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BSkyB

BSkyB

British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB - formerly two companies, Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broadcasting) is a company that operates Sky Digital, the most popular subscription television service in the UK and Ireland. It also produces TV content, and owns several TV channels. It is controlled by 36.8% shareholder News Corporation, an American company chaired by Rupert Murdoch. For the year to 30 June 2005 BSkyB had turnover of £4.048 billion, and made a profit of £631 million before tax and £425 million after tax. At 30 June 2005 it had 7.787 million direct to home customers and 11.659 million customers including households which subscribe to some of its channels via cable television.

Organisation

Direct subsidiaries


- British Sky Broadcasting Ltd.
Operating company for the Sky pay-television service.
- Sky Television Ltd.
The original Sky Television plc, now a holding company
- Sports Internet Group Ltd.
Sports content and online betting services.
- British Interactive Broadcasting Holdings Ltd.
Interactive television services, formerly an alliance of BSkyB, BT Group, HSBC and Matsushita.

Joint ventures


- Nickelodeon UK (50%)
- The History Channel (UK) (50%)
- Paramount Comedy (UK) (25%)
- Australian News Channel Pty Limited (33.3%) Operates Sky News Australia with PBL and Seven Network)
- MUTV Limited (33.3%)
- National Geographic Channel (50%)
- Music Choice Europe plc (38.8%)
- Attheraces Holdings Limited (50%) Other subsidiaries include Sky In-Home Service Ltd which installs Sky equipment, and the Luxembourg based British Sky Broadcasting SA which is the company which leases transponders on Astra satellites.

History

See Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broadcasting for pre-merger history.

Origins

British Satellite Broadcasting By 1990 both Rupert Murdoch's Sky Television and the BSB alliance were beginning to struggle with the burden of massive losses. The collapse of BSB in November 1990 led to a merger, which was in effect a takeover by Sky - quality programming and superior technical quality had been no match for shrewd, aggressive marketing and pragmatic capital expenditure. The new company was called British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) but marketed as Sky, Marco Polo House was sold, BSB's channels were largely scrapped in favour of Sky's and the Marco Polo satellites were run down and eventually sold in favour of the Astra system (Marcopolo I in December 1993 to NSAB of Sweden and Marcopolo II in July 1992 to Telenor of Norway. Both companies had already one HS376 in orbit at the time). The merger may have saved Sky financially; despite its popularity, Sky had very few major advertisers to begin with. Acquiring BSB's healthier advertising contracts and equipment apparently solved the company's problems.

Football rights

BSkyB's purchase of broadcast rights for major sporting events, most importantly Premiership football, has been the bedrock of its success. The company paid over £300 million for the FA Premier League rights, beating the BBC and ITV, and has had a monopoly of live matches for over ten years. Murdoch has described sport as a "battering ram" for pay-television, providing a strong customer base. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/03/99/murdochs_big_match/167937.stm]

Improving technology

ITV The Astra satellite network began with the launch of the analogue Astra 1A in 1989. With the launch of more Astra satellites from 1991 onward BSkyB was able to begin expanding its services (the Astra satellites were all orbitally co-located so that they could be received using the same dish). The launch of the first Astra 2 series satellite at a new orbital position, 28.2° east, in 1997 (followed by more Astra satellites as well as Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 at 28.5°E), enabled the company to launch a new all-digital service, Sky Digital, with the potential to carry hundreds of television and radio channels. The Astra 2 fleet at 28.2° east maintains a geostationary orbit 35,600km from earth and was built by Hughes (now Boeing Satellite Systems) and Astrium (now EADS Astrium).

