Timeline of non-flagship BBC television channels

This is a timeline of the history of non-flagship BBC television channels, i.e., BBC channels that have initially appeared on cable or satellite or digital television. The list excludes events from BBC One and BBC Two, unless they also relate to one of the other channels.

1990s

1996
The BBC holds talks with Flextech and BSkyB about a partnership to launch a new range of channels. The BBC later decides not to pursue any partnership with BSkyB.

1997
March – The BBC and Flextech agree on a deal to provide several BBC-branded channels – BBC Showcase, for entertainment; BBC Horizon, for documentaries; BBC Style, for lifestyle; BBC Learning, for schools, and BBC Arena, for the arts – plus three other channels: BBC Catch-Up, for repeats of popular programmes within days of their original transmission, a dedicated BBC Sport channel and a TV version of Radio 1.
9 October – The Department of Culture, Media and Sport gives the BBC permission to offer its forthcoming 24-hour news channel free to cable operators, thus breaking a monopoly that had previously been held by Sky News.
1 November – Three of the proposed BBC/Flextech channels – UK Horizons, UK Style and UK Arena – launch but they use the ‘UK’ prefix because Flextech wanted these channels to carry adverts but the BBC did not. BBC Showcase/Catch-Up and BBC Learning are removed from the venture, and launch the following year as BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge respectively. The proposed TV version of Radio 1 eventually launches as a music and comedy channel called UK Play but with no connection to Radio 1, and plans for the sports channel come to nothing.
9 November – At 6.00 pm, BBC News 24 is launched. It is the BBC's first new UK channel since BBC Two in 1964. It is only available full time via cable.

1998
10 June – The BBC switches on its digital signal, doing so to coincide with the start of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The technology will be showcased at a number of public venues over the summer, before the launch of the BBC's first digital television channel, BBC Choice, in the autumn.
23 September – 
BBC Choice, the UK's first digital-only TV station, launches at 12noon. 
Following its purchase of the cable-only Parliamentary Channel, the BBC launches BBC Parliament on digital satellite and analogue cable with an audio feed of the channel on DAB.

1999
1 June – The educational channel BBC Knowledge launches at 5pm.
29 September – The European Commission rejects a complaint from BSkyB that the licence fee funding of BBC News 24 is illegal under EU law because it amounts to state funding.
25 October – Relaunch of BBC News 24 with a new set design.
29 November – From today, children's programming is broadcast all day on BBC Choice. Branded CBBC on Choice, children's programming is broadcast on the channel every day from 6am until 7pm.

2000s

2000
June – BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge are reformatted to focus on more specific audiences. Knowledge adopts a broader documentary and culture mix and Choice focusing on developing a stronger relationship with the young adult audience, an audience the BBC had historically had difficulty in reaching. Many of its original programmes, such as Backstage, were replaced with shows aimed at younger people, with most of the early part of the schedules being made up of fifteen-minute programmes under the banner of "Refreshing TV" or "Micro TV". Entertainment news magazine "Liquid News", presented by Christopher Price, evolved out of News 24's "Zero 30" and became the channel's flagship show.
2 October – Rather than continuing to broadcast its own breakfast news programme, BBC News 24 begins to simulcast BBC One's breakfast programme, which on this day is revamped and relaunched as BBC Breakfast.
6 August – It is reported that the BBC is considering a reorganisation of their digital channels to replace BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge with BBC Three and BBC Four.
14 November BBC Parliament's audio feed on DAB is closed down.

2001
BBC Choice's national late night outputs are abandoned – BBC Choice Northern Ireland closes on 30 March.
16 July – A one-minute news summary called 60 Seconds launches on BBC Choice.
October – BBC Choice is further tilted towards youth programming, showcasing the kind of content that will be shown on BBC Three. 
19 November – The BBC announces details of two forthcoming digital channels for children to be launched in Spring 2002. CBeebies will be aimed at preschool children, while CBBC will offer programming for a slightly older audience. The digital channels will have a budget of £40 million.

