitehouse, incensed by the liberalising policies followed by Sir Hugh Greene, then director general of the BBC, began her letter writing campaign. She subsequently launched the Clean Up TV Campaign, and founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1965. In 2008, Toby Young in an article for "The Independent" wrote: "On the wider question of whether sex and violence on TV has led to a general moral collapse in society at large, the jury is still out. No one doubts that Western civilization is teetering on the brink ... but it is unfair to lay the blame entirely at the feet of BBC2 and Channel 4."
In 2005, the "" elicited 55,000 complaints, and provoked protests from Christian organisation Christian Voice, and a private prosecution against the BBC by the Christian Institute. A summons was not issued.
Awards.
The British Academy Television Awards are the most prestigious awards given in the British television industry, analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States. They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are only open to British programmes. After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all eligible members of the Academy. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a special jury of nine academy members for each award, the members of each jury selected by the Academy's Television Committee.
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, sponsored by ITV and initiated in 1995. Although not widely held to be as prestigious as the BAFTAs, the National Television Awards are probably the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Unlike the BAFTAs, the National Television Awards allow foreign programmes to be nominated, providing they have been screened on a British channel during the eligible time period.
Regulation.
Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom, including television. As the regulatory body for media broadcasts, Ofcom's duties include:
In 2008, Ofcom issued fines to the total of £7.7m. This included £5.67m of fines to ITV companies, including a £3m fine to LWT over voting irregularities on Saturday Night Takeaway, and fines totalling £495,000 to the BBC. Ofcom said phone-in scandals had contributed significantly to the fine totals.
The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP, or BCAP) is the body contracted by Ofcom to create and maintain the codes of practice governing television advertising. The Broadcast Advertising Codes (or the TV codes) are accessible on CAP's web site. The Codes cover advertising standards (the TV Code), guidance notes, scheduling rules, text services (the Teletext Code) and interactive television guidance. The main sections of the TV Code concern compliance, programmes and advertising, unacceptable products, political and controversial issues, misleading advertising, harm and offence, children, medicines, treatments, health claims and nutrition, finance and investments, and religion.
The Advertising Standards Authority is an independent body responsible for resolving complaints relating to the advertising industry within the UK. It is not government funded, but funded by a levy on the advertising industry. It ensures compliance with the Codes created by CAP. The ASA covers all forms of advertising, not just television advertisements. The ASA can refer problematic adverts to Ofcom, since the channels carrying the adverts are ultimately responsible for the advertising content, and are answerable to Ofcom. Ofcom can issue fines or revoke broadcast licences if necessary.
Licensing.
In the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies, a television licence is required to receive any publicly broadcast television service, or for using BBC iPlayer. This includes the commercial channels, cable and satellite transmissions, Internet-streamed channels, and applies regardless of the technology used to view. The money from the licence fee is used to provide radio, television and Internet content for the BBC, Welsh-language television programmes for S4C, monitoring, several orchestras and performing groups, and contributions to broadband roll out. The fee is classified as a hypothecated tax rather than a subscription. The BBC gives the following figures for expenditure of licence fee income per month in 2019/2020:
Production.
As of 2002, 27,000 hours of original programming are produced year in the UK television industry, excluding news, at a cost of £2.6bn. Ofcom has determined that 56% (£1.5bn) of production is in-house by the channel owners, and the remainder by independent production companies. Ofcom is enforcing a 25% independent production quota for the channel operators, as stipulated in the Broadcasting Act 1990.
In-house production.
ITV plc, the company which owns 12 of the 15 regional ITV franchises, has set its production arm ITV Studios a target of producing 75% of the ITV schedule, the maximum allowed by Ofcom. This would be a rise from 54% at present, as part of a strategy to make ITV content-led chiefly to double production revenues to £1.2bn by 2012. ITV Studios currently produces programmes such as "Coronation Street", "Emmerdale" and "Heartbeat".
In contrast, the BBC has implemented a Window of Creative Competition (WOCC), a 25% proportion over and above the 25% Ofcom quota in which the BBC's in-house production and independent producers can compete. The BBC produces shows such as "All Creatures Great and Small" and "F***off I'm a Hairy Woman".
Channel 4 commissions all programmes from independent producers.
Independent production.
As a consequence of the launch of Channel 4 in 1982, and the 25% independent quota from the Broadcasting Act 1990, an independent production sector has grown in the UK. Notable companies include Talkback Thames, Endemol UK, Hat Trick Productions, and Tiger Aspect Productions. A full list can be seen here: 
History.
Closed and aborted television providers.
The following Internet TV services have closed:
The following services were aborted before launch:
Analogue terrestrial television.
Analogue TV was transmitted via VHF (1936) and later UHF (1964) radio waves, with analogue broadcasts ending in 2012.
VHF transmissions started in 1936 and closed in 1985 (with a gap 1939–1946), carrying two channels. The launch channel was the BBC Television Service, known as BBC 1 since 1964. This was joined by Independent Television, a network of regional franchises launching between 1955 and 1962. The channels transmitted in monochrome using the 405-line television system at 25 frames per second, initially with an aspect ratio of 5:4, switching to in 1950.
