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.
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via a radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the head of Sky News, a role he has held since June 2006. In 2019, Sky News was named Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year, the 12th time it has held the award. It is a provider of live streaming world news which can be viewed via its website, YouTube, and various mobile devices and digital media players.
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster with 12.7 million customers as of end of 2019 and its digital satellite TV platform was the UK's most popular digital TV service until it was overtaken by Freeview in April 2007. Sky's flagship product is Sky Q and its flagship channels are Sky One and Sky Atlantic.
CBeebies is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. Its programming is targeted at young children aged two to seven years old with sister channel CBBC aimed at viewers aged 6–17. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, timesharing with BBC Four. CBeebies also manages an international network supported by subscription services.
UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, wholly owned by BBC Studios. 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.
Dave is a British free-to-air television channel owned by UKTV, which is available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel took the name Dave in October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.
Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel's programming was originally aimed mainly at women and young adults. More recently, with shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Blindspot, The Equalizer, The Rookie, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, FBI and Blue Bloods the channel has been primarily dedicated in broadcasting drama shows from the United States and has broadened its audience reach to a wider range of demographics, including men aged 18–45. Sky launched a local version of the channel in Italy called Sky Investigation.
Ghosthunters is a British paranormal documentary television series that originally aired from 1996 to 1997 on the Discovery Channel. The four-series program was produced by Inca Productions of Covent Garden, London, hosted by Ian Cashmore, and narrated by William Woollard. Ian Cashmore also appeared in the promo for the American Syfy series Ghost Hunters.
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC Television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flagship analysis programmes such as Match of the Day, Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Today at Wimbledon and previously Grandstand. Results, analysis and coverage is also added to the BBC Sport website and through the BBC Red Button interactive television service.
Travel Channel International is a commercial television channel owned by Discovery, Inc. and broadcasting travel-themed programmes in the EMEA regions and Asia Pacific, spanning 21 on-air languages.
Tim Shaw is a British radio host, TV presenter and engineer. He is currently hosting a selection of factual engineering and science TV series on the National Geographic TV channel in both the US and International territories. He previously hosted TV series in the UK for Channel 4, Channel 5, More4, Virgin1, Discovery and Current TV.
Alex Lowe is an English actor, comedian and voice artist. He is the creator and performer of the character Barry from Watford on Steve Wright's BBC Radio 2 show and Iain Lee's shows, as well as also being the creator and performer behind the character Clinton Baptiste, originally seen in Phoenix Nights, as whom he has since toured.
BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal simulcasts. The name Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. The station is unique in that it is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership and is also the first multi-genre channel to come entirely from Scotland with almost all of its programmes made in Scotland.
DMAX is a British free-to-air male-oriented TV channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Discovery launched the channel in the UK and Ireland market on 8 January 2008 after its initial success in Germany.
Quest is a British and Irish free-to-air television channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Quest provides factual, lifestyle, entertainment programmes and other imported material, as well as coverage of football. The channel is operated by Discovery, Inc..
TLC is a British pay television channel owned by Discovery EMEA. It is based on the American channel of the same name. It launched on 30 April 2013 at 8:00 p.m., replacing Discovery Real Time and DMAX +2.
DMAX is a Southeast Asian pay television channel centred on broadcasting documentaries, factual-entertainment, lifestyle and reality programming TV series for male audiences.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.
This is a timeline of Discovery, a network of television channels owned by Discovery Inc. that broadcast in the UK.