Terrestrial competition

BSkyB has faced competition from terrestrial such as the ONdigital digital terrestrial television service (later renamed ITV Digital). BSkyB defeated its rivals partly thanks to aggressive marketing and partly because of its rivals' numerous technical and administrative failures. One of these problems was that its method of encryption was easily breakable. However, Sky was more receptive to ITV Digital's FTA replacement, Freeview, in which it holds an equal stake with the BBC and Crown Castle International. Three BSkyB channels are available on this platform: Sky News, Sky Three, and Sky Sports News. Sky Three used to be occupied by Sky Travel until it was replaced on October 31 2005, allowing BSkyB to air it's exclusive licenced content with delays of between 12-18 months from their original air dates on Sky One. In a response to the push towards Free to Air availability, BSkyB have marketed a free to view network (Freesat on Sky) to a limited extent.

Timeline


- 1990 - November - British Sky Broadcasting formed by merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB). Murdoch the majority shareholder through News International, BSB partners Pearson and Granada become minority shareholders through BSB Holdings Limited (BSBH).
- 1991 - Of BSB's five channels; Now news programmes merged with Sky News, Galaxy merged with Sky One, the Sports Channel and Movie Channel are maintained, Powerstation is withdrawn. Sky One, Sky News and Sky Movies maintained but Eurosport is withdrawn.
- 1992 - July - BSkyB sells the former BSB Marcopolo II satellite to Telenor
- 1992 - BSkyB signs exclusive live television rights deal with the FA Premier League
- 1992 - December 31 - BSkyB ceases transmissions to Marcopolo I satellite.
- 1993 - "Sky multichannel" packages launched.
- 1993 - December - BSkyB sells the former BSB Marcopolo I satellite to NSAB
- 1994 - 17% of BSkyB is floated on the London and New York stock exchanges
- 1994 - Five more channels launch, including Sky Sports 2.
- 1995 - Six more channels launched including History Channel and Disney Channel.
- 1996 - BSkyB signs an extension of its Premier League rights for £670 million
- 1998 - August 30 - First of a new generation of Astra satellites launched, paving way for digital satellite television. Sky Digital launches on October 1.
- 1999 - Vivendi SA becomes sole shareholder of BSBH, which held 11.8% of BSkyB at the time. It also acquired the shareholding of Pathé through merger, bringing its total shareholding to 22% (as of 2001). BSkyB Chairman Jerome Seydoux forced to resign due to sale of Pathe's interest — Murdoch takes Chairmanship to prevent Vivendi acquiring it (as it would be entitled to).
- 2001 - BSkyB signs 5 millionth subscriber. Analogue service discontinued.
- 2001 - December - Vivendi Universal sells part of its shareholding comprising 8% of the company, followed by the remaining 14% in May 2002.
- 2002 - BSkyB takes an equal share of Freeview, in partnership with the BBC and Crown Castle (now part of National Grid).
- 2003 - James Murdoch elected as CEO, replacing Tony Ball.

Future

By the end of early 2006, Sky will have finished downloading a new version of it's Sky Guide service, which will include new genres, easier access to channels, and a complete renumbering system. This will have been the biggest change to Sky since its launch in 1998. In 2006 BSkyB is planning to launch its own High-definition television (HDTV) services. BSkyB have announced that the service will require a display that has High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or Digital Visual Interface (DVI) interfaces and is High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) compliant. SkyHD will be using the same Astra 2 satellites as Sky Digital, but using a new DVB standard, DVB-S2. SkyHD will also be using MPEG4 for video compression rather than MPEG2 that is used for Sky Digital. BSkyB started testing HDTV broadcasts in June 2005. The Economist has suggested that News Corporation would eventually like to merge BSkyB with its US satellite operation, DirecTV and possibly its Star network to form a global satellite TV company.

