Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the seven DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. As of July 2020, it has 85 TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel.
Sky UK Limited, trading as Sky is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Sky Group and, from 2018 onwards, part of Comcast. It is the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster, with 12.7 million customers as of the end of 2019 for its digital satellite TV platform. Sky's flagship products are Sky Q and the internet-based Sky Glass, and its flagship channels are Sky Showcase, Sky Max, and Sky Atlantic.
Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British paid television sports news channel run by Sky, a division of Comcast.
UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a joint venture between the BBC and Thames Television. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest television companies.
Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech before becoming a subsidiary of British Sky Broadcasting, with Challenge still broadcasting.
FTN was a television channel owned by Virgin Media Television. The channel's main purpose was to exist as a highlights network for Flextech to showcase Freeview viewers the programmes from their paid channels, although it also aired its own programming.
Yesterday is a British free-to-air television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 30 October 2002 as UK History and relaunched in its current format on 2 March 2009. It is available on satellite through Sky, Freesat and through the digital terrestrial provider Freeview. Hours on Freeview had previously been cut, with transmissions finishing at 6 pm, but were restored on 1 June 2010.
Dave is a British free-to-air television channel owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC Studios. It broadcasts mainly comedy, with some factual programming. The channel took the name Dave on 15 October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.
ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9 pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel by audience share and the largest after the five main terrestrial services, the position which was previously held by its sister station ITV2. The channel is known for repeats of ITV dramas, and including sequential reruns of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Classic Coronation Street, Classic Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, amongst others as well as formerly showing repeats of Kojak, Numb3rs, Columbo, Cagney & Lacey and The Bill.
Challenge is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel mostly transmits game shows from the UK and around the world, with some original productions.
More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas.
Sky Mix is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Sky UK. Despite being a brand new channel, this is the second time that the name "Sky Mix" has been used by Sky. Among multiple previous names, Sky Replay was previously known as 'Sky One Mix' and 'Sky Mix' from 2004 to 2005.
Sky Arts is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music. The channel is available in the United Kingdom through Freeview, Freesat, BT TV, Sky, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk TV and in the Republic of Ireland via Sky Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland, Vodafone Ireland and Eir, included in most basic subscription packs, but started life as a premium service requiring an additional payment on top of the monthly Sky subscription. The channel launched on Freeview and Freesat as a free-to-air service in September 2020.
Virgin Media is a telecommunications company from Britain, founded in 2007, which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica.
JML Direct TV was a television shopping channel owned by JML Direct Limited that mainly broadcasts infomercials featuring various products from the company. The channel was broadcast on Sky and Freesat.
High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in late 2005 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.
Jackpot247 is an interactive gambling website owned by Betsson Group. From 2008 until 2019, the site had television segments on channels including ITV and Vox Africa. The "Challenge Jackpot" brand was dropped in September 2011 and was replaced by "Jackpot247" (Jackpot247.com). Challenge Jackpot was also a British interactive gaming channel owned by Living TV Group and operated by NetPlay TV. Its final programme was in the early hours of 1 July 2019 on ITV.
Freeview is the name for the collection of free-to-air services on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform in the United Kingdom. The service was launched at 5 am on 30 October 2002 and is jointly operated by its five equal shareholders – BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BSkyB and transmitter operator Arqiva. This article documents the history of the Freeview service, from its inception up to the present.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.
