The Movie Channel lapel badge

British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) Movie Channel lapel badge. Yellow 'M' on pale blue diamond with white edge, on black background.

The Movie Channel was one of five channels launched by British satellite television service BSB on 25 March 1990. It was the longest running of the original BSB channels, following the merger with Sky. The Movie Channel moved from the Marco Polo 1 satellite to Astra 1B on 15 April 1991. It continued to be broadcast alongside Sky Movies until 31 October 1997 when it was rebranded as Sky Movies Screen 2.

Branding for BSB was created by Lambie-Nairn. Each station identity was arranged in a diamond to reflect the distinctive squarial antenna.

BSB won the license for direct broadcast satellite (DBS) in the UK. It struggled with high start-up costs, which included launching its own Marcopolo satellites and delays caused by equipment needed to receive the D-MAC transmission standards. By the time it launched in 1990 it faced competition from Sky, which had started broadcasting in the UK from pan-European infrastructure as Satellite Television in 1983. BSB promoted its higher quality technology and programming but both companies lost money. BSB and Sky merged on 2 November 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting. The new company marketed as Sky was effectively a take-over that saw the end of BSB with its channels, satellites and assets phased out shortly after.