 Logo of "Now" | |
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | British Satellite Broadcasting (later Sky) |
| Sister channels | The Movie Channel The Sports Channel Galaxy The Power Station The Computer Channel |
| History | |
| Launched | 28 March 1990 |
| Closed | 1 December 1990 |
| Replaced by | Sky News Sky Arts |
Now was a British television channel transmitted as part of the British Satellite Broadcasting service during 1990.
The Now channel was originally designed to be a live 24-hour news channel similar to CNN and Sky News, with its content provided by ITN. [1] Between the awarding of the franchise and the launch of the channel, ITN withdrew its involvement with BSB after failing to reach an agreement on how to provide its news service [2] and the Now channel's remit was changed to a mix of daytime lifestyle shows, current affairs programming, and arts programmes at weekends. The channel was promoted under the slogan "The Channel For Living". Now was broadcast throughout BSB's short spell on air from March to December 1990 on the Marcopolo satellites.
On 2 November 1990, BSB merged with Sky to form British Sky Broadcasting, it was decided to streamline the channels available on both services. Now was replaced with Sky News, which Sky Television had broadcast on the Astra 1A satellite.
Now ceased broadcasting on Saturday 1 December 1990 at 1.00am – the first of the five BSB channels to close. As there were still arts programmes yet to be shown on Now, BSkyB broadcast Sky Arts as a weekend-only opt-out of the Sky News service on the Marcopolo satellite. Once all shows were broadcast, Sky Arts was closed, though the name itself eventually returned in March 2007 when the channel Artsworld, which was taken over by BSkyB in June 2005, was relaunched.
Now featured a mix of talk and chat shows, documentaries, news, current affairs and arts programming. As with all of BSB's other channels, Now carried short BSB News bulletins throughout the day.
One of Now's most memorable programmes was Now Sir Robin fronted by ex- Question Time presenter Sir Robin Day, which later transferred to Sky News. The programme covered the week's political happenings and confrontations. Now broadcast a number of theatre and classical music performances during its short period on-air. Arts programming featured on most nights.
| Programming | |
|---|---|
| Picture format | 4:3 (576i SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting |
| History | |
| Launched | 2 December 1990 |
| Replaced | Now |
| Closed | 31 December 1992 [3] |
| Replaced by | Sky Soap Sky Travel |
Originally, Sky Arts was planned as a full channel on the Astra 1A satellite at the beginning of the Sky Television service in 1989. Promotional material broadcast during the launch indicated the channel would appear later that year along with Disney Channel. [4] Neither channel launched at the time, Disney due to disputes with Sky, whilst arts programming (such as an early broadcast of the opera Carmen ) was instead broadcast on Sky One.
Following the merger of British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television to form British Sky Broadcasting in 1990, [5] Now was replaced with Sky News. [6] However, contracts were still in place to transmit some shows intended for the Now channel, so occasional weekend opt-outs from Sky News took place for Marcopolo satellite viewers (which was owned by BSB prior to the merger and which carried Now). This opt-out was entitled Sky Arts. [7] [8]
Around six months later, all outstanding programmes had been broadcast. This meant that the full Sky News service was broadcast on both Marcopolo and Astra and Sky Arts ceased to broadcast.[ citation needed ]
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.
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Rapture TV was a previously free-to-air satellite television station operated from the United Kingdom, founded in 1997. Focusing mostly on electronic dance music and extreme sports, it is notable for the number of times it has failed financially only to be relaunched.
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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.
Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated a nine-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989. Sky Television and its rival British Satellite Broadcasting suffered large financial losses, and merged on 2 November 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting. A programming merger took effect on 1 December 1990.
Galaxy was a short-lived British satellite television channel, owned and operated by British Satellite Broadcasting.
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.
The Movie Channel was a British television service which only aired movies. Launched on British Satellite Broadcasting, The Movie Channel was a predecessor of some of the Sky Movies channels, having survived the 1990 merger with Sky Television, another satellite service launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International.
The Squarial was a satellite antenna used for reception of the now defunct British Satellite Broadcasting television service (BSB). The Squarial was a flat plate satellite antenna, built to be unobtrusive and unique. BSB were counting on the form factor of the antenna to clearly differentiate themselves from their competitors at the time. At the time of development, satellite installations usually required a 90 cm dish in order to receive a clear signal from the transmitting satellite. The smaller antenna was BSB's unique selling point and was heavily advertised in order to attract customers to their service.
Satellite television varies in the different regions around the world.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Television.
This is a timeline of cable television in the United Kingdom.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky News, a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky Cinema.
This is a timeline of the history of Sky One and its spin-off channels.
And still to come in 1989, Sky Arts, plus the ultimate in family entertainment, introducing The Disney Channel!
