 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2015) |
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 October 1994 |
| Closed | 30 April 1999 |
Sky Soap was a British and Irish satellite television channel operated by British Sky Broadcasting devoted to American and British soap operas that include Emmerdale Farm , Take the High Road , Families and Albion Market .
When Sky Channel was launched on the Astra satellite on 5 February 1989, the daytime schedule was overhauled and included a block of five soaps. The first, starting at 11.30am from Australia, The Sullivans , which was also still airing in some ITV regions. Next were four American daytime soaps – Another World , which had been airing on the channel since 1987, started at 12.00pm; followed by General Hospital from 12.55pm; and As the World Turns at 1.50pm and finally, Loving in a regular 2.45pm slot. [1] A sixth soap opera, The Young Doctors , was another Australian serial also being broadcast on ITV. Sky Channel initially aired it in an early evening slot at 5.00pm, before switching to mid-afternoon after 6 months, and then finally, at 10:30am, from 1990. [2]
The network changed its name to Sky One on 31 July 1989. The Sullivans, General Hospital and As the World Turns were all dropped, and in November 1990, newer American daytime soaps were added to the line-up: The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless were both inherited from BSB's Galaxy channel [3] following the corporate merger of the two companies, although neither were retained once the 3-year contract with BSB expired in 1993. In February 1991, Sky bought Santa Barbara , which was another soap opera originally broadcast on the ITV network. By 1993, with the addition of Australian soaps E Street and Paradise Beach to the schedules, as well as daytime repeat runs of American primetime series, St Elsewhere and Falcon Crest , the block of daily soap operas on Sky One ran from 10.30am through to 3.30pm.
With the success of Sky One's daytime soap opera block, it was decided in 1994 to create a new, dedicated channel, and Sky Soap began broadcasting on 3 October 1994 from the Astra 1C satellite on weekdays between 8.00am and 12.00pm. [4] The original line-up on the channel consisted entirely of American daytime soaps: a repeat run of the first season of Loving which originally aired on Sky One; Peyton Place (originally aired on ITV, and was replaced by Santa Barbara); plus, a new serial to UK viewers, Guiding Light , premiered, and As the World Turns returned, having aired on Sky One in 1989. Finally, current episodes of Another World , were moved across from Sky One.
The channel didn't attract viewers, and so the broadcast hours were changed to between 12.00pm and 4.00pm. By 1997, Sky Soap was broadcasting from Astra 1B, and the hours were extended to 11.00am to 4.00pm. The only American daytime soaps airing by then were As the World Turns and Guiding Light/
Old episodes of British soaps were added to the line-up from 1 November 1996, beginning with Emmerdale Farm and Take the High Road . A full run of Families was shown from 1 September 1997 until 26 November 1998, with Albion Market then shown from 27 November 1998 to 15 April 1999. Crown Court repeats began on 16 April 1999, just fourteen days before the channel closed.
Poor viewing figures following the launch of Sky Digital led to the channel's closure on 30 April 1999.
A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.
Emmerdale is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale, a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Interior scenes have been filmed at the Leeds Studios since its inception. Exterior scenes were first filmed in Arncliffe in Littondale, and the series may have taken its name from Amerdale, an ancient name of Littondale. Exterior scenes were later shot at Esholt, but are now shot at a purpose-built set on the Harewood estate.
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.
ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a claim now held by its sister service ITV3 both of which are freely available to a majority of households.
Sunset Beach is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from January 6, 1997, to December 31, 1999. The show follows the loves and lives of the people living in the Orange County coastal area named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California. Although there is a real community named Sunset Beach, the show's beach scenes were shot in nearby Seal Beach, California. The show was co-produced by NBC and Spelling Television.
Loving is an American television soap opera that ran on ABC from June 26, 1983, to November 10, 1995, for a total of 3,169 episodes. The serial, set in the fictional town of Corinth, Pennsylvania, was co-created by Agnes Nixon and former actor Douglas Marland.
U&Dave is a British free-to-air television channel that mainly broadcasts comedy-oriented factual programming. It is owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC Studios.
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.
Soapnet was an American basic cable network owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company.
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television – and commercial and independent radio broadcasts. The IBA came into being when the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972 gave the Independent Television Authority responsibility for organising the new Independent Local Radio (ILR) stations. The Independent Television Commission formally replaced the IBA on 1 January 1991 in regulatory terms; however, the authority itself was not officially dissolved until 2003.
A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,088 episodes were produced.
Families was a daytime soap opera, broadcast on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993. Created by writer Kay Mellor, it followed two families; the Thompsons, based in Cheshire, England, and the Stevens, living in Sydney, Australia. It was produced and recorded at Studio 6 at Granada Studios in Manchester.
Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by its original name. On 1 November 2004, it was permanently closed down by ITV plc in an attempt to bring its replacement, ITV3, onto Sky.
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.
Sheree Victoria Murphy is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her roles as Dawn in Only Fools and Horses, Tricia Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Eva Strong in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and Dakota Davies in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.
Joseph William Gilgun is an English actor and producer known for several roles, including that of Vinnie O'Neill in the Sky Max series Brassic, which he also co-created, Marcus in Hollyoaks, Eli Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Jamie Armstrong in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, Woody in the film This Is England (2006) and its subsequent spin-off series, and Rudy Wade in E4's Misfits. From 2016 to 2019, he starred in the AMC television adaptation of the Vertigo comic Preacher as the Irish vampire Cassidy.
Sky Multichannels was a package of analogue television services offered by BSkyB on the Astra satellites at 19.2° east from 1 September 1993 to 27 September 2001, which started off with 15 channels before expanding to over 40.
The following is a list of soap operas from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States that have aired in Australia over the years, in daytime and primetime slots on both free-to-air and pay television.
Kathleen Beedles is a British producer, who has worked on a total of over 2500 episodes of various British soap operas to date. She grew up in Rogart and now resides in London.
