The information on this page comes from the
UK Activity Report.
BSkyB is investing £77m in a new broadcasting facility at its Osterley site in London by 2011, having selected Sony as the lead systems integrator. 23-Sep-2008
BSkyB is to set up a new call centre for its TV, broadband and phone services at City Walk in Leeds early next year, with the creation of 350 jobs. 20-Aug-2008
BSkyB is to shed 250 jobs following a fall in profits in its broadcasting business. 01-Aug-2008
Amstrad, the Essex-based electronics manufacturer, is to be acquired by BSkyB for £125m. 01-Aug-2007
BSkyB is to invest an unspecified amount in the development of a new environmentally-friendly data centre and studio at its site in Isleworth. 14-Jun-2007
BSkyB is looking to relocate the Brentford headquarters of its broadcasting business to a new 150,000 sq ft site in west London by 2010, having appointed CB Richard Ellis to advise. 16-May-2007
BSkyB has acquired 365 Media, the operator of betting and sports websites, for £96m. 18-Dec-2006
BSkyB is to set up a new administrative centre in Livingston, with the creation of up to 255 jobs, in order to consolidate its corporate finance and legal operations on one site. 25-Oct-2006
BSkyB is to invest £400m in the development of a broadband internet access business over the next three years. 19-Jul-2006
BSkyB is to shed 17 reporting and production jobs at its Sky News TV channel. 12-Jun-2006
BSkyB is to create 600 new jobs in Scotland, including 350 at a new satellite TV call centre in Uddingston and 250 technical jobs in Dunfermline, while a further 600 installation jobs are being created across the country. 04-May-2006
BSkyB is to acquire Easynet, the internet service provider, for £211m, in order to form a new Sky Broadband division. 24-Oct-2005
BSkyB is said to be considering plans to move into the UK cinema market with the possible acquisition of six UGC sites from Blackstone Group for about £30m. 15-Aug-2005
BSkyB is to expand its pay-TV business with a £450m investment in infrastructure and technology over the next four years, and its marketing spend will rise by £25m next year. 05-Aug-2004
BSkyB is planning to set up a 140,000 sq ft office at New Horizon Court in Brentford. 19-Apr-2004
BSkyB has won a £40m contract to take over from ITN in providing news to channel Five, which will involve the transfer of up to 60 staff. 10-Mar-2004
BSkyB is to create 300 new jobs at its customer contact centres in Livingston and Dunfermline. 03-Oct-2003
BSkyB is considering plans to expand its in-house advertising department, in order to produce low-cost commercials for first-time TV advertisers. 03-Jun-2003
The BBC has won the digital TV licence remaining from the collapse of ITV Digital, in partnership with BSkyB and transmission company Crown Castle. 04-Jul-2002
The BBC and BSkyB are discussing plans for a joint venture to create a digital terrestrial TV service to replace the collapsed ITV Digital. 12-Jun-2002
BSkyB and Ladbrokes have called off plans to create an interactive betting joint venture, citing commercial reasons and the referral of the project to the Competition Commission. 17-Oct-2001
BSkyB is forming an interactive betting joint venture with Ladbrokes, which will enable viewers to place bets using their TV remote-control devices. 13-Jul-2001
British Telecom is linking up with BSkyB and ITV to offer bundled TV and telephone packages in competition with cable companies. 11-Jul-2001
BSkyB has announced a deal with Stamford Homes of Peterborough to install satellite TV services in 450 new homes each year. 14-Jun-2001
BSkyB is to close its Sky Pictures movie division with the loss of about 17 jobs. 11-Jun-2001
BSkyB has bought British Telecom's 19.9% stake in the Open interactive TV service for £387m. 16-May-2001
BSkyB is to restructure its Open home shopping service and combine its internet and new media operations into a single division, with the loss of about 300 jobs. 10-May-2001
BSkyB is planning to move into digital radio by acquiring a stake in Radio First. 09-Mar-2001
BSkyB has acquired a 20% stake in Digital News Network, the radio news service with shareholders that include Chrysalis and Capital Radio. 28-Feb-2001
BSkyB is to invest about £2m connecting council estates in the London boroughs of Enfield and Newham to digital TV. 21-Feb-2001
BSkyB is to be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading due to concerns that the new Competition Act may have been breached in the supply of wholesale pay-TV to rival companies. 06-Dec-2000
BSkyB is linking up with Harrods to produce an interactive shopping programme this Christmas, which will enable digital TV subscribers to buy goods direct from Harrods as they are featured on the show. 05-Dec-2000
BSkyB is in talks with British Telecom and other potential partners about the introduction of DSL technology to offer movies on demand and fast internet access. 27-Nov-2000
Channel 4 is linking up with BSkyB and Arena Leisure to submit a bid to the Racecourse Association for the media rights to UK horse racing. 13-Oct-2000
BSkyB has won government permission to acquire full control of British Interactive Broadcasting, the operator of the Open interactive TV service. 13-Oct-2000
BSkyB is to become a virtual mobile operator in partnership with Singlepoint, and the service will be called Sky Phone and use the Vodafone network. 29-Sep-2000
BSkyB is planning to launch a personal TV recorder next year, which combines a hard-disk video recorder with a digital decoder and is seen as the future of interactive TV. 07-Sep-2000
BSkyB has announced plans to launch an online betting service for its Sky Sports channel and a video recorder service in conjunction with TiVo of the US. 27-Jul-2000
BSkyB has increased its stake in the Open interactive TV business to 80%, which will lead to the launch of a number of new services. 18-Jul-2000
BSkyB is seeking to increase its 32.5% stake in the Open interactive TV consortium, in order to use to launch its own interactive service. 30-May-2000
BSkyB has acquired Sports Internet for £300m, in order to expand its online sports business with new content and e-commerce potential. 11-May-2000
BSkyB and Guardian Media Group are to each take a 20% stake in Artsworld, the arts TV channel that will be launched on Sky digital later this year. 27-Apr-2000
BSkyB is considering plans to develop online and TV betting services in partnership with Ladbroke. 31-Mar-2000
BSkyB has acquired a 9.9% stake in Chelsea, in a £40m deal that will also see the development of a joint venture internet portal for the football club. 06-Mar-2000
BSkyB has agreed a £2m deal to operate Tottenham Hotspur's web site, prompting speculation that another media agency agreement could follow. 03-Mar-2000
BSkyB is forming an alliance with TiVo of the US to launch a personal video recorder in the UK that enables viewers to personalise their TV viewing. 29-Feb-2000
BSkyB has announced plans to invest £250m over the next 18 months on the development of its internet business, by putting more content on computers and mobile handsets. 10-Feb-2000
BSkyB has paid £6m for a 14% stake in Streets Online, the internet-based seller of books, music, games and videos that is planning a £150m flotation. 10-Feb-2000
Sportal, the developer of sports-based internet sites, is receiving a 5.4% equity investment from BSkyB, thought to be worth about £10m. 02-Feb-2000
BSkyB is to have its position in the pay TV market reviewed by the Office of Fair Trading, which could lead to restrictions being lifted on how the company supplies channels to cable operators. 12-Jan-2000
BSkyB is acquiring a 5% stake in Sunderland FC for £6.5m, and will also become the football club's media agent for five years. 18-Dec-1999
BSkyB has acquired a 10% stake in Gameplay.com for £10m, and further deals are expected to follow with BSkyB taking equity stakes in start-up companies in return for airtime on its channels. 10-Dec-1999
BSkyB has bought a 24% stake in Kirch PayTV, in a £1.5bn deal that gives it a first foothold in the German market. 07-Dec-1999
BSkyB is to donate three years of transponder capacity to a new digital TV channel called the Community Channel, which is being launched by the Media Trust charity next May. 06-Nov-1999
BSkyB is in negotiations to buy a 25% stake in Premiere, the German digital pay-TV service, for £300m. 22-Oct-1999
Money Channel has agreed a deal to broadcast its financial TV channel on the BSkyB network, and is building a new studio in Wapping. 04-Oct-1999
BSkyB is considering plans to form new media ventures with Kingston Communications, including interactive services such as video-on-demand. 14-Sep-1999
BSkyB has acquired a 9.1% stake in Leeds Sporting for £9.2m, and will become the exclusive media agent for Leeds United football club. 01-Sep-1999
BSkyB is planning to recruit 600 staff for its Scottish call centres as well as 2,050 installation engineers, in order to keep up with demand for digital TV. 05-Jul-1999
BSkyB is to give away free set-top boxes in Toys R Us stores and supermarkets in order to boost digital TV subscriptions. 03-Jul-1999
