The Power Station lapel badge

British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) The Power Station lapel badge. White 'P' on red diamond, on black background.

The Power Station was one of five channels launched by British satellite television service BSB on 25 March 1990. The channel was dedicated to music, including programmes and live concerts. Its weekday morning show Power Station’s Breakfast Show was hosted by Chris Evans, who would go on to have success on Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and as the long running breakfast show presenter on BBC Radio 1. Following the merger of BSB and Sky, The Power Station stopped broadcasting on 8 April 1991.

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.