National Geographic (British and Irish TV channel)

Last updated

National Geographic
Natgeologo.svg
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom
Iceland
Malta
Ireland
Programming
Picture format 2160p UHDTV
(downscaled to 1080i and 16:9 576i for the HDTV and SDTV feeds, respectively)
Timeshift serviceNational Geographic +1
Ownership
Owner National Geographic Society
Disney International Operations
(Disney UK & Ireland)
Sister channels
History
Launched1 September 1997;26 years ago (1 September 1997)
Replaced Sky 2
Links
Website nationalgeographic.co.uk
nationalgeographic.ie
Availability
Streaming media
Sky Go Watch live (UK and Ireland only)
Virgin TV Watch live (UK only)
TalkTalk TV Watch live (UK only)
BT TV Watch live (UK only)
TVPlayer Watch live (UK only)

National Geographic is a British pay television channel that features documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. It features some programming similar to that on the Discovery Channel such as nature and science documentaries. The channel was launched in Europe in September 1997 and time shared initially with the failing NBC Europe until NBC Europe's demise in 1998, at which point it began timesharing with Fox Kids (in the UK, replacing the failed first iteration of Sky 2); with analogue transmission of the channel ending, and the sale of Fox Kids to Disney, timesharing was eventually superseded by 24-hour broadcasting. It was later launched worldwide including in Asia and the United States. Today, the channel is available in over 143 countries, seen in more than 160 million homes and in 25 languages.

Contents

It is owned by a company called the "NGC-UK Partnership", which initially was jointly owned by the National Geographic Society and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), but in 2006, Sky's parent company News Corporation (now The Walt Disney Company) purchased 25 percent of the stake in the partnership, followed by the acquisition of BSkyB's remaining 50 percent stake by its sister company, the Fox Entertainment Group.

This includes an English-language version for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta and Iceland. It also includes Dutch, Italian, Norwegian and Turkish speaking channels among others. The channel's musical signature is the Elmer Bernstein composed theme that has also appeared on the National Geographic broadcast-TV specials.

Company

The channel is owned by the NGC-UK Partnership, which was formed in 1997 as a joint venture between National Geographic Television & Film, a division of the National Geographic Society and British Sky Broadcasting through its Sky Ventures division. The NGS provides programming expertise, while BSkyB provides its expertise on distribution, marketing, commercial and advertising sales. The partnership builds and operates National Geographic channels and services across Europe. It is headquartered in London. In December 2006, News Corporation purchased 25 percent of the Society's stake in the company. This meant that BSkyB owned half company, while the National Geographic Society and News Corp held 25 percent share each. [1] In December 2007, BSkyB sold its stake in the partnership to the Fox Entertainment Group, [2] [3] through its Fox Networks Group subsidiary.

HD feed

The channel launched its own high-definition feed on 22 May 2006 on Sky. The channel joined Virgin Media's cable TV line-up on 30 July 2009. [4] On 5 August 2009, it was also made available on UPC Ireland's cable TV service. [5] The HD version available in the UK and Ireland was not originally a simulcast of the standard definition version of the National Geographic Channel, with some of the content coming from Rush HD, however from 1 December 2010 National Geographic Channel HD became a simulcast feed. [6]

Programmes

Continuity / Voiceovers

Rob Jarvis, who is well known as Eddie in Hustle is one of the two main male promo voices for this channel, along with Adam Longworth from XFM radio station.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Group</span> British media and telecommunications conglomerate

Sky Group Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a subsidiary of the American conglomerate Comcast, and headquartered in Isleworth. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Sky is Europe's largest media company and pay-TV broadcaster by revenue, with 23 million subscribers and more than 31,000 employees as of 2019. The company is primarily involved in satellite television, producing and broadcasting. The current CEO is Dana Strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">News Corporation</span> American media company (1980–2013)

The original incarnation of News Corporation was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Prior to its split in 2013, it was the world's largest media company in terms of total assets and the world's fourth largest media group in terms of revenue, and News Corporation had become a media powerhouse since its inception, dominating the news, television, film, and print industries.

Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. In 2019, Sky News was named Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year, the 12th time it has held the award. The channel and its live streaming world news is available on its website, TV platforms, and online platforms such as YouTube and Apple TV, and various mobile devices and digital media players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky UK</span> British telecommunications company

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 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 Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group. In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on demand content are available through these as well as via Now, EE TV and TalkTalk TV.

Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group. Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, it became Sky One and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom and Ireland as British Sky Broadcasting's flagship channel. It existed until 1 September 2021, when it closed down as part of a restructuring with its EPG position taken by Sky Showcase and much of its content library moved to Sky Max.

Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British paid television sports news channel run by Sky, a division of Comcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Living TV Group</span> British television broadcaster, 1990–2011

Living TV Group was a British television consortium originally called Flextech before becoming a subsidiary of British Sky Broadcasting, with Challenge still broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Italia</span> Italian satellite pay-television platform

Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickelodeon (British and Irish TV channel)</span> British television channel

Nickelodeon is a British pay television network aimed at children aged 5 to 14.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Deutschland</span> German media company

Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It provides a collection of basic and premium digital subscription television channels of different categories via satellite and cable television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime & Investigation (European TV channel)</span> Pan-European television channel based in the United Kingdom

Crime & Investigation is a pan-European television channel based in the United Kingdom, owned by A&E Networks UK. The channel primarily broadcasts true crime programming, and is a European version of the U.S. network of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Biography Channel (British and Irish TV channel)</span> British general entertainment channel

The Biography Channel was a British general entertainment channel available in some European countries. The channel was launched on 1 October 2000 by a joint-venture between A+E Networks and British Sky Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It later became available in Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The channel's programming, as the name suggests, is made up of the biographies of famous people, including bands, politicians and criminals. The channel ceased broadcasting at 6 am on 4 November 2013 and was replaced by Lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Media Television (Ireland)</span> Irish television company

Virgin Media Television Ltd is a commercial television company in Ireland, based in Dublin. Launched in 1998 as TV3 Television Network, the TV3 Group was formed in January 2009. The company was acquired by Liberty Global in 2015, and the channels were rebranded to Virgin Media Television in 2018.

The British media company Sky UK has incurred criticism over the years, much of it centred on overcharging, anti-competitive practices, and the business practices and undue political influence of its one-time majority owner News Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GMM Z</span>

GMM Z is a Thai set-top box distributor and former satellite television operator owned by GMM Grammy and Advanced Info Service.

This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.

National Geographic Global Networks is a business unit within National Geographic Partners and Disney Entertainment that oversees the National Geographic-branded television channels: National Geographic, Nat Geo Kids, Nat Geo Music, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo Wild and National Geographic Studios. The unit itself was a joint operation between 21st Century Fox (21CF) and the Society, but it was later integrated into the new joint venture National Geographic Partners which they formed in 2015. On March 20, 2019, 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners was assumed by Disney, following its acquisition of most 21CF businesses.

References

  1. News Corp · 10-Q · For 12/31/06
  2. British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC · 6-K · For 2/6/08
  3. Press Release – British Sky Broad. – Interim Results, RNS Number:3830N, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, 6 February 2008
  4. "Virgin Media and Channel 4 bring 4HD to millions of TV screens". Virgin Media. 29 July 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. "UPC Ireland introduces HD". Broadband TV News. 5 August 2009.
  6. "National Geographic Channel HD becomes Simulcast". Sky Programme Information. 25 November 2010.