Pathe is selling its pay-TV operations to Vivendi of France, which will involve the transfer of Pathe's 17% stake in BSkyB and 20% stake in CanalSatellite and raises the prospect of BSkyB renewing merger talks with Canal Plus. 08-Jun-1999
BSkyB has launched a free internet access service called Skynow, and it will be available through computers rather then digital TV. 05-Jun-1999
BSkyB is to give away digital TV set-top boxes in an attempt to remove all possible barriers for new customers, which could lead to a price war and a similar offer from rival company On Digital. 06-May-1999
BSkyB is planning to increase the amount that cable operators pay for its Sky One channel, and is also said to be considering renting out capacity on cable networks and selling its channels directly to customers. 19-Apr-1999
BSkyB, Pearson and United News & Media have held discussions with Warburg Pincus about acquiring the US venture capital group's 18% stake in Channel 5 for about £94m. 14-Apr-1999
BSkyB is to develop a business TV service, and is in discussions with banks and retailers about providing tailored programming for customers and staff. 14-Apr-1999
BSkyB's attempt to acquire Manchester United has been blocked by the government, as the Competition Commission said it would have given BSkyB an unfair advantage in sports rights negotiations. 10-Apr-1999
BSkyB is in discussions to merge with Canal Plus of France with a view to creating a dominant player in the European pay TV market. 24-Feb-1999
BSkyB is planning to develop a tailor-made digital satellite TV service for pubs and clubs. 02-Jan-1999
BSkyB is to show its first pay-per-view football match on Feb 27 - Oxford United against Sunderland - at a cost of £7.95 per subscriber. 30-Dec-1998
BSkyB is negotiating a deal that will result in Wilcon Homes installing satellite dishes in 5,000 new homes next year. 15-Dec-1998
British Interactive Broadcasting is to rename itself Open as it prepares to launch its TV home shopping and banking service next year. 10-Nov-1998
BSkyB is to recruit a further 1,200 staff at its Scottish call centre as well as an extra 500 engineers in order to cope with demand for its new digital TV service. 31-Oct-1998
BSkyB's takeover bid for Manchester United football club has been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 30-Oct-1998
BSkyB is planning to introduce interactive programming to its digital TV service next year, which will enable subscribers to replay video clips of news and sporting events. 20-Oct-1998
BSkyB is said to be recruiting a further 2,000 customer service and installation staff in order to cope with the demand for its new digital TV service. 19-Oct-1998
Channel Four and Sky Sports have agreed a £103m deal to show international cricket matches over the next four years, having outbid the BBC. 16-Oct-1998
Granada has sold a 6.5% stake in BSkyB to the Alex Brown investment bank for £429m, in order to end its conflicting interests in the two rival digital TV services. 14-Oct-1998
BSkyB has agreed to acquire Manchester United football club for £623m, prompting concern among supporters and politicians about the possible impact such a deal will have on the sport. 09-Sep-1998
The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate ITV's decision not to supply its TV channels to BSkyB's forthcoming satellite service. 20-Aug-1998
BSkyB has abandoned its legal action against On Digital over the compatibility of set-top boxes because it believes that On Digital's simpler box will "highlight the advantages of Sky's box". 15-Aug-1998
BSkyB has announced the pricing structure for its forthcoming digital TV service, and it will include a low-cost option with six channels at £6.99 a month. 13-Aug-1998
BSkyB is in discussions to offer Flextech's Living and UK Arena channels exclusively on its digital TV service. 12-Aug-1998
BSkyB is in discussions with E! Entertainment of the US about the launch of a UK version of the US company's entertainment TV channel. 10-Aug-1998
The EU has ruled that digital TV subscribers will be able to purchase set-top boxes subsidised by BSkyB without having to subscribe to BSkyB's 200-channel service, although this may not be practical if different decoding standards are used. 05-Aug-1998
BSkyB has agreed a deal with Channel Four to include both its main channel and a new Film Four movies channel on Sky Digital. 31-Jul-1998
BSkyB is to offer free installation of satellite dishes to subscribers of its new 200-channel digital TV service, in order to eliminate the advantage held by its rival On Digital. 30-Jul-1998
The Independent Television Commission has assured BSkyB that it can go-ahead with plans to launch a 200-channel digital pay-TV service, despite protests from BSkyB that new rules will affect its ability to run an interactive home shopping service. 28-Jul-1998
BSkyB has been in preliminary discussions with Telecom Italia about the possibility of forming a digital TV consortium in Italy. 18-Jul-1998
BSkyB is being investigated by the EU following allegations that it was planning to supply its digital TV service to UK cable companies on unequal terms. 11-Jul-1998
The Independent Television Commission is to allow BSkyB to broadcast one of its sports channels on spare digital terrestrial frequencies allocated to Channel 5, although objections could still be raised in Brussels. 09-Jul-1998
BSkyB has announced deals with the BBC, Flextech and Discovery Networks to broadcast 17 channels on its digital TV service, seven of which are based on BBC archives. 02-Jul-1998
ITV is refusing to pay BSkyB to carry its channels on the new digital satellite service, which means they will only be available on digital terrestrial and cable. 06-Jun-1998
The BBC has agreed a deal for its TV channels to be broadcast by BSkyB via digital satellite, and the BBC will pay an undisclosed amount to BSkyB for the encryption and coding of its signals. 05-Jun-1998
BSkyB is to restrict the launch of its digital TV service this month by initially offering it only to its most loyal customers, in order that it can iron out any problems before the main launch later this year. 03-Jun-1998
Football's Premier League has rejected a BSkyB proposal to televise live matches on a pay-per-view basis next season, due to concerns over financial terms and a plan to move some matches from Saturday to Sunday. 30-May-1998
BSkyB has issued a writ against British Digital Broadcasting to prevent it from selling digital TV set-top boxes that are incompatible with its own. 16-Apr-1998
Scottish Media is in discussions with BSkyB about a plan for a joint bid to cover Scottish premier league football. 15-Apr-1998
Granada is transferring a 9.5% stake in Granada Sky Broadcasting to BSkyB, leaving it with a 50% stake, in a deal that values GSB at about £100m. 08-Apr-1998
The BBC is close to agreeing a deal with BSkyB that will enable its TV channels to be included in BSkyB's digital service, and BBC1 will become the first channel on Sky's electronic programme guide. 08-Apr-1998
Iceland, the food retailer, is in discussions with BSkyB about setting up a home shopping service via television later this year, and it is also planning a telephone ordering service. 25-Mar-1998
The BBC and Sky Sports are to pay a joint £8m for the UK rights to televise next year's cricket World Cup. 11-Mar-1998
BSkyB is planning to set up a new service called Sky Exclusives, which will involve transmitting new movies on satellite before they reach cinemas. 24-Feb-1998
British Interactive Broadcasting is to adopt open technology standards for its home shopping services for digital TV which will be compatible with BSkyB's Open TV system and other operating systems. 23-Feb-1998
BSkyB has threatened legal action against Carlton and Granada, the British Digital Broadcasting shareholders, if they choose a digital TV set-top box system that is not compatible with the one being used by BSkyB. 20-Feb-1998
BSkyB has bought a 49% stake in Music Choice Europe which will enable it to offer up to 60 music channels on digital TV. 12-Feb-1998
Telewest is blaming BSkyB's price increases for a fall in the number of people renewing their subscriptions to cable TV, and is now planning to launch a low-cost television and TV package as well as a separate channel with programmes supplied by Flextech. 23-Jan-1998
BSkyB is undergoing a European Commission investigation into the way it supplies programmes to the cable industry, following a complaint from General Cable about the pricing for sport and movie channels. 19-Jan-1998
BSkyB is linking up with Mentorn Barraclough Carey, the programme production company, to bid for the contract to make Channel Four News. 14-Jan-1998
BSkyB has announced it is on track to launch a digital TV service in the second quarter of the year, despite talk of a shortage of set-top boxes. 13-Jan-1998
BSkyB may have to provide temporary finance to get manufacturers of digital TV set-top boxes to start production, as the manufacturers are reluctant to risk such investment until regulatory clearance is given to the British Interactive Broadcasting consortium. 12-Jan-1998
British Interactive Broadcasting is in negotiations with 40 retailers, banks, travel and other companies to offer products via home shopping when it launches on BSkyB later this year, and may also offer cheaper products from the US. 02-Jan-1998
The Independent Television Commission has ruled that cable companies should be allowed to block promotions for BSkyB pay-per-view movies if they are not being offered to their subscribers. 02-Jan-1998
BSkyB is planning to start making made-for-TV movies for its Sky One and Sky Movies channels. 01-Dec-1997
Granada is considering the future sale of its 10.7% stake in BSkyB due to a conflict of interest in the increasingly competitive UK pay TV market. 21-Nov-1997
BSkyB has launched a discount telephone service called SkyDial, which will work by enabling subscribers to dial into a Broadsystem exchange where their calls are then passed on to BT. 20-Nov-1997
BSkyB is launching a pay-per-view movies service in December in an attempt to establish Sky Box Office before the introduction of digital TV. 13-Nov-1997
BSkyB is to submit proposals to provide a nightly news programme for Channel Four, and expects to undercut the current ITN service on price. 08-Nov-1997
Cable & Wireless Communications and BSkyB have agreed to co-operate on the launch of the UK's first digital television services next spring with joint promotional and marketing activities. 07-Nov-1997
Manchester United is expected to announce a plan to set up its own TV channel in conjunction with BSkyB and Granada, although it will not have the rights to show its Premier League matches until at least 2002. 27-Sep-1997
Elmsdale Media is planning to set up an interactive cable television channel which will offer pay-per-view movies in competition to BSkyB, and is currently in negotiations with Hollywood studios. 23-Sep-1997
Cable & Wireless Communications is negotiating an exclusive programme supply deal with BSkyB, a move which is likely to disrupt attempts by the cable industry to develop their own programme supply business and a movie channel. 04-Sep-1997
The European Commission is to review the arrangement between BSkyB, British Telecom, Midland Bank, and Matsushita Electric, for the launch of home banking and shopping because of fears that they may restrict competition by subsidising the set-top boxes. 28-Aug-1997
BSkyB is to withdraw from the British Digital Broadcasting consortium, which is expected to win the digital terrestrial television franchise, following pressure from the Independent Television Commission. 23-Jun-1997
BSkyB has been told by the Independent Television Commission to drop its stake in one of the digital television consortia, otherwise its British Digital Broadcasting joint venture with Carlton and Granada will be ruled out of the contest. 18-Jun-1997
BSkyB is in discussions with Cable & Wireless Communications, the largest cable group in the UK, about the launch of joint pay-per-view television services. 06-Jun-1997
The BBC is continuing with plans to invest £30m in setting up a 24 hour digital television channel, despite an announcement by BSkyB that it is delaying the launch of digital satellite TV until next spring. 16-May-1997
BSkyB is to form British Interactive Broadcasting, a £700m joint venture with British Telecom, Midland Bank and Matsushita, to launch 200 digital TV channels and interactive services in the UK. 05-May-1997
BSkyB is in discussions with leading cable companies to jointly develop the pay-per-view movie business, and hopes that joining forces will enable them to secure better terms from the Hollywood studios. 12-Apr-1997
BSkyB is ending its digital satellite joint venture with Kirch of Germany, which was intended to give it access to the German pay TV market, due to failure to agree on a number of issues. 07-Mar-1997
BSkyB is linking up with Carlton Communications and Granada to bid for the rights to introduce digital terrestrial television in the UK. 31-Jan-1997
The BBC has asked the government for permission to allow it to negotiate with BSkyB for access to BSkyB's digital satellite receiving equipment. 06-Dec-1996
Bell Cablemedia and Diamond Cable are thought to be in discussions with the major Hollywood studios about acquiring pay-per-view rights for feature films, thus bypassing BSkyB. 18-Nov-1996
Barclays has decided against setting up home banking services on BSkyB's digital satellite system, and has instead started discussions with Midland Bank's parent HSBC. 15-Nov-1996
BSkyB is linking up with OzEmail, the Australian internet service company, to set up an international advertising service on the internet. 07-Nov-1996
BSkyB is considering plans to move into digital terrestrial television, which would improve growth prospects for its exclusive sports events and movies. 02-Nov-1996
Scottish Television is linking up with BSkyB to launch Sky Scottish, a channel for Scots living elsewhere in the UK. 13-Sep-1996
BSkyB is planning to include fast internet access via TV sets when it launches digital satellite TV next year. 23-Aug-1996
BSkyB has said it is on target to launch up to 300 TV channels in the UK next year, when it pioneers the development of digital TV. 21-Aug-1996
BSkyB is acquiring a 25% stake in Premiere, the German pay-TV channel. 27-Jul-1996
BSkyB is preparing a pay-per-view feature film service offering three movies a night from the autumn, possibly as a test run for when it launches digital TV next year. 12-Jul-1996
BSkyB is acquiring a 49% stake in DF1 in order to launch 17 digital television channels in Germany in July in a joint venture with Kirch, the German media concern. 09-Jul-1996
BSkyB is aiming to challenge Independent Television News for the contract to supply news to ITV, probably in a joint effort with a number of ITV companies. 04-Jul-1996
Warner Brothers Television is to launch a UK satellite channel in November through the BSkyB multichannel package. 20-Jun-1996
The planned European digital television alliance between BSkyB, Canal Plus and Bertelsmann, appears to have collapsed due to the slow progress being made in setting up channels in Germany. 06-Jun-1996
British Telecom and BSkyB are said to be discussing a deal on digital satellite TV, prompting the Cable Communications Association to express its concern to Oftel and the OFT about the possible effects on competition. 31-May-1996
BSkyB is acquiring the leases on two satellite transponders from Kinnevik of Scandinavia, and a third will be acquired by Granada Sky Broadcasting for the launch of two channels in the autumn. 29-May-1996
British Telecom and BSkyB are discussing a possible joint venture in digital television and interactive services, which would subsidise the introduction of digital set-top boxes. 18-May-1996
BSkyB is to launch eight new channels from Granada Television this autumn, and has confirmed it will launch digital satellite TV in the UK in autumn 1997. 08-May-1996
BSkyB is in discussions with Virgin Group about plans to jointly launch a cable and satellite TV station. 06-May-1996
Megatec of Ireland is launching a smart card that is said to unlock all the BSkyB channels. 11-Apr-1996
BSkyB's alliance with Bertelsmann and Canal Plus plans to launch 100 satellite channels in Germany later this year, including pay-per-view and video on demand services. 12-Mar-1996
BSkyB plans to launch pay-per-view channels by the end of the year, concentrating on sport and films, and has also announced plans to start digital services which would enable it to vastly increase its number of channels. 07-Feb-1996
BSkyB is to apply to become a news supplier to ITV, in a first-ever challenge to the monopoly of ITN. 06-Feb-1996
Granada and BSkyB are to jointly launch eight TV channels, including a Gold channel, Talk TV, lifestyle channels and a shopping guide. 14-Dec-1995
BSkyB plans to launch a range of new channels, including channels for education, arts, computers and games. 08-Dec-1995
The OFT is to review BSkyB's position in the pay television market, as cable operators are concerned about their policy of bundling and linking cable rates to the charges for satellite owners. 02-Dec-1995
BSkyB has signed a £125m deal to show live Endsleigh League football matches. 29-Nov-1995
The Church of England has sold its BSkyB stake in protest at the launch of the Playboy channel. 04-Nov-1995
Cable TV companies can now receive the new Disney Channel direct from the Walt Disney Company, instead of having to go through BSkyB, following a complaint to the OFT. 27-Oct-1995
BSkyB is to raise charges by about £2 per month in November. 06-Oct-1995
BSkyB is considering the use of digital technology to allow it to show all of the English Premier League matches on Saturdays. 30-Sep-1995
BSkyB has submitted a tender to supply the Channel 4 news service for £10m per year. 20-Sep-1995
Pearson has made £492m from selling its share in BSkyB. 17-Sep-1995
Three former employees of News Corporation plan to set up a company to produce a TV decoder to rival BSkyB. 14-Sep-1995
BSkyB is to launch 7 new channels next month, with further additions later this year. 05-Sep-1995
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