Television in the United Kingdom

Chimney-mounted Yagi-Uda antennae, more commonly known as aerials, used for receiving terrestrial television.

Digital terrestrial television launched in 1998 as a subscription service named ONdigital. Since October 2002 the primary broadcaster has been Freeview, which is free-of-charge to view.

YouView is also distinctly marketed although it provides the same free channels as Freeview as it uses the same transmitter network.

The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes, and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. Three multiplexes, carrying channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, S4C, and Channel 5 as well as radio, are available to 98.5% of the population from 1,154 transmitters. A further 3 multiplexes transmit to 90% of homes from 80 transmitters, and another 2 multiplexes are available to 76% of homes from 30 transmitters. The terrestrial service consisting of just the 3 public service multiplexes, available to 8.5% of the population, is informally called 'Freeview Light' by some websites. In Northern Ireland, a multiplex carrying channels from the Republic of Ireland can reach 90% of Northern Irish homes from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available from an additional multiplex at 42 transmitters.[7][8][9]

Catch-up TV services such as BBC iPlayer are available via the broadband connection of both Freeview and YouView receivers. On YouView, subscription-TV services from BT, TalkTalk, Plusnet, and global-streaming services can also be received via the broadband connection. SureTV offers a similar service in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

A pavement dug up, revealing the cables underneath. The green box is a common sight in areas with cable coverage, as are manhole covers inscribed with CATV.

Many regional companies developed cable-television services in the late 1980s and 1990s. As of 2020 they have amalgamated in Virgin Media, which is available to 55% of households.[10] Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband.

WightFibre operates on the Isle of Wight, however it acts as a distributor for Sky and YouView instead of having an integrated TV service.[11]

Satellite dishes on a wall in Hackney, London. The small oval dishes are most likely being used for viewing British services, and are known as Minidishes. The larger dishes are most likely being used for viewing satellite services from outside the UK.

There are three distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception).

Sky TV is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd, owned by Comcast, which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder, the ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go, which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet.

Freesat from Sky is a free satellite-service owned by Sky Ltd. Existing Sky TV customers can end their ongoing subscriptions and opt for the Free-To-View viewing-card, which gives them the Freesat from Sky service. Freesat from Sky does not provide digital recording or video-on-demand. Freesat from Sky has more channels than Freesat, which are mostly international or shopping channels. The on-screen programme guide lists subscription channels even thought they can't be viewed.

Freesat is a free satellite-service developed jointly by the BBC and ITV. In contrast to Freesat from Sky, it does not need a viewing card. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via the broadband connection. The on-screen programme guide lists the available channels, rather than encrypted channels which need a subscription to view.

¼ scale mockup of the Eutelsat 28A satellite, a Spacebus 3000B2 manufactured by Thales Alenia Space Alcatel Space

Freesat, Freesat from Sky and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east (Astra 2E/2F/2G). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit, they are positioned above the earth's equator (0°N 28.2°E / 0; 28.2 (Satellites transmitting Sky TV, Freesat and Freesat from Sky to the UK and Ireland)) approximately 35,786 km above mean sea level; this places them above the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK.

There are numerous online services targeting the UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video. For brevity, the following table does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, or services which don't target the UK. In July 2018 Ofcom statistics showed that the 15.4 million subscribers to commercial online video services exceeded the number of traditional pay TV service subscribers for the first time.[21]

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in the UK. As of 1 March 2020, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 11 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 17 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%.[22]

As of March 1 2020, there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and ViacomCBS individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to)

The BBC is the world's oldest and largest broadcaster, and is the country's principal public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded primarily by a television licence and from sales of its programming to overseas markets. It does not carry advertising. The licence fee is levied on all households that watch or record TV as it's being broadcast[24] and the fee is determined by periodic negotiation between the government and the BBC.