2002
11 February – Two new BBC children's channels, CBeebies (aimed at children under 6) and CBBC (aimed at children aged 6–12) launch.
2 March – BBC Knowledge ceases transmission in the early hours (the first BBC channel to permanently close) with BBC Four launching to replace it at 7.00 pm. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two.
10 April – BBC Four airs Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, in which Patricia Hodge plays the role of Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War. The play was originally written in 1986, but shelved by the BBC because of an upcoming general election, and the play's perceived pro-Thatcher stance. The play has separate radio and television versions (airing on Radio 4 on 6 April), and gives BBC Four an audience of 174,000, the channel's highest audience since its launch.
3 June – BBC Parliament broadcasts archived programming for the first time when it reruns the BBC's coverage of the  Queen's Coronation as part of the Golden Jubilee Weekend.
7 September – Following the success of its rerun of the BBC's coverage of the Queen's Coronation, BBC Parliament replays coverage of archive BBC general election coverage for the first time. The first to be shown is the coverage of the results of the 1979 general election and the following day the channel shows the results programme of the 1997 general election. These reruns have subsequently been a mainstay of the channel ever since and are usually shown to co-inside with anniversaries of their original transmissions.
September – BBC Three is finally given the go-ahead after the BBC submitted a revised proposal for the new channel,  It raised the target age range to 25–34 and increased the amount of factual, news and arts programming. It had previously been refused over worries that it would be too similar to rival channels such as E4, ITV2 and Sky 1.
6 October – BBC Choice's Liquid News is relaunched with a new studio and graphics, and new presenting team Claudia Winkleman and Colin Paterson.
30 October – BBC Parliament launches on digital terrestrial television, having previously only been available as an audio-only service. However capacity limitations mean that the picture is squeezed into just one quarter of the screen.

2003
8 February – After more than four years on air, BBC Choice closes. Its final night is given over to previews of its replacement, BBC Three.
9 February – After a long delay, BBC Three launches. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two.
27 November – The BBC unveils a revamped version of its news channel in an attempt to make it appear more dynamic to viewers. Changes include a new studio set and redesigned branding and graphics.
8 December – BBC News 24 is relaunched with a new set and titles, as well as a new Breaking News sting. Networked news on BBC One and Two remains with the same titles though the set was redesigned in a similar style to that of the new News 24. The relaunch had been scheduled for the previous Monday (1 December), but was delayed due to a power failure the week before which had disrupted work on the new set.

2004
15 January – BBC Four begins a six-part adaptation of the Alan Clark Diaries, starring John Hurt and Jenny Agutter. The series concludes on 17 February, and is later repeated on BBC Two.
1 April – BBC Three's entertainment news programme Liquid News ends. 
14 May – BBC Four Controller Roly Keating is appointed to succeed Jane Root as Controller of BBC Two.

2005
27 January – Holocaust Memorial Day and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp are observed in the UK. BBC Two and BBC News 24 air Auschwitz Remembered, a special news programme providing coverage of memorial events.
2 April – Digital channel BBC Four broadcasts a live re-make of the famous 1953 science-fiction drama The Quatermass Experiment. The production is the first live drama broadcast by the BBC for over twenty years, and draws BBC Four's second highest audience to date, with an average of 482,000 viewers.
4 April – BBC Four airs Speak No Evil – The Story of the Broadcast Ban, a documentary recalling the 1988 broadcasting restrictions imposed by the Government of Margaret Thatcher on organisations in Northern Ireland believed to support terrorism.
30 September – CBBC identity relaunched, with its second marketing campaign since the launch of the CBBC Channel.
2 December – BBC Three's weeknight news bulletin The 7 O'Clock News is broadcast for the final time. It is axed following a report which a report into the BBC's digital output  claimed that the show "achieves nothing and attracts tiny audiences".