Technology and conditional access

See: Sky Plus
Sky utilizes the VideoGuard pay-TV scrambling system owned by News Datacom, a News Corporation subsidiary. There are tight controls over use of VideoGuard decoders; they are not available as stand-alone DVB CAMs (Conditional Access Modules). BSkyB has design authority over all digital satellite receivers capable of receiving their service. The receivers, though designed and built by different manufacturers, must conform to the same user interface look-and-feel as all the others. This extends to the Personal video recorder (PVR) offering (branded Sky+ ). Although the manufacturers have to follow BSkyB's design criteria, this leads to many innovative features such as instant Pay-Per-View (due to the ability to record encrypted streams and decrypt on play). Many people think that giving the broadcaster such total control over the viewing experience (and viewing prices) may keep other PVR features from appearing on BSkyB's receivers due to the monopoly position over the decoding CAMs. BSkyB initially charged additional subscription fees for using a Sky+ PVR with their service; however, early in 2004, this additional £10 charge was quashed (albeit only to subscribers whose package includes two or more premium channels) to encourage existing owners to upgrade seamlessly.

Management

Rupert Murdoch's News International (a major subsidary of News Corporation) currently has a 38% stake in the company. News Corp also fully owns Sky Italia and about 78% of New Zealand's SKY Network Television Limited. The first CEO of BSkyB was Sam Chisholm, who was CEO of Sky TV before the merger. Chisholm served in this position until 1997. He was followed by Mark Booth who was credited with leading the company through the introduction of Sky Digital. Tony Ball was appointed in 1999 and completed the company's analogue to digital conversion. He is also credited with returning the company to profit and bringing subscriber numbers to new heights. In 2003 Ball announced his resignation and James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch was announced as his successor. This appointment caused allegations of nepotism from shareholders.

Sky and cable television

The other two major pay-TV operators in the United Kingdom are the cable operators NTL and Telewest. NTL does not produce a large amount of content of its own. Telewest owns the Flextech production company which produces several channels, but these are low profile compared to Sky's main channels. They broadcast the main Sky channels, and this is one of their principal selling points. Thus they are not only Sky's rivals, but also its two most important customers. They compete with Sky on price, and are able to diferentiate themselves from Sky through their ability to offer bundles of services such as internet access and telephone service. Sky is allowed to restrict certain channels such as Sky Sports Xtra to its direct customers, who are also able to use certain interactive features of its programming which are not available to cable viewers. Competition between Sky and the two cable companies is regulated by Ofcom.

See also


- SES Astra
- Sky Digital
- Sky One

External links


- [http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=bsy.uk&script=11931&item_id='home.html' Corporate site]
- [http://www.sky.com/ Sky TV homepage]
- [http://www.sky.tv.br SKY Brazil] Category:Media companies of the United Kingdom Category:Direct broadcast satellite services Category:Sports media in the United Kingdom Category:Satellite television Category:Companies traded on the London Stock Exchange Category:News Corporation subsidiaries

Sky Television plc

:For other uses, see Sky Television (disambiguation). Sky Television (disambiguation) Sky Television plc was a four-channel satellite television service launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on February 5, 1989. Sky Television merged with collapsed rival British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). The merger was effectively a takeover of BSB by Sky, although the latter was also suffering massive losses.

History

In 1982 Rupert Murdoch's News International acquired 80% of Satellite Television UK (SATV), one of the earliest satellite television channels which brodcast from the OTS-2 Orbital Test Satellite to a pan-European audience. The service was renamed Sky Channel. The channel became widely available in Ireland in 1987. It was relaunched as Sky Television on February 5, 1989 and was one of the first Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services in the world to become operational. The service had four channels on the Astra 1A satellite, which orbited at 19.2°E: Sky Channel, Eurosport, Sky Movies and Sky News. The Astra satellite was owned by a Luxembourg based consortium, Société Européenne des Satellites and controlled from there, but Sky's broadcasts originated in the UK and were subject to British regulation. Originally regulated by the Cable Authority, control passed to the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and finally to the Office of Communications (Ofcom).

