BSB logo

British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) was a company set up in 1986 to provide direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. Though rival Sky Television was also suffering massive losses by 1990, BSB was in a worse position. The companies merged, though it was in effect a takeover by Sky to form today's British Sky Broadcasting or BSkyB. BSB shareholders Granada, Pearson and Chargeurs maintained an interest in BSkyB through BSB Holdings Limited, but gradually sold their shares throughout the 1990s. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to as direct-to-home signals. ... Sky Television corporate identity from 1989, maintained by British Sky Broadcasting until 1995 Sky Television plc was a four-channel satellite television service launched by Rupert Murdochs News International on February 5, 1989. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Pearson plc LSE: PSON;NYSE: PSO is a London-based media conglomerate. ... Chargeurs Réunis (United Shippers) was a major French company formed in 1872. ...

Background

BSB's Five Channels: The Movie Channel, The Sports Channel, Galaxy, Power Station and Now

Evolution of UK satellite television

A Squarial installed on a house wall

BSB TV Month promotional magazine, first issue

The British Satellite Broadcasting consortium was formed in 1986 by Granada, Pearson, Virgin and Amstrad. In early 1988 the BSB consortium was awarded a licence to operate three channels by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The consortium changed around this time; Virgin and Amstrad withdrew and Australian businessman Alan Bond joined. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (925x645, 44 KB)Original Powerpoint presentation by Mark83. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (925x645, 44 KB)Original Powerpoint presentation by Mark83. ... Image File history File links Squarial2. ... Image File history File links Squarial2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 433 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (837 × 1158 pixel, file size: 135 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) BSB TV Month magazine This image is of a magazine cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 433 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (837 × 1158 pixel, file size: 135 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) BSB TV Month magazine This image is of a magazine cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the... The Virgin Group Ltd is a group of separately run companies that each use Virgin brand of English celebrity business tycoon Sir Richard Branson. ... Amstrad is a manufacturer of electronics based in Brentwood in Essex, England and founded in 1968 by Sir Alan Michael Sugar in the UK. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. ... Alan Bond (born April 22, 1938) is an Australian businessman famous for high-profile business ventures, Alan Bond opened the way for a new style of entrepreneur internationally; building up companies and turning them into the most successful entities in the world with enthusiasm and innovation. ...

Rupert Murdoch, having failed to gain regulatory approval for his own satellite service, announced in July 1988 that his pan-European Sky Channel would be relaunched as a four channel UK based service, Sky Television.

The BBC had previously proposed its own satellite service, but pulled out when the Government insisted that the BBC should pay for the satellite's construction and launch. In addition to BSB's three channels licences for two more channels would be put out to tender. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ...

The stage was set for a dramatic confrontation. BSB, anticipated as the UK's only satellite service, was faced with an aggressive drive by Murdoch's Sky to be the first service to launch.

BSB was forced by the conditions of its licence to pay for the construction and launch of two satellites, named Marcopolo 1 and 2 after Marco Polo, jointly capable of broadcasting five channels that could be received on 30cm (12") diameter dishes. The satellites were high powered versions of Hughes Space and Communications' HS376 satellites. As Britain's official satellite provider BSB had high hopes. The company planned to provide a mixture of highbrow programming and popular entertainment, from arts shows and opera to blockbuster movies and music videos. The service would also be technically superior, broadcasting in the D-MAC (Multiplexed Analogue Components type D) system, with potentially superior picture sharpness, digital stereo sound and the capability to show widescreen programming, rather than the existing PAL system. Marcopolo 1 and 2 (spelled thus) were two satellites launched in 1989 in order to carry the five television channels of Britains official direct broadcast satellite company, British Satellite Broadcasting. ... Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ... Multiplexed Analogue Components (MAC) is a high-definition television transmission standard, originally proposed in 1995 for European HDTV. MAC transmits luminance and chrominance data separately in time rather than separately in frequency (as other analog television formats do, such as composite video). ... Television encoding systems by nation. ...

In contrast to BSBs ambitious (and highly expensive) technology; Sky chose to use the European Astra satellite and broadcast in PAL with analogue sound, this system would require 60cm (24") dishes. BSB ridiculed Sky's proposals, claiming that the PAL pictures would be too degraded by satellite transmission, and that in any case BSB had superior programming. SES Astra SA, a subsidiary of SES Global, is a Luxembourg-based (in Betzdorf) corporation which owns and operates the Astra series of geostationary satellites, which transmit approximately 1100 analogue and digital television and radio channels via 176 transponders to 91 million households across Europe. ... An Earth observation satellite, ERS 2 For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). ...

To distance itself from Sky and its dish antennas, BSB announced a new type of flat-plate satellite antenna called a "Squarial" (i.e., "square aerial"). However the prototype Squarial shown to the press was a dummy; BSB eventually commissioned a working version from a Japanese company, but it was almost 45 cm (18") in width. The company also had serious technical problems with the development of its MAC receivers. When Sky went on air in February of 1989 BSB was still hoping to launch that September, but eventually had to admit that the launch would be delayed. The only compensation was that since no one else had come forward to operate the two spare channels, BSB now had a licence to operate five channels rather than just three. The company continued to promote its new improved Squarial with the slogan "It's Smart to be Square". Despite the length of time since the service closed down, squarials can still be seen on some houses. BSB also had a "minidish" in addition to the squarial, these can also still be seen attached to some properties.

