Sky TV is no longer a teenager. In the past 20 years we have seen the Berlin wall come down, Thatcher resign, a Princesses fatal crash, the Twin Towers crumbling, the winning and losing of the Ashes and America’s first black president. We have also witnessed the television company Sky, develop from a brash child into a young adult. With that in mind, we take a look at where Sky has come from, where it has been and where it is going.
Sky has come a long way... a long, long way!
In the beginning…
When Sky beamed into subscribers living rooms in February 1989 it practically doubled viewers television choices. Sky had four (thats right, four) dedicated channels including, news, sport, films and ‘entertainment’.
- 3 years after its launch, Sky bagged the rights for the then new English Football Premiership season, with this deal came more Sky subscribers and many more armchair critics.
- In the early nineties Sky launched their analogue multi channel packages and started to become the home for hit US shows such as the X-Files and the Simpsons.
- 1994 saw the MTV juggernaut land on UK shores.
- In the 1998 Sky introduces us to the ‘red button’ and Sky TV goes digital in the UK.
- In 2001 Sky News picks up a Bafta for its coverage of the September 11 attacks.
- In 2003 we see Sky reach the 7.5m subscriber mark as well as acquire the hit TV show ’24′ from Fox
- 2006 see’s Sky News pick up another award, this time the International Emmy Breaking News Award for its coverage of the London bombings.
- SkyHD is launched in 2006 and two years later Sky satellite TV programmes are broadcast over the internet.
Entering 2009 we see Sky topping the 9m subscriber mark and we again see them pushing the digital TV boundaries with the trial of their 3DTV service. Sky also continues to be at the forefront of sport coverage with live cricket, rugby, football and even darts if you fancy on a long list of their offerings. Sky sports news continues to bring the viewer all the breaking news in the sporting world from Manchester City’s latest bid to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest tournament win.
So from 4 channels to 240 plus channels we’ve seen Sky, crawl, walk and run in the last 20 years. The question is, where will Sky be in 20 years from now?