BSB competition and merger

The impetus for the relaunch as Sky Television was the refusal of the ITC to allow Murdoch to participate in the British Satellite Broadcasting alliance. This created a battle to win customers in this new multichannel environment. In the end Sky's earlier launch and leasing of transponders on the Astra satellite network allowed it to overtake its rival. In contrast to Sky; BSB suffered from the burden of building and launching its own satellites, more ambitious and expensive technology and higher capital expenditure overall, such as the construction of its Marco Polo House HQ in London compared to Sky's industrial estate in Isleworth. In 1990 both companies were beginning to struggle with the burden of massive losses. The failure of BSB in November 1990 led to a merger, which was in effect a takeover by Sky - quality programming and superior technical quality had been no match for shrewd, aggressive marketing and pragmatic capital expenditure. The new company was called British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) but marketed as Sky, Marco Polo House was sold, BSB's channels were largely scrapped in favour of Sky's and the Marco Polo satellites were run down and eventually sold in favour of the Astra system (Marcopolo I in December 1993 to NSAB of Sweden and Marcopolo II in July 1992 to Telenor of Norway. Both companies had already one HS376 in orbit at the time). The merger may have saved Sky financially; despite its popularity, Sky had very few major advertisers to begin with. Acquiring BSB's healthier advertising contracts and equipment apparently solved the company's problems.

Timeline


- 1982 - Murdoch's News International takes control of Satellite Television UK (SATV), renamed Sky Channel.
- 1986 - Granada, Pearson, Virgin and Amstrad form British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB).
- 1988 - BSB awarded UK satellite licence from the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Murdoch not permitted to particpate.
- 1988 - July - Murdoch announces his intention to relaunch Sky Channel as Sky Television on the Astra satellite system
- 1989 - February 5 - Four channel Sky Television package launched
- 1990 - March - BSB begins broadcasts
- 1990 - November - Both companies suffer heavy losses and BSB collapses. A merger on Murdoch's terms is agreed to form British Sky Broadcasting.
- 1990 - BSkyB announces former BSB customers will receive Sky equipment (for Astra system) free of charge, Marcopolo satellite transmissions to cease.
- 1992 - July - BSB satellite Marcopolo II sold to Telenor
- 1993 - December - BSB satellite Marcopolo I sold to NSAB. Category:Media companies of the United Kingdom Category:Direct broadcast satellite services Category:Satellite television

Sky Digital

:For a wider corporate history and profile see: British Sky Broadcasting. ---- British Sky Broadcasting Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2°E and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. BSkyB's analogue broadcasts ceased in 2001, so the service is now more commonly marketed as just Sky.

History

2001 Sky Digital was officially launched on 1 October 1998, although small-scale tests were carried out before then. For the first time, BSkyB used the newly-launched Astra 2 satellites, which have since come to broadcast exclusively to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. At this time the use of the Sky Digital brand made an important distinction between the new service and Sky's analogue services. Key selling points were the improvement in picture and sound quality, increased number of channels and an interactive service branded Open.... Sky Digital competed with the ON Digital terrestrial offering. New Astra satellites joined the position in 2000, and BSkyB increased the number of channels available to customers accordingly. This trend continued with the launch of Eurobird 1 in 2001. In recent years the Sky Plus (Sky+) was launched. This PVR with internal hard drive allows viewers to 'pause live television' (by switching from a live feed to a paused real-time recording that can be restarted at any point) and schedule programs to record in the future. Sky is planning to launch HDTV services in 2006. The first photos of a prototype Sky HD receiver began appearing in magazines in August 2005. It is believed that all Sky HD receivers will incorporate a version of Sky Plus using a higher-capacity hard drive to accommodate the necessary extra data.