Its first analogue terrestrial channel, the BBC Television Service, launched in 1936. It rebranded to BBC 1 in 1964, the same year that BBC 2 launched, the UK's third analogue terrestrial channel after ITV. Both channels styled as BBC One and BBC Two from 1997. BBC News 24 launched as an analogue cable channel in 1997, later rebranding to BBC News. BBC Parliament, which was originally an analogue cable channel known as The Parliamentary Channel, was acquired by the BBC in 1998. From 1998 onwards the BBC started digital TV transmissions, launching new channels and broadcasting via satellite in addition to terrestrial and cable. BBC Three closed as a broadcast channel in 2016, continuing as an Internet video service.

The BBC's Internet-based service iPlayer contains content from the BBC's TV channels, the Welsh-language public-service broadcaster S4C, as well as videos created from BBC radio programmes, with Radio 1 in particular appearing as a channel alongside the normal TV channels.

UKTV is a commercial broadcaster owned by BBC Studios, one of the BBC's commercial units. Originating in 1992 with UK Gold, UKTV expanded its channels from 1997 onwards, with the BBC taking full ownership in June 2019. Unlike the BBC's public service channels, the UKTV channels contain advertising.

ITV is the network of fifteen regional commercial television franchises, founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements, and has been the most popular commercial channel through most of its existence. Through a series of mergers, takeovers and relaxation of regulation, thirteen of these companies are now owned by ITV plc; the other two are owned by STV Group. ITV plc, the operator of all English, Welsh, Southern Scotland and Channel Island franchises, had branded the channel as ITV1 since 2001, with regional names being used prior to regional programmes only since 2002. The ITV name was restored in 2013. ITV plc also operate the Northern Ireland franchise under the UTV brand name. STV Group, which operates the two other Scottish franchises, has now unified the regions under the single name of STV. ITV has been officially known as Channel 3 since 1990, although this is seldom used to identify itself.

ITV plc also operates digital channels ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, ITVBe and CITV, some with HDTV streams. ITN, a subsidiary, currently holds the national news franchise, and ITV Breakfast operates the breakfast franchise.

Launched in 1982, Channel 4 is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA, especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4, Film4, More4, 4Music, 4seven and various timeshift services. Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of the six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4. Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have 6 set advertising regions.

With Bauer Media Group, Channel 4 jointly owns a range of music channels under the Box Plus Network banner.

Sky is a European broadcaster owned by global American media conglomerate Comcast.[25] Sky Television launched in 1989, with a 4-channel service received via satellite. The channels at launch were Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport. They were initially free to receive, and Sky Movies was the first to move to a subscription early in 1990. Sky News was the UK's first dedicated news channel. The new service was the UK's first consumer satellite TV service, beating rival BSB, with which Sky would later merge to become BSkyB. Sky's satellite service grew to become a subscription platform through which Sky offer their own channels, pay-per-view services and channels from other broadcasters. Sky's digital platform launched in 1998, with the original analogue service closing in 2001. Sky was acquired by Comcast in 2018.

Since 2012, Sky operate NOW TV, an Internet TV streaming service offering subscriptions without a fixed-term contract.

Sky's channel portfolio has grown greatly since the launch of digital TV. Sky make their channels available via rival cable and Internet services as well as their own satellite service and NOW TV.

Channel 5 was the fifth analogue terrestrial channel to launch, in March 1997. Due to constraints with the available UHF frequencies at the time, many households had to retune their video recorders, which shared the frequency on their RF output with the frequency used by Channel 5's new broadcasts. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial channel to also broadcast via satellite. From 2006 onwards, Channel 5 launched new digital channels and an Internet on-demand service. After changing ownership several times, in May 2014 Channel 5 and its sister channels were acquired by Viacom, an American media conglomerate.[26]

By the time it acquired Channel 5, Viacom already operated a large number of subscription channels in the UK, including the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, which are available via Sky TV, Virgin Media and NOW TV. In terms of viewing share, the combined viewing across ViacomCBS's channels make the group the UK's 5th largest broadcaster, according to BARB's viewing figures for 1 March 2020.[27] Viacom merged with CBS in December 2019.