2006
13 November – BBC Parliament broadcasts in full screen format for the first time on the Freeview service, having previously only been available in quarter screen format. The BBC eventually found the bandwidth to make the channel full-screen after receiving "thousands of angry and perplexed e-mails and letters", not to mention questions asked by MPs in the Houses of Parliament itself.

2007
22 January – BBC News 24 is re-branded with new titles and on-screen graphics.
3 September – CBBC identity relaunched, with its third marketing campaign since the launch of the CBBC channel.

2008
24 March – BBC Four broadcasts a revived, special two-hour-long episode of the 1960s satire The Frost Report.
21 April – As part of a major rebranding of BBC News, BBC News 24 becomes the BBC News Channel.
19 September – BBC Alba, a Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel, is launched through a partnership between the BBC and MG Alba.
1 October – BBC Four Controller Janice Hadlow is appointed Controller of BBC Two, replacing outgoing incumbent Roly Keating from November.

2009
No events.

2010s

2010
15 February – Fiona Armstrong and Julia Somerville join the BBC News Channel as regular presenters. They will later be joined by Zeinab Badawi and Carole Walker as the BBC seeks to fight accusations that it has an ageist policy.
23 June – Following the previous day's emergency budget statement, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are questioned by a live audience on its potential impact. The programme Britain's Economy: Cameron and Clegg Face the Audience is presented by Nick Robinson and aired on the BBC News Channel and BBC Two.
15 October – BBC Three Controller Danny Cohen is named as the new Controller of BBC One, replacing Jay Hunt.
20 October – The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announces that part of the responsibility for funding the Welsh language channel S4C is to be transferred to the BBC.

2011
7 April – Top of the Pops returns to television in its former Thursday evening slot as BBC Four begins airing old episodes from 1976, the point at which the broadcaster's full archive of shows begins.

2012
27 July–12 August – BBC Three's hours are temporarily extended so that it can provide alternative live, all-day coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games. Also, BBC Parliament is removed from Freeview for the duration of the Games to provide an additional red button feed for digital terrestrial viewers.
4 October – BBC Four pulls two planned repeats of Top of the Pops from its schedule following recent allegations made against Jimmy Savile. The shows, which featured Savile  as presenter, are part of the channel's weekly rerun of archive editions, which have been airing since last year.
21 December – After 27 years, CBBC airs on BBC One for the last time. All of the children's programmes would become exclusive to their dedicated channels, CBBC and CBeebies.

2013
9 January – BBC Four confirms that its reruns of Top of the Pops will continue with episodes from 1978, but that editions featuring Jimmy Savile will not be aired.
1 April – Responsibility for the funding of S4C begins to transfer to the BBC.
8 May – BBC Two Controller Janice Hadlow takes temporary control of BBC Four following the departure of Richard Klein to become head of TIV factual programming.
7 June – Queen Elizabeth II opens the BBC's rebuilt Broadcasting House, creating a memorable television moment when she appears behind the BBC News channel's on air newsreaders.
29 October – The BBC announce that The Sky at Night will be shown exclusively on BBC Four from 2014, ending a 54-year run on the Corporation's flagship channel.
10 December – The BBC launches five new high-definition simulcasts of BBC News, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC and CBeebies.

2014
5 February – Janice Hadlow will step down as joint Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four to take up a new role in charge of "special projects and seasons" at the BBC.
5 March – A celebrity campaign is launched to save BBC Three amid reports that the channel will become an online only channel to cut costs.
6 March – BBC Director-General Tony Hall confirms BBC Three will close in Autumn 2015, and shift its content online. Subject to the approval of the BBC Trust, the plans will also allow an extra £30m to be spent on drama for BBC One and a BBC One +1 service.
11 April – Kim Shillinglaw is named Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, replacing Janice Hadlow.
2 June – Sam Bickley is appointed as acting editor of BBC Three, and will take up the position when Zai Bennett relinquishes the role to join Sky Atlantic in July.
24 July–3 August – BBC Three's hours are temporarily extended so that it can provide alternative live, all-day coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
5 December – The BBC Trust announces plans for a full public consultation into its proposed closure of BBC Three.
7 December – Jeremy Paxman is confirmed as the presenter of Churchill: The Nation's Farewell, an hour-long documentary to air in January 2015 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the State funeral of Winston Churchill, held on 30 January 1965. BBC Parliament will air television coverage of the funeral in real time on 30 January.
10 December – Further details of plans to move BBC Three online are unveiled, where the channel will broadcast 24 hours a day and have an emphasis on comedy and long form content. Subject to the approval of the BBC Trust, a BBC One + 1 service will occupy the channel space vacated by BBC Three, while CBBC's daily airtime will be extended by two hours.

2015
20 January – In an attempt to save BBC Three from closure, the Avalon Group and Hat Trick Productions approach the BBC Trust with an offer to buy the channel.
16 February – The BBC unveils a series of new arts programmes, which will air in primetime slots. They include a new BBC Two series titled Artsnight and a one off debate, Artists Question Time, presented by Kirsty Wark, which will air on BBC Four.
17 February – Campaigners against BBC plans to close BBC Three and move it online deliver a petition to the BBC Trust.
23 April – Plans to move BBC Three online are postponed until 2016 while the BBC waits for approval from the BBC Trust.
1 June – Outside Source and Business Live make their debut on the BBC News Channel after being launched on BBC World News in February 2014 and March 2015 respectively.
6 June – World News Today is included in the weekend schedule of the BBC News Channel, airing at 9.00pm. 
8 June – Daniel Radcliffe and Lena Headey are among 750 signatories from the world of film and television to put their name to a petition urging the BBC Trust to reverse its decision to turn BBC Three into an online only service.
25 June – After the Women's World Cup proves popular with viewers, and having increased BBC Three's viewership, the BBC switches coverage of England's 27 June quarter final match against Canada to BBC One.
30 June – The BBC Trust provisionally approves plans to move BBC Three online from January 2016. At the same time the Trust also recommends rejecting plans for a BBC One timeshift channel because it "fails the public value test and should be rejected". The announcement of BBC Three's potential fate prompts Jimmy Mulville and Jon Thoday—who offered £100m to save the channel—to urge John Whittingdale to review the decision and link it with negotiations for the Corporation's charter renewal. Mulville and Thoday also threaten to invoke a judicial review if BBC Three's closure is confirmed.
4 July – BBC Three airs the third place play-off of the women's World Cup between England and Germany.
9 September – The CBBC Channel airs a 60-minute programme celebrating thirty years of The Broom Cupboard, the studio from which CBBC continuity programming was broadcast. The programme features past CBBC presenters, including Andi Peters, Philip Schofield, Zoë Ball and Edd the Duck.
15 September – BBC Director-General Tony Hall tells the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that there are no plans to close CBBC or CBeebies.
26 November – The BBC Trust approves proposals to close BBC Three, making it an online service from February 2016, but on the proviso that its programmes are aired on BBC One and BBC Two. Plans are also approved to extend the broadcasting hours of the CBBC channel from 7.00pm to 9.00pm, with the Trust suggesting parents unhappy with the decision should use the off button.

2016
4 January – The BBC confirms 16 February as the date on which BBC Three will begin its transition to an online only channel. A new logo for the channel is introduced.
19 January – BBC One controller Charlotte Moore is appointed to the newly created role of controller of BBC TV channels and iPlayer, while Kim Shillinglaw, current controller of BBC Two and BBC Four is to leave the BBC and her position abolished.
15 February – BBC Three's final night on air sees it repeating episodes of some of its most popular series, including The Mighty Boosh and Family Guy. The final programme, aired in the early hours of 16 February, is a repeat of an episode of Gavin & Stacey. BBC Three becomes an online channel from 16 February.
7 June – S4C resumes high definition broadcasting, having been forced to close its previous HD service in 2012 due to budget cuts.
6–21 August – BBC Four's hours are temporarily extended so that it can provide alternative live coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games.
22 August – Research conducted by commercial TV marketing body Thinkbox suggests that the BBC experienced a 20% drop in younger viewers in the months following the closure of BBC Three, while channels such as ITV2 and E4 have benefited in terms of viewers from BBC Three's disappearance from the airwaves.
7 September – It is agreed that the BBC will provide £74.5m a year funding to S4C from the licence fee until 2022.

2017
10 February – BBC Four acquires its first Canadian drama, the six part Cardinal, a detective series based on Giles Blunt's 2002 novel Forty Words for Sorrow. The series will air later in the year.
4 March – The BBC launches an investigation after a group of five intruders gained access to a studio at Broadcasting House during a live broadcast of the BBC News channel the previous evening. The individuals were not seen on air and left of their own accord.
5 May – BBC Four airs the documentary Classic Albums: Carly Simon – No Secrets in which Carly Simon sings the words of a fourth verse she penned for her 1972 hit "You're So Vain" for the first time. However, the documentary does not shed any light on the song's subject.
9 November – The BBC News channel celebrates its 20th anniversary.

2018
26 January – The BBC announces plans for a classical music season, which will include Our Classical Century, a BBC Four series featuring major classical performances of the past one hundred years.
23 February – BBC Four broadcasts a special one-off live edition of The Old Grey Whistle Test to mark thirty years since the original series came to an end. The three-hour programme is presented by Bob Harris.
29 March – The UK Government announces that it will continue providing £6.72m of funding for S4C until 2020, with the aim of S4C being funded wholly from the licence fee from 2022. This will see S4C's funding being decided as part of the licence fee settlement, for 10 year periods.
12 July – The BBC announces cut-backs to BBC Parliament. The channel will now close down in the weeks when no UK parliamentary bodies are in session and all programmes made especially for the channel will end.
10 October – The BBC announces it has reversed planned cuts to the output of BBC Parliament, but warns of possible future cuts to other services in order to save £500m before 2021–22.
25 October – Research conducted by TV regulator Ofcom reveals that only 8% of younger viewers watch BBC Three content each week.
22 November – BBC Four airs a one-off 90-minute special live and interactive edition of Tomorrow's World. The programme is presented by two of the original presenters, Maggie Philbin and Howard Stableford, as well as Dr. Hannah Fry.
23 December – BBC Four airs After the Screaming Stops, a 90-minute documentary about the 2017 reunion of 1980s pop band Bros. The documentary is initially watched by fewer than 250,000 viewers, but later becomes one of the 2018 Christmas television highlights thanks to its popularity on BBC iPlayer.

2019
17 February – BBC Two Scotland closes in preparation for the launch of the BBC Scotland channel. Viewers in Scotland can still watch the national version of BBC Two, with regional content aired by BBC Two Scotland being transferred to the new channel.
19 February – Virgin Media removes the standard definition versions of the non-flagship BBC television channels except BBC Parliament due to that channel currently not broadcasting in high definition.
24 February – A new BBC Scotland channel launches and replaces BBC Two Scotland.
25 February – BBC Scotland launches its weekday flagship news programme The Nine.
27 February – Launch of The Debate, BBC Scotland's weekly political debate show.
3 May – BBC Four airs a one-off feature length edition of the 1960s television programme Jazz 625 live from the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The programme airs in black-and-white, making it the first live black-and-white television broadcast since the 1970s.

2020s

2020
4 February – To coincide with the broadcast of Mary Beard's Shock of the Nude on BBC Two, BBC Two announces Life Drawing Live!, a two-hour programme presented by Josie D'Arby in which life drawing experts guide a group of artists in how to create a life drawing while viewers are also encouraged to create their own work.

See also
Timeline of BBC One
Timeline of BBC Two
Timeline of the BBC Television Service

References

Category:BBC history
Category:Culture-related timelines
Category:United Kingdom media timelines
Category:History of television in the United Kingdom
Category:British history timelines
Category:British television by year
Category:United Kingdom television timelines
Category:BBC timelines