Technical information

2005 2005Sky Digital's broadcasts are in DVB-compliant MPEG-2, with the Sky Movies and Sky Box Office channels including optional Dolby Digital soundtracks for recent films, although these are only accessible with a Sky+ box. Interactive services and 7-day EPG use the proprietary OpenTV system, with set-top boxes including modems for a return path. Sky News, amongst other channels, provides a pseudo-video on demand interactive service by broadcasting looping video streams. Provided a universal Ku band LNB (9.75/10.600GHz) is fitted at the end of the dish and pointed at the correct satellite constellation, most digital receivers will receive the free to air channels. Some broadcasts are free-to-air and unencrypted, some are encrypted but do not require a monthly subscription (known as free-to-view), some are encrypted and require a monthly subscription, and some are pay-per-view services. To view the encrypted content a Videoguard UK equipped receiver (all of which are dedicated to the Sky Digital service, and cannot be used to decrypt other services) needs to be used. Unofficial CAMs are now available to view the service, although use of them breaks your contract with Sky and invalidates your rights to use the card. BSkyB has no veto over the presence of channels on their EPG, with open access being an enforced part of their contract with Ofcom to operate the service. Any channel which can get carriage on a suitable beam of a satellite at 28 East is entitled to access to Sky's EPG for a fee, ranging from £15-100,000. Third-party channels which opt for encryption receive discounts ranging from reduced price to free EPG entries, free carriage on a Sky leased transponder, or actual payment for being carried. However, even in this case, Sky does not carry any control over the channels content or carriage issues such as picture quality. Recent years have seen the launch of numerous low-budget channels, often with very poor technical quality. Due to either limited regional availability of certain channels, or conditions relating to their must-carry status, Sky operate a number of distinct regions for their EPG - with the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain having different channel lineups, and Wales having a different EPG order to the rest of Great Britain. The Northern Irish EPG has the most listed channels, with the Republic of Ireland having the least, although the difference is minor - around 6 entries.

Channels


- At the Races - originally operated by Channel 4; now owned by Sky
- Artsworld - purchased in 2005
- Flaunt - operated by Chart Show Channels on Sky's behalf
- Scuzz - operated by Chart Show Channels on Sky's behalf
- Sky Active
- Sky Box Office - (Pay-Per-View)
- Sky Movies Cinema 1
- Sky Movies Cinema 2
- Sky Movies 1 through Sky Movies 9 (these channels supersede Sky Movies Premier 1 through 5 and Sky Movies Max/Moviemax 1 through 4, but not necessarily in that order)
- Sky News
- Sky One
- Sky Two- rebranded from Sky Mix on 31st October 2005
- Sky Three
- Sky Sports 1
- Sky Sports 2
- Sky Sports 3
- Sky Sports Xtra
- Sky Sports News
- Sky Travel
- Sky Travel Extra
- Sky Vegas Live
- The Amp - operated by Chart Show Channels on Sky's behalf

EPG

All channels are pay-tv channels on Sky's "6 Mix + Sports + Movies" package, unless stated. Subject to change in January 2006 with the [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds20318.html EPG Shuffle]. Channels 101-105 will not be changed.