BSB's five satellite channels were 1:The Movie Channel, 2:The Sports Channel, 3:Galaxy, 4:The Power Station and 5:Now. A predecessor of some of the Sky Movies channels, launched on BSB in 1989, survived merger with Sky (1990), rebranded as Sky Movies Screen 2 in 1997, then Sky Moviemax (1998), Sky Movies Max, and Sky Movies 2. ... The Sports Channel was a British television channel, operated by British Satellite Broadcasting, that broadcast live and recorded sporting action, plus sports news and interviews. ... Galaxy, one of the five channels run by British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), was the General Entertainment channel, it carried quite a few American imports as well as a few home grown shows, fans will remember the soap set in space Jupiter Moon, and the magazine show 31 West, who got... The Power Station was a British television channel that was operated by British Satellite Broadcasting (later British Sky Broadcasting after BSB and Sky Television merged) and was about music, fashion and comedy. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

Competition

The successful launch of Sky had proved two things. First, the PAL system usually gave adequate picture quality; and second, many people were quite happy to watch Sky's "lowbrow" programming and not wait for BSB's promised quality output. Sky also had lower overheads. BSB had an expensive headquarters (Marco Polo House) in Battersea, south London, while Sky operated out of a west London industrial estate. BSB's construction and launch of its own satellites cost an estimated £200 million while Sky leased transponders for 10 years on the Astra satellite system for around £50m. BSB also indulged in corporate extravagance, for example flying executives to Florida to witness the launch of one of its satellites. Marco Polo House is a large building at 346 Queenstown Road facing Battersea Park in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... Battersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... SES Astra SA, a subsidiary of SES Global, is a Luxembourg-based (in Betzdorf) corporation which owns and operates the Astra series of geostationary satellites, which transmit approximately 1100 analogue and digital television and radio channels via 176 transponders to 91 million households across Europe. ...

When BSB finally went on air in March 1990, more than a year after Sky, its technical problems were resolved and its programming was critically acclaimed. But its receivers were incompatible with Sky's, and also more expensive. Many potential customers saw the competition between the rival satellite companies as being like the format war between the VHS and Betamax video systems, and many of them decided to wait and see which company would succeed rather than committing themselves to buying equipment that might soon be obsolete. Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... A format war describes competition between competing, and typically mutually incompatible, electronic media formats, usually very costly to the format-owning parties involved. ... Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS is a recording and playing standard for analog video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC) and launched... Sonys Betamax is the 12. ...

Merger

In October 1990 an enterprising manufacturer came up with a dual satellite dish that could be used to receive both Sky and BSB services, although separate receivers would still be required. It was almost instantly obsolete. Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

In 1990 both companies were beginning to struggle with the burden of massive losses. The failure of BSB in November 1990 led to a merger, which was in effect a takeover by Sky - quality programming and superior technical quality was beaten by shrewd, aggressive marketing and pragmatic capital expenditure. The new company was called British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) but marketed as Sky, Marco Polo House was emptied (most staff were made redundant with a few moving to Sky's HQ), BSB's channels were largely scrapped in favour of Sky's and the Marco Polo satellites were withdrawn and eventually sold in favour of the Astra system (Marcopolo I in December 1993 to NSAB of Sweden and Marcopolo II in July 1992 to Telenor of Norway. Both companies had already one HS376 in orbit at the time). The merger may have saved Sky financially; despite its popularity, Sky had very few major advertisers to begin with. Acquiring BSB's healthier advertising contracts and equipment apparently solved the company's problems. Ironically, Sky News began transmitting services to Scandinavia from the Thor satellites. Marco Polo House is a large building at 346 Queenstown Road facing Battersea Park in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB) is a company that operates two SIRIUS satellites, which provide the Nordic countries and the Baltic states, with TV, radio, data and communications solutions. ... Telenor (OSE: TEL, NASDAQ: TELN) is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. ...

NSAB operated Marcopolo I (as Sirius 1) until sending it to junk orbit in 2003, Marcopolo II was operated (as Thor 1) until 2002 and shared the same fate. A graveyard orbit is an orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life. ...

BSB's expensive headquarters remained owned by the new company, and in 1993 became the home of shopping channel QVC when the channel launched in the UK. Broadcasting platform ITV Digital moved into part of the building as part of the settlement that saw Sky forced out of the original company. Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Technically, two BSB channels still exist. The Movie Channel kept its name until 1997, being briefly rebranded as "Sky Movies Screen 2", Sky Moviemax and then Sky Movies 2. The channel is now Sky Movies Premiere +1. Sky Sports 1 is what was formerly The Sports Channel, rebranded as "Sky Sports" after the merger.

External links

• BSB and Squarials. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
• - BSB squarial the superior satellite solution - BSB Squarial Decoder - Spaghoops.com -. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
• BSB Promo Video clip - Orbitalzone.Com. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References