UHF transmissions started in 1964 and closed in 2012. The launch channel was BBC 2. This would be joined by BBC 1, the ITV network, Channel 4 or S4C in Wales, Channel 5 as well as a network of local TV channels. Transmissions started using the System I standard, a 625-line monochrome picture at 25 frames/second (576i) and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Technical advancements included colour (1967), teletext (1974), and stereo sound (1991). The drive to switch viewers from analogue to digital transmissions was a process called the digital switchover.
Whilst there are no longer any analogue broadcasts in the UK, a PAL signal may be present in closed RF distribution systems, e.g. a video feed from an intercom in a block of flats, or a security system.
Defunct channels.
There are nearly 200 defunct British channels. For a list, see List of former TV channels in the UK or .
Commentary.
The rise of television in the UK.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was established in 1927 to develop radio broadcasting, and inevitably became involved in TV in 1936. The BBC is funded by income from a "Broadcast Receiving Licence" purchased by UK residents. The cost of this is set by agreement with the UK Government.
Television caught on in the United Kingdom in 1947, but its expansion was slow. By 1951, with only two transmitters, near London and Birmingham, only 9% of British homes owned a television set. The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to have a regular daily television schedule direct to homes, and it was the first to have technical professions to work on TVs.
Up until 1972, television broadcasting hours were tightly regulated by the British government, under the control of the Postmaster General. Before the launch of the commercial channel ITV in 1955, the BBC was restricted by law to just five hours maximum of television in a day. This was increased at the launch of the commercial channel ITV to a 7-hour broadcasting day for both channels. Gradually the number of hours were increased. Typically, during the late 1960s, the law regulated a 50-hour broadcasting week for all television channels in the UK. This that meant BBC1, BBC2 and ITV could only broadcast normal programming for 7 hours a day from Mondays to Fridays, and 7.5 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays.
Until 1957, television in the United Kingdom could not air from 6.00pm-7.00pm. This was called the "Toddlers' Truce", in which the idea was that parents could put their children to bed before primetime television would commence; this restriction was lifted in 1957. However, on Sundays, television remained off the air from 6.00pm-7.00pm. This was in response to religious leaders' fears that television would interfere with people attending church services. In 1958, a compromise was reached, in which only religious programming could be aired during this time slot. The restriction was lifted in January 1972.
The Postmaster General allowed exemptions to the regulations. All schools programming, adult education, religious programming, state occasions, political broadcasts and Welsh language programming were totally exempt from the restrictions. Sport and outside broadcasting events were given a separate quota of broadcasting hours which could be used in a year, starting off at 200 hours a year in the mid 1950s, rising to a quota of 350 hours a year by the late 1960s. Broadcasting on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day was also exempt from the tightly controlled restrictions.
The election of a Conservative government in June 1970 brought in changes to the control of broadcasting hours. At first, the typical broadcasting day was extended to 8 hours a day, with an increase in exemptions over Christmas, and an increase in the sport/outside broadcasting quota. On 19 January 1972, the then Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, Christopher Chataway, announced to the British House of Commons that all restrictions on broadcasting hours on television would be lifted from that day, with the broadcasters allowed to set their own broadcasting hours from then on. By November 1972, a full daytime schedule had been launched on ITV from 9.30am each day, with the BBC also expanding their schedules to include more daytime programming.
The UK Government previously appointed people to the BBC's Board of Governors, a body responsible for the general direction of the organisation, and appointment of senior executives, but not its day-to-day management. From 2007, the BBC Trust replaced the Board of Governors. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers.
Commercial television was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1955. Unlike the US, there was a distinct split between advertisements and programming. Advertisers purely purchased spots within pre-defined breaks within programming, and had no connection to the programme content. The content and nature of adverts was strictly controlled by the ITA, the body controlling commercial television.
History of satellite television.
The first commercial direct-broadcast satellite (DBS, also known as direct-to-home) service in the United Kingdom, Sky Television, was launched in 1989 and used the newly launched Astra satellite at 19.2° east, providing four analogue TV channels. The channels and subsequent VideoCrypt video encryption system used the existing PAL broadcast standard, unlike the winner of the UK state DBS licence, British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB).
In 1990, BSB launched, broadcasting five channels (Now, Galaxy, The Movie Channel, The Power Station and The Sports Channel) in D-MAC format and using the EuroCypher video encryption system which was derived from the General Instruments VideoCipher system used in the USA. One of the main selling points of the BSB offering was the Squarial, a flat plate antenna and low-noise block converter (LNB). Sky's system used conventional and cheaper dish and LNB technology.
The two companies competed over the UK rights to movies. Sky operated from an industrial park in Isleworth in West London, whereas BSB had newly built offices in London (Marco Polo House). The two services subsequently merged to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). BSB's D-MAC/EuroCypher system was gradually replaced with Sky's VideoCrypt video encryption system.
In 1994, 17% of the group was floated on the London Stock Exchange (with ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange), and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns a 35% stake.
By 1998, following the launch of several more satellites to Astra's 19.2° east position, the number of channels had increased to around 60 and BSkyB launched the first subscription-based digital television platform in the UK, offering a range of 300 channels broadcast from Astra's new satellite, at 28.2° east position under the brand name Sky Digital. BSkyB's analogue service has now been discontinued, with all customers having been migrated to Sky Digital.
In May 2008, a free-to-air satellite service from the BBC and ITV was launched under the brand name Freesat, carrying a variety of channels from Astra 28.2°E, including some content in HD formats.