Entertainment


- Channel 101 BBC 1 (FTA) (RTÉ One in the Republic of Ireland)
- Channel 102 BBC 2 (FTA) (RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland)
- Channel 103 ITV 1 (FTA) (TV3 Ireland in the Republic of Ireland)
- Channel 104 Channel 4 (FTV) (TG4 in the Republic of Ireland)
- Channel 105 Five (FTV) (Not available in the Republic of Ireland)
- Channel 106 Sky One
- Channel 107 Sky Two
- Channel 108 Sky Three (FTV)
- Channel 109 UKTV Gold
- Channel 110 UKTV Gold +1
- Channel 111 UKTV G2
- Channel 112 LIVINGtv
- Channel 113 LIVINGtv +1
- Channel 114 LIVINGtv2
- Channel 115 BBC Three (FTA)
- Channel 116 BBC Four (FTA)
- Channel 118 ITV2 (FTA) (not on Republic of Ireland EPG)
- Channel 119 ITV3 (FTA)
- Channel 120 ITV4 (FTA)
- Channel 121 Challenge
- Channel 122 Challenge +1
- Channel 124 Bravo
- Channel 125 Bravo +1
- Channel 127 Paramount Comedy
- Channel 128 Paramount +1
- Channel 129 Paramount Comedy 2
- Channel 130 Sci-Fi
- Channel 133 Discovery Real Time
- Channel 134 Real Time +1
- Channel 135 Real Time Extra
- Channel 136 Men & Motors (FTA)
- Channel 139 Sky Travel
- Channel 140 Sky Travel +1
- Channel 141 Sky Travel Extra
- Channel 142 UKTV Style
- Channel 143 UKTV Style +1
- Channel 144 UKTV Style Gardens
- Channel 145 UKTV Food
- Channel 146 UKTV Food +1
- Channel 147 UKTV Drama
- Channel 148 Travel Channel (FTA)
- Channel 149 Travel Channel +1 hour (FTA)
- Channel 151 S4C Digidol (FTA)
- Channel 154 Discovery Home & Health
- Channel 155 Discovery Home & Health +1
- Channel 157 Artsworld
- Channel 160 Life TV (FTA)
- Channel 161 Life TV +2 (FTA)
- Channel 162 Life Showcase (FTA)
- Channel 163 E4
- Channel 164 E4 +1
- Channel 165 More4
- Channel 166 TTV (FTA)
- Channel 169 BBC One Northern Ireland (Republic of Ireland only)
- Channel 170 BBC Two NI (Republic of Ireland only)
- Channel 172 Game Network (FTA)
- Channel 178 You TV (FTA)
- Channel 179 You TV 2 (FTA)
- Channel 180 You TV 2 Extra (FTA)
- Channel 181 AVAGO (FTA)
- Channel 184 BEN (FTA)
- Channel 187 Reality TV (FTA)
- Channel 188 Reality TV +1 (FTA)
- Channel 190 Hallmark
- Channel 193 E!
- Channel 196 UKTV Bright Ideas
- Channel 199 Ftn
- Channel 202 Performance (FTA)
- Channel 208 Friendly TV (FTA)
- Channel 214 L!VE TV
- Channel 217 Quiz Nation (FTA)
- Channel 220 Fashion TV
- Channel 223 OBE (FTA)
- Channel 226 PokerZone (FTA)
- Channel 229 Biography
- Channel 222 Hollywood TV (FTA)
- Channel 235 Get Lucky TV (FTA)
- Channel 238 Majestic TV (FTA)
- Channel 241 Action! 241 (FTA)
- Channel 244 LONDON TV (FTA)
- Channel 247 DoveVision TV (FTA)
- Channel 250 Real Estate TV (FTA)
- Channel 253 Wine TV (FTA)
- Channel 256 UKTV G2 +1
- Channel 259 Audi Channel (FTA)
- Channel 262 Open Access 2 (FTA)
- Channel 265 The Poker Channel (FTA)
- Channel 267 RTÉ One (Northern Ireland only)
- Channel 268 RTÉ Two (Northern Ireland only)
- Channel 269 TG4 (Northern Ireland only)
- Channel 270 FX
- Channel 271 FX+
- Channel 272 Sky Vegas Live
- Channel 274 Vegas 24/7 (FTA)
- Channel 275 Jackpot TV (FTA)
- Channel 276 Big Game TV! (FTA)
- Channel 277 Information TV (FTA)
- Channel 278 Lucky Star (FTA)
- Channel 279 YooPlay TV (FTA)
- Channel 280 Passion TV (FTA)
- Channel 281 abc1
- Channel 282 Quiz TV (FTA)
- Channel 283 Raj TV (FTA)
- Channel 284 Quiz Call (FTA)
- Channel 285 The Baby Channel (FTA)
- Channel 286 More4 +1
- Channel 287 Playboy One (FTA)
- Channel 288 Rapture TV (FTA)

