Interesting Sky EPG picture (1997?)
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Hi everyone! 
I have stumbled on this picture of the Sky EPG. It's interesting to note that it has the Sky 'egg' logo on it and is probably before Sky Digital was launched.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/160000/images/_161218_digital_channel_guide300.jpg
My thoughts that it was from late 1997/early 1998.
I was asking if anyone had more information on this EPG and if there's any more to it...
Thanks,
DigitalTVGuy
I have stumbled on this picture of the Sky EPG. It's interesting to note that it has the Sky 'egg' logo on it and is probably before Sky Digital was launched.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/160000/images/_161218_digital_channel_guide300.jpg
My thoughts that it was from late 1997/early 1998.
I was asking if anyone had more information on this EPG and if there's any more to it...
Thanks,
DigitalTVGuy
0
Comments
I suspect that's a screenshot from a website rather than from a set-top box EPG.
Could it not be a pre launch test before Sky invited the main 5 PSB channels to take 101-105?
Yes I've had Sky Digital from day 1 as well and it's never looked like that.
Ian.
The only Tuesday 17th's around then were:
1996
September or December
1997
June
1998
February, March or November
1999
August
Last Man Standing was released in the Cinema October 1996, so i would say this is probably June 1997.
23 January 2002 17:46:56
But it looks similar to the logos sky had in mid 90s before sky digital launched.
1995-1997 logo is egg shaped like that.
Certainly seems to be an early one, I wonder does this mean they just had an early mock-up showing the movie channels at 101 as a further push for what digital would bring along with the quantity of channels, or if they were planning a 0-999 style EPG with three-digit inputs not always being needed.
Sky Movies Screen 1 (1 November 1997 until 9 September 1998)
thats a good point there is two options there!
For those who want to know, the real v1 Sky EPG looks like this
http://hub.tv-ark.org.uk/images/miscellaneous/images/sky/skyguide_t327b.jpg
I do think that this could have been a mock-up from Tuesday 17th June 1997 (Tuesday 17th June is tomorrow!)
The 2002 thing is probably from when BBC archived the page...
Thats a sky digital epg with the tick in the logo.
If I remember correctly the early issue Sky Digital Remote Control and Viewing Cards both featured the Sky 'egg' logo despite the EPG having the 'swoosh' logo featured in that screenshot from launch.
The first mux on air was 11.719 H, (Castle Video) - which became the main BBC mux at the time, 11.797 H being the other.
Sky's own channels first appeared around 1345 on Thursday 18 March 1998, consisting of 10 channels on 11.914 H and 11.934 V - both muxes had the same content
5x Sky News with "DIGITAL TEST TRANSMISSION" at the bottom and 5 "Sky Box Office (type 05) channels - which had 3 Philips 5544 test cards on, and two with just colour bars and no sound.
The first actual official service from Sky Digital was on 22 June 1998. All these tests, and all broadcasts until 30 September 1998 were via Astra 1D.
The names of the movie channels prior to 1 October were
Sky Movies Screen 1
Sky Movies Screen 1A
Sky Movies Screen 1B
Sky Movies Screen 1C
Sky Movies Screen 2
Sky Movies Screen 2A
Sky Movies Screen 2B
Sky Movies Screen 2C
Sky Movies Gold
Sky Movies Gold A
In 1997 the only channels at 28 East were German ones from Kopernikus 2, as well as some Czech Link channels, but no British ones. Therefore this image you originally referred to has to have been a mock up of what they thought it would look like.
Hope that clears things up
That makes sense. I didnt know the BBC were the first on at 28 degrees east!
Thanks for that interesting info, Jimbo, I had no idea the channels had those temporary names.
Edit - here's a clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTixsozGXfQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/161218.stm
Nice find
Mention of home banking, think I remember that under the interactive area, never used it.
Where will the money come from?
If only they could have forseen the future with the sports tv rights and sky becoming a utility with phone/broadband, the big game changers!
I'm not refuting the information there Jimbo but you're slightly out with your days at least. The 15th March 1998 was actually a Sunday and the 18th was a Wednesday not Thursday. ;-)
The movie channels have ALWAYS been in the 300s not the 100s.
100s Entertainment
300s Movies
400s Sport
500s News
550s Documentaries
600s Kids
650s Shopping
660s Music
700s Sky Box Office
900s Adult
950s BBC Regions
The Press TV then 1' referred to above was not quite right. BBC, Channel 4 (London version only), and Channel 5 were on from the start. I think BBC actually first appeared late May 1998 will have to check. Btw BBC Choice launched on 23 September 1998 with NO VIEWERS because the channel was only at 38 east, and it was not available on cable either, and no digital terrestrial transmissions existed then.
It was ITV that had 'press TV then '3' for ITV that appeared on 103. The channel had no video and audio but had that in the Rog space. It was not there from the start - but maybe some time during 1999, and remained there until ITV launched with 16 regions on 15 November 2001.
Btw the temporary names for movie channels ran from 23 June-30 September 1998. The extra channels were only on air from 1700 each day, and carrying a promo video for the rest of the time.
Sky Movies Screen 1, 1A, 1B, 1C became Sky Moviemax etc and 2,2A, #B, 2C became Sky Movies Premier etc. Do the two channels were swapped round when digital began.
In other words the original Sky Movies became Sky Movies 2/Moviemax, then Sky Movies 5, The Movie Channel became Sky Movies 1 etc,
The original numbers in the summer of 1998 were (I think)
301 Sky Movies Screen 1
302 Sky Movies Screen 1A
303 Sky Movies Screen 1B
304 Sky Movies Screen 1C
305 Sky Movies Screen 2
306 Sky Movies Screen 2A
307 Sky Movies Screen 2B
308 Sky Movies Screen 2C
309 Sky Movies Gold
310 Sky Movies Gold A
And were swapped over on 1 October 1998. 305-8 became 301-4 and visa versa.
When they were later renumbered to just Sky Movies 1-8, Sky movies 9 and 10 were added in 2006 when HD was introduced. These were renamed to Sky Movies HD1 and HD2. Sky movies Wide-screen was on 305 so the original 405-8 became 306-9. 310 and 311 were then the older movies channels.
Later Sky movies 9 became Sky Movies 4 effectively, but thus was when they renamed them to different genres and what had been on 309 moved to 304.
There are 12 movie channels as at one time we had Sky movies 1-10, 9-20 were Wide-screen 1&2, and the firmer Sky Movies Gold got 311 and former Gold A went to 312 but cannot remember the other names they had.
Sky digital tests started on the Thursday lunchtime, BBC castle video started on the Monday on 11729H and 11798H
Hope that helps.
Way back in 1998, asrta 1D was flown from 19.2 east to 28.2 east, early tests for digital were via 12 transponders from sky, and also two transponders from crown castle showing bbc, 11.992 h, was the only analogue signal, this was to support installation of early dish set ups, digital was a new thing then, so the analogue role supported dish set up, but it soon went,
I cant remember exact days and times but when i worked for sky as a dish installer during these times the mini dishes proved much harder to install, rather than the light weight big dishes, as the signal collection is much smaller, the analouge signal aided this enormously. Sound silly today i know, but back then digital was a learning curve, hope this info helps,
Soon after sky and bbc arrived, flextech arrived, then the first ever free channel cne, or chinese channel.