100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as the most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are:

100 Greatest TV Moments was a list compiled by Channel 4 in 1999. The top 10 entries are:

The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most-watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne, shown only on BBC1. The figures in these tables represent the average viewership achieved by each broadcast during its run-time and do not include peak viewership.

• Post-1981 figures verified by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)
• Pre-1981 figures supplied by the British Film Institute (BFI)

Notes:

• The Wedding of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon (6 May 1960) was watched by an estimated 25 million viewers in Britain.
• At least two Muhammad Ali boxing matches were reported to have been watched by at least 26 million viewers in the United Kingdom: the Fight of the Century (Ali vs. Frazier) was reported to have been watched by 27.5 million British viewers in 1971,[39] and The Rumble in the Jungle (Ali vs. Foreman) was reported to have been watched by 26 million viewers on BBC1 in 1974.[40]
• Live Aid is reported to have reached approximately 24.5 million British viewers in July 1985.[41]
• The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (29 April 2011) received a total audience peak of 26 million viewers, but this is a combined figure aggregated from the ten different channels that broadcast the ceremony. The highest figures of these were 13.59 million on BBC1, with an extra 4.02 million watching on ITV.[42]

The 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows was a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4 in 2001. The top 5 UK-produced programmes are:

The British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series is one of the major categories of the British Academy Television Awards. The last 5 winners are:

• 2017: Happy Valley – Red Production Company / BBC One
• 2016: Wolf Hall – Company Pictures / BBC Two
• 2015: Happy Valley – Red Production Company / BBC One
• 2014: Broadchurch – Kudos Film & Television / ITV
• 2013: Last Tango in Halifax – BBC Television / BBC One

Weekday programming on terrestrial channels begins at 6 am with breakfast national news programmes (along with regional news updates) on BBC One and ITV, with Channel 5 showing children's programs. BBC Two also showed children's programming all morning until the start of 2013. That channel now broadcasts repeats of BBC One's daytime programmes. Channel 4 predominately broadcasts comedy and music programmes such as Everybody Loves Raymond and Freshly Squeezed in its morning slot. The weekday breakfast news programme ends at 9:15 am on BBC One and 8:30 am on ITV.

Following this on BBC One, lifestyle programming is generally shown, including property, auction and home/garden makeover. BBC One continues this genre until after the lunchtime news, whereby afternoon has a soap called Doctors followed by dramas currently occupy the schedule. BBC Two broadcasts repeats of recent BBC One programmes with on-screen signing before airing news and politics programming between 11 am and 1 pm. ITV on the other hand takes over from GMB at 9:00 am, and generally broadcasts more human-interest chat-style shows, including Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women, in the morning to mid-afternoon slots, with the ITV Lunchtime News (including a regional bulletin) at 1:30 pm. Channel 4 often shows home-project and archaeology lifestyle programming in the early afternoon after a Channel 4 News summary. Channel 5 broadcasts chatshow programmes in the morning including Jeremy Vine with regular news bulletins. In the afternoon it shows a drama followed by an hour of Australian soaps such as Home and Away and Neighbours and a film.

Until the end of 2012 BBC One showed children's programmes in the late afternoon but the channel now continues to show lifestyle programming until broadcasting the game show Pointless at 5:15 pm. BBC Two used to show lifestyle programming such as Animal Park in the late afternoon before these programmes were switched to BBC One. BBC Two now broadcasts repeats unless it is showing sporting events. ITV shows a lifestyle programme followed by a chat show such as The Alan Titchmarsh Show before repeats of classic ITV shows, such as Heartbeat, Poirot and Midsomer Murders in late-afternoon, before a gameshow-style programme at 5:00 pm, which have included Golden Balls and The Price Is Right.

News bulletins are broadcast between 6 pm and 7 pm on both BBC One and ITV, with BBC One beginning with the national BBC News at Six and ITV with the flagship regional news programme. At around 18.30, BBC One broadcasts the regional news programmes whilst ITV broadcasts the ITV Evening News. Channel 4 News starts at 7 pm.

Primetime programming is usually dominated by further soaps, including Doctors, EastEnders on BBC One, Coronation Street and Emmerdale on ITV, and Hollyoaks on Channel 4. These soap operas or 'continuing dramas' as they are now called can vary throughout the year, however weekly dramas, such as Holby City, are also fixed to scheduling. Because of this, the UK can often rely more heavily on TV guides, be it with the newspaper, online, via information services on the television such as the BBC Red Button service or the built in Electronic Programme Guides.

At 10pm with the flagship national news on BBC One in BBC News at Ten and on ITV on ITV News at Ten followed by the regional late night news

After midnight, when late evening films are shown, many channels cease broadcasting "normal" programming or simulcast with another channel. Before 2000, the channels simply closed down. However, since then programming has been shown continuously. BBC One will join BBC News in a multichannel simulcast and BBC Two shows a continuous loop of forthcoming programme previews and trailers, although prior to the completion of Digital switchover BBC Two had filled its overnight downtime with Pages from Ceefax. Between 2005 and 2007 ITV broadcast the ITV Play strand of phone-in participation TV programmes but now much of the night is dedicated to the text-based ITV information service ITV Nightscreen. Previously, Channel 4 had closed down to show live feeds of Big Brother (in the summer) and its spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother (in January). However, since 2010, repeats of Channel 4 daytime shows have typically been shown. Until the end of the 2000s Channel 5 generally showed various sports from around the world, including boxing and football from European leagues as well as live American sport, with phone-in participation-TV Quiz Call on weekends. Quiz Call is now shown every night of the week.

Weekend daytime programming traditionally consists of more lifestyle programming, as well as afternoon live and recorded coverage of sporting events and films. There are further battles for viewers in the weekend primetime slot, often featuring reality or talent game shows in the evening. Lunchtime, early evening and late evening news programmes continue on BBC One and ITV although the length of the bulletins are shorter than during the week.

In 1963 Mary Whitehouse, incensed by the liberalising policies followed by Sir Hugh Greene, then director general of the BBC, began her letter writing campaign. She subsequently launched the Clean Up TV Campaign, and founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1965. In 2008, Toby Young in an article for The Independent wrote: "On the wider question of whether sex and violence on TV has led to a general moral collapse in society at large, the jury is still out. No one doubts that Western civilization is teetering on the brink ... but it is unfair to lay the blame entirely at the feet of BBC2 and Channel 4."[43]

In 2005, the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera elicited 55,000 complaints,[44] and provoked protests from Christian organisation Christian Voice,[45] and a private prosecution against the BBC by the Christian Institute.[46] A summons was not issued.[47]

In 2007, the General Synod of the Church of England claimed that programmes such as Celebrity Big Brother and Little Britain were eroding moral standards. The Synod criticised broadcasting trends that "exploit the humiliation of human beings for public entertainment", and called for research to determine the behavioural impact of sexual or violent images.[48]

ITV plc, the company which owns 12 of the 15 regional ITV franchises, has set its production arm ITV Studios a target of producing 75% of the ITV schedule,[59] the maximum allowed by Ofcom. This would be a rise from 54% at present, as part of a strategy to make ITV content-led chiefly to double production revenues to £1.2bn by 2012.[60] ITV Studios currently produces programmes such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Heartbeat.[61]

In contrast, the BBC has implemented a Window of Creative Competition (WOCC), a 25% proportion over and above the 25% Ofcom quota in which the BBC's in-house production and independent producers can compete.[62] The BBC produces shows such as All Creatures Great and Small and F***off I'm a Hairy Woman.[63]

Channel 4 commissions all programmes from independent producers.

As a consequence of the launch of Channel 4 in 1982, and the 25% independent quota from the Broadcasting Act 1990, an independent production sector has grown in the UK. Notable companies include Talkback Thames, Endemol UK, Hat Trick Productions, and Tiger Aspect Productions. A full list can be seen here: Category:Television production companies of the United Kingdom

The following Internet TV services have closed:

The following services were aborted before launch:

• Sky Picnic, a proposed subscription digital terrestrial service from Sky in 2007
• 'Project Kangaroo', an Internet TV service announced by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in 2007. It later launched as SeeSaw.

Crystal Palace transmitter. Constructed in 1956, it is the main transmitter for London.

Digital switchover progress across the UK

  Switchover complete.

Analogue TV was transmitted via VHF (1936) and later UHF (1964) radio waves, with analogue broadcasts ending in 2012.

VHF transmissions started in 1936 and closed in 1985 (with a gap 1939–1946), carrying two channels. The launch channel was the BBC Television Service, known as BBC 1 since 1964. This was joined by Independent Television, a network of regional franchises launching between 1955 and 1962. The channels transmitted in monochrome using the 405-line television system at 25 frames per second, initially with an aspect ratio of 5:4, switching to 4:3 in 1950.

UHF transmissions started in 1964 and closed in 2012. The launch channel was BBC 2. This would be joined by BBC 1, the ITV network, Channel 4 or S4C in Wales, Channel 5 as well as a network of local TV channels. Transmissions started using the System I standard, a 625-line monochrome picture at 25 frames/second (576i) and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Technical advancements included colour (1967), teletext (1974), and stereo sound (1991). The drive to switch viewers from analogue to digital transmissions was a process called the digital switchover.

Whilst there are no longer any analogue broadcasts in the UK, a PAL signal may be present in closed RF distribution systems, e.g. a video feed from an intercom in a block of flats, or a security system.

There are around 100 defunct British channels. For a list, see List of former TV channels in the UK or Category:Defunct British television channels.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was established in 1927 to develop radio broadcasting, and inevitably became involved in TV in 1936. The BBC is funded by income from a "Broadcast Receiving Licence" purchased by UK residents. The cost of this is set by agreement with the UK Government.

Television caught on in the United Kingdom in 1947, but its expansion was slow. By 1951, with only two transmitters, near London and Birmingham, only 9% of British homes owned a television set. The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to have a regular daily television schedule direct to homes and it was the first to have technical professions to work on TVs. (A. Smith, Television: An International History 1995)

Up until 1972, television broadcasting hours were tightly regulated by the British government, under the control of the Postmaster General. Before the launch of the commercial channel ITV in 1955, the BBC was restricted by law to just five hours maximum of television in a day. This was increased at the launch of the commercial channel ITV to a 7-hour broadcasting day for both channels. Gradually the number of hours were increased. Typically during the late 1960s the law regulated a 50-hour broadcasting week for all television channels in the UK. This meant BBC1, BBC2 and ITV could only broadcast normal programming for 7 hours a day Mondays to Fridays, and 7.5 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays.

Until 1957, television in the United Kingdom could not air from 6.00pm-7.00pm. This was called "Toddler's Truce", where the idea was that parents could put their children to bed, before prime time television would commence. This restriction was lifted in 1957. However, on Sundays, television remained off the air from 6.00pm-7.00pm. This was in response to religious leaders fears that television would interfere with people attending church services. In 1958 a compromise was reached, where only religious programming could be aired during this time slot. This restriction was lifted in January 1972.[80][81]

The Postmaster General allowed exemptions to the regulations. All schools programming, adult education, religious programming, state occasions, political broadcasts and Welsh language programming were totally exempt from the restrictions. Sport and outside broadcasting events were given a separate quota of broadcasting hours which could be used in a year, starting off at 200 hours a year in the mid 1950s, rising to a quota of 350 hours a year by the late 1960s. Broadcasting on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were also exempt from the tightly controlled restrictions.[82]

The election of a conservative government in June 1970 brought in changes to the control of broadcasting hours. At first the typical broadcasting day was extended to 8 hours a day, with an increase in exemptions over Christmas and an increase in the sport/outside broadcasting quota. On 19 January 1972, the then Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, Christopher Chataway, announced to the British House of Commons that all restrictions on broadcasting hours on television would be lifted from that day, with the broadcasters allowed to set their own broadcasting hours from then on. By November 1972 a full daytime schedule had been launched on ITV from 9.30am each day, with the BBC also expanding their schedules to include more daytime programming.[83]

The UK Government previously appointed people to the BBC's Board of Governors, a body responsible for the general direction of the organisation, and appointment of senior executives, but not its day-to-day management. From 2007, the BBC Trust replaced the Board of Governors. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers.

Commercial television was first introduced in the United Kingdom, in 1955. Unlike the US, there was a distinct split between advertisements and programming. Advertisers purely purchased spots within pre-defined breaks within programming, and had no connection to the programme content. The content and nature of adverts being strictly controlled by the ITA the body controlling commercial television.

The first commercial direct-broadcast satellite (DBS, also known as direct-to-home) service in the United Kingdom, Sky Television, was launched in 1989 and used the newly launched Astra satellite at 19.2° east, providing four analogue TV channels. The channels and subsequent VideoCrypt video encryption system used the existing PAL broadcast standard, unlike the winner of the UK state DBS licence, British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB).

In 1990, BSB launched, broadcasting five channels (Now, Galaxy, The Movie Channel, The Power Station and The Sports Channel) in D-MAC format and using the EuroCypher video encryption system which was derived from the General Instruments VideoCipher system used in the USA. One of the main selling points of the BSB offering was the Squarial, a flat plate antenna and low-noise block converter (LNB). Sky's system used conventional and cheaper dish and LNB technology.

The two companies competed over the UK rights to movies. Sky operated from an industrial park in Isleworth in West London, whereas BSB had newly built offices in London (Marco Polo House). The two services subsequently merged to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). BSB's D-MAC/EuroCypher system was gradually replaced with Sky's VideoCrypt video encryption system.

In 1994 17% of the group was floated on the London Stock Exchange (with ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange), and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation owns a 35% stake.

By 1998, following the launch of several more satellites to Astra's 19.2° east position, the number of channels had increased to around 60 and BSkyB launched the first subscription-based digital television platform in the UK, offering a range of 300 channels broadcast from Astra's new satellite, at 28.2° east position under the brand name Sky Digital. BSkyB's analogue service has now been discontinued, with all customers having been migrated to Sky Digital.

In May 2008, a free-to-air satellite service from the BBC and ITV was launched under the brand name Freesat, carrying a variety of channels from Astra 28.2°E, including some content in HD formats.

• Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU), National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Equity, trade unions for members of the broadcasting industry
• Clearcast, performs clearance of television advertising copy and the final advertisements. Replaced the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) on 1 January 2008
• Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, a select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, established in 1997, which oversees the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the government department responsible for broadcasting in the UK
• Digital TV Group (DTG), an industry association for digital television, formed in 1995
• Digital UK, the body in charge of digital switchover of television in the UK
• Producers Association for Cinema and Television,
• Royal Television Society (RTS), a society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future, which formed in 1927
• United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting (UKIB), an affiliation of independent production companies and broadcasters, representing non-BBC interests in the European Broadcasting Union

• Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events, regulatory rules devised in 1997 which ensure particular sporting events are available for free via terrestrial television
• Sports broadcasting contracts in the United Kingdom
• British sitcom
• Soap opera
• Light entertainment
• Category:British television-related lists
  • List of American television series based on British television series
  • List of British television programmes based on American television series
  • List of films based on British television series
  • List of films based on British sitcoms
  • List of BBC Radio programmes adapted for television, and of television programmes adapted for radio
  • List of children's television series in the United Kingdom
  • List of UK game shows
  • List of longest-running UK television series

• Appreciation Index (AI), a score between 0 and 100 which measures the public's approval of a particular programme, which can be used to measure attitudes to programmes with small or niche audiences
• Broadcast, a weekly trade magazine for the broadcast industry
• Edinburgh International Television Festival, an annual industry gathering in Edinburgh
• Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than purely commercial concerns
• Public information film, government commissioned short films usually shown during television advertising breaks
• Listings and general television magazines Radio Times, Soaplife, TV & Satellite Week, TV easy, TV Quick, TVTimes, What's on TV