Movies


- Channel 301 Sky Movies 1
- Channel 302 Sky Movies 2
- Channel 303 Sky Movies 3
- Channel 304 Sky Movies 4
- Channel 305 Sky Movies 5
- Channel 306 Sky Movies 6
- Channel 307 Sky Movies 7
- Channel 308 Sky Movies 8
- Channel 309 Sky Movies 9
- Channel 310 Sky Cinema 1
- Channel 311 Sky Cinema 2
- Channel 323 FilmFour (premium)
- Channel 324 FilmFour +1 (premium)
- Channel 325 Film4 Weekly (premium)
- Channel 327 TCM
- Channel 330 Horror Channel (FTA)
- Channel 333 True Movies (FTA)
- Channel 336 Matinee Movies (FTA)
- Channel 339 Bad Movies (FTA)

Sport


- Channel 401 Sky Sports 1
- Channel 402 Sky Sports 2
- Channel 403 Sky Sports 3
- Channel 404 Sky Sports Extra
- Channel 406 MUTV (premium)
- Channel 408 Sky Sports News
- Channel 410 British Eurosport
- Channel 411 Eurosport 2 UK
- Channel 413 Motors TV
- Channel 415 At the Races
- Channel 417 NASN (premium)
- Channel 419 Extreme Sports (FTA)
- Channel 421 Chelsea TV (premium)
- Channel 423 Golf Channel (FTA)
- Channel 425 Channel 425 (FTA)
- Channel 427 Wrestling Channel (FTA)
- Channel 429 Setanta Sports 1
- Channel 430 Celtic TV (premium)
- Channel 431 Rangers TV (premium)
- Channel 432 Racing UK
- Channel 433 Setanta Ireland
- Channel 434 Setanta Sports 2
- Channel 435 Sport Nation (FTA)
- Channel 437 Prem Plus (premium)
- Channel 438 Setanta PPV 1 (premium)
- Channel 439 Setanta PPV 2 (premium)

Music


- Channel 440 MTV
- Channel 441 VH1
- Channel 442 MTV Hits
- Channel 443 MTV Base
- Channel 444 MTV Dance
- Channel 445 MTV2
- Channel 446 VH2
- Channel 447 VH1 Classic
- Channel 448 TMF
- Channel 449 The Box
- Channel 450 Kiss TV
- Channel 451 Smash Hits!
- Channel 452 Magic
- Channel 453 Q
- Channel 454 Kerrang! TV
- Channel 455 Chart Show TV (FTA)
- Channel 456 The Vault (FTA)
- Channel 457 B4 (FTA)
- Channel 458 The Hits
- Channel 464 Classic FM TV (FTA)
- Channel 467 channel U (FTA)
- Channel 468 Fizz TV (FTA)
- Channel 469 The Amp
- Channel 471 Scuzz
- Channel 473 Flaunt
- Channel 475 Musicians Channel (FTA)

News


- Channel 501 Sky News (FTA)
- Channel 504 Bloomberg
- Channel 507 BBC News 24 (FTA)
- Channel 508 BBC Parliament (FTA)
- Channel 510 CNBC
- Channel 513 CNN (FTA)
- Channel 519 S4C 2 (FTA)
- Channel 525 ITV News (FTA)
- Channel 528 EuroNews (FTA)
- Channel 531 FOX News
- Channel 534 CCTV-9 (FTA)
- Channel 540 SAW (FTA)
- Channel 543 NDTV (FTA)

Educational


- Channel 551 Discovery Channel
- Channel 552 Discovery +1
- Channel 553 Discovery Travel & Living
- Channel 554 Discovery Civilisation
- Channel 555 Discovery Science
- Channel 556 Discovery Wings
- Channel 558 National Geographic
- Channel 559 National Geographic+1
- Channel 560 Adventure One
- Channel 561 History Channel
- Channel 562 History +1
- Channel 564 UKTV Documentary
- Channel 565 UKTV Documentary +1
- Channel 566 UKTV People
- Channel 570 Animal Planet
- Channel 571 Animal Planet +1
- Channel 582 UKTV History
- Channel 583 UKTV History +1
- Channel 585 Community Channel (FTA)
- Channel 591 UKTV People +1
- Channel 592 Teachers TV (FTA)

Kids


- Channel 601 Cartoon Network
- Channel 602 Cartoon Network +1
- Channel 603 Boomerang
- Channel 604 Nickelodeon
- Channel 605 Nick Replay
- Channel 606 Nicktoons
- Channel 607 Trouble
- Channel 608 Trouble Reload
- Channel 609 Jetix
- Channel 610 Jetix +1
- Channel 611 Disney Channel
- Channel 612 Disney +1
- Channel 613 Toon Disney
- Channel 614 Playhouse Disney
- Channel 615 Discovery Kids
- Channel 616 CBBC Channel (FTA)
- Channel 617 CBeebies (FTA)
- Channel 618 Nick Jr
- Channel 619 POP (FTA)
- Channel 620 Tiny Pop (FTA)
- Channel 621 Toonami

Shopping

All shopping channels (FTA).
- Channel 630 QVC
- Channel 631 iBuy TV
- Channel 632 iBuy TV 2
- Channel 633 TV Shop
- Channel 634 Ideal World
- Channel 635 price-drop.tv
- Channel 636 Pitch TV
- Channel 637 Thomson TV
- Channel 638 Simply Shopping
- Channel 639 Best Direct
- Channel 640 Superstore TV
- Channel 641 Simply Ideas
- Channel 642 Shop Vector
- Channel 643 TV Warehouse
- Channel 644 bid tv
- Channel 645 Thomas Cook
- Channel 646 Gems.tv
- Channel 647 Tel Sell
- Channel 648 Best Direct+
- Channel 650 Shop on TV
- Channel 651 Thane Direct
- Channel 652 TV Warehouse Select
- Channel 653 Vector 24/7
- Channel 654 Stop + Shop
- Channel 655 Yes
- Channel 657 Speedauction TV
- Channel 658 Myphone.tv
- Channel 659 eeZee TV
- Channel 661 Ideal Vitality
- Channel 662 Sky Travel Shop
- Channel 663 Gems.tv 2
- Channel 664 Create & Craft
- Channel 665 Teletext Holidays
- Channel 666 Broadband UK
- Channel 667 Golf Pro-Shop
- Channel 668 We Deliver TV
- Channel 669 Max TV
- Channel 670 One TV
- Channel 699 Christmas Shop

Religious

All religious channels (FTA).
- Channel 671 The God Channel
- Channel 672 GOD 2
- Channel 673 Wonderful
- Channel 674 TBN Europe
- Channel 675 Daystar
- Channel 676 Revelation
- Channel 677 UCB TV
- Channel 678 Inspiration Network
- Channel 679 Loveworld TV
- Channel 680 EWTN
- Channel 681 Gospel Channel

Specialist

All specialist channels (FTA).
- Channel 682 Dating Channel
- Channel 683 GayDate TV
- Channel 685 Look4Love TV
- Channel 688 Gay Network
- Channel 690 Chat Box
- Channel 694 Your TV
- Channel 695 Open Access
- Channel 696 Vectone Mall
- Channel 697 ChoicesUK TV
- Channel 698 Star Bazaar TV

Box Office


- Channel 700-752 Sky Box Office
- Channel 763-769 18 Plus Movies

International


- Channel 800 B4U Movies
- Channel 801 B4U Music (FTA)
- Channel 802 Sony TV Asia
- Channel 803 Star News
- Channel 804 Star Plus
- Channel 805 PCNE Chinese (FTA)
- Channel 806 Vectone Urdu (FTA)
- Channel 807 mta muslim tv (FTA)
- Channel 808 Zee TV
- Channel 809 Zee Music (FTA)
- