Satellite Dish (for Sky)

One metre diameter domestic satellite dish receiver for Sky, manufactured circa 1989.

Sky was one of two competing satellite television providers in the UK in the late 1980s. It broadcast originally from the Orbital Test Satellite, then later Astra 1A. The satellites and signals were not compatible with competitors BSB. This dish received the Sky transmissions and was installed on the exterior of the viewers property. The dish fed the signal to a decoder box connected to the television receiver which enabled the images to be viewed.

Sky first launched as a pan-European service Satellite Television in 1982, initially in Norway and Finland. News International acquired 65% of the company in 1983 and began broadcasts in the UK on 16 October. The service was renamed Sky Channel in 1984. Ahead of the launch of competitor BSB, which held the direct satellite broadcast (DSB) license in the UK, Sky expanded its service to four channels and renamed Sky Television in 1989. The service stopped European broadcasts becoming UK and Ireland only later that year.

Both Sky and BSB struggled and merged to form BSkyB in 1990. Services were moved to Sky’s Astra satellite making former BSB receiving dishes redundant. Nine channels from BSB and Sky were streamlined into a five channel network: Sky Movies, The Movie Channel, Sky Sports, Sky One and Sky News. In 1993 Sky Multi-Channels was launched with a package of 14 channels at basic subscription level.

This particular satellite was installed on the roof of the National Science and Media Museum in 1986 (then known as The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television) to provide satellite signals for gallery displays.