Bit weird that Sky now only marks 1989 as its birth (basically Murdoch having taken over). It’s the same with The Sun which existed pre-1969 but is never mentioned in anniversaries etc
Good question. When i started watching in 1987, it seemed most of the Sky-produced stuff (Countdown/Eurochart/live football) was from Holland, yet no mention of Holland here
I'm still amazed all this was going on without me knowing. I assumed in the UK there were just 4 channels, period. I didn't know some areas had cable with many more channels, I thought that didn't start until 1989 with Sky satellite.
Yeah, all the old regional cable networks in the 80s are very interesting. We didn't get cable in my area until 1994 like many areas when Telewest/NTL did their big expansions.
Sky Channel was initially encrypted using Oak Orion scrambling for cable system distribution only, but later on they pulled it going free to air all over Europe for motorised satellite dish owners.
We've got videos that were recorded in 1983 that are still in great shape. One of them is the Christmas 1983 Top of the Pops show. Videos from that time can still be in great shape if you've looked after them properly.
Sky channel in 1989: you can replace me!!!!! Sky one: I’m a news Corp member Sky channel in 1989: oh no AAAAUGH sky movies Eurosport and sky news: where here sky one: wow sky chance is now sky television
According to an article in The Times on 17th Jan 1984, the schedule the night before (i.e. the night featured in this video) was: 17:00 Cartoon* 17:05 Cable Countdown* (pop) 17:50 Launch Party 18:00 Fantasy Island (US series) 18:55 Charlie's Angels 19:45 Vegas (US series) 20:35 Roving Report (news) 21:00 American Football 22:00 Closedown Those shows marked with an asterix were, according to The Times article, not available via Swindon Cable's broadcast of the channel. The same article does however state that Cable Countdown went down well with Ann, the teenage daughter of the Cameron family . So was The Times wrong to state that the show was unavailable in Swindon, were the Cameron family watching via actual Satelitte signal rather than Swindon Cable (even though Swindon Cable was meant to be the first time the channel could be recieved by anyone in the Uk), or was the claim that the show went down well with Ann completely made up the reporter because they were perhaps told their article had to refer to every show in the night's schedule in some way.
I have checked against the news archives of both ITN and the BBC, and the Swindon launch of Sky Channel, opened by Kate Bush, was very definitely on Monday 16th January 1984. For example ITN's coverage is archived here if you wish to see the trancript to check the date yourself (you'll have to sign up for free with getty images first though): www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/721170517
@@BlShell Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! That totally confused me too. Although Having there again the channel had already been broadcasting elsewhere prior to this day, it was just not officially available in the Uk until this launch on Swindon Cable.
Bit weird that Sky now only marks 1989 as its birth (basically Murdoch having taken over). It’s the same with The Sun which existed pre-1969 but is never mentioned in anniversaries etc
Murdoch owned 65% of Satellite Television/Sky Channel in 1983
really good quality for its age
Netherlands was not mentioned, when they get Sky Channel. The Dutch contributed lots of programs to Sky Channel.
Good question. When i started watching in 1987, it seemed most of the Sky-produced stuff (Countdown/Eurochart/live football) was from Holland, yet no mention of Holland here
I'm still amazed all this was going on without me knowing. I assumed in the UK there were just 4 channels, period. I didn't know some areas had cable with many more channels, I thought that didn't start until 1989 with Sky satellite.
Yeah, all the old regional cable networks in the 80s are very interesting. We didn't get cable in my area until 1994 like many areas when Telewest/NTL did their big expansions.
Thanks for uploading Paul, this is fascinating!
Quite nice CGI logo for 1983.
thanks very much for uploading
Back in the days where we had "tape operators".
prefer this logo than there current one!
Sky Channel was initially encrypted using Oak Orion scrambling for cable system distribution only, but later on they pulled it going free to air all over Europe for motorised satellite dish owners.
How did you capture this? The quality is truly amazing for a recording made in 1983.
Hi Kris, thankfully amongst my archive I kept a copy on Hi Band Umatic, having worked for Thorn EMI's Swindon Cable.
We've got videos that were recorded in 1983 that are still in great shape. One of them is the Christmas 1983 Top of the Pops show. Videos from that time can still be in great shape if you've looked after them properly.
Sky channel in 1989: you can replace me!!!!! Sky one: I’m a news Corp member Sky channel in 1989: oh no AAAAUGH sky movies Eurosport and sky news: where here sky one: wow sky chance is now sky television
sky wtf
Sky one in 2021 i'm retired, my succussor is Sky Showcase, Good luck buddy.
Sky Showcase Thanks.
Amazing does anyone know what programs were on Sky during the 80s? Because I don't know if Wikipedia is a reliable source
According to an article in The Times on 17th Jan 1984, the schedule the night before (i.e. the night featured in this video) was:
17:00 Cartoon*
17:05 Cable Countdown* (pop)
17:50 Launch Party
18:00 Fantasy Island (US series)
18:55 Charlie's Angels
19:45 Vegas (US series)
20:35 Roving Report (news)
21:00 American Football
22:00 Closedown
Those shows marked with an asterix were, according to The Times article, not available via Swindon Cable's broadcast of the channel. The same article does however state that Cable Countdown went down well with Ann, the teenage daughter of the Cameron family . So was The Times wrong to state that the show was unavailable in Swindon, were the Cameron family watching via actual Satelitte signal rather than Swindon Cable (even though Swindon Cable was meant to be the first time the channel could be recieved by anyone in the Uk), or was the claim that the show went down well with Ann completely made up the reporter because they were perhaps told their article had to refer to every show in the night's schedule in some way.
@@MrDannyDetail thank you kind sir ^_^
Sky Channel In London
wow sir
What content did they have in 1983?
Music shows mostly. Pat Sharp shows etc. Replaced by MusicBox for a short period before they returned on Sky Traxx
Enough to only full 5 hours a night!
Swindon Cable 😀 📺 🎵
16th January 1984?
I think 83 i wrong And as you say it should by 84
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Television_plc
Definitely 1983 as it says
I have checked against the news archives of both ITN and the BBC, and the Swindon launch of Sky Channel, opened by Kate Bush, was very definitely on Monday 16th January 1984. For example ITN's coverage is archived here if you wish to see the trancript to check the date yourself (you'll have to sign up for free with getty images first though): www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/721170517
@@paullangcaster7909 Jan 1984 definitely
It says 16th October 1983 at 0:33. Was that added later? I thought it was from the time, but maybe not.
1:11: sky's b'day sign?
Their literal "birth day".
I was also confused.
@@BlShell Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! That totally confused me too. Although Having there again the channel had already been broadcasting elsewhere prior to this day, it was just not officially available in the Uk until this launch on Swindon Cable.
It's Kate Bush!! 0:57
♥️♥️♥️♥️
thx
Five hours haha that made me laugh
Channel 4 from launch 2nd November 1982 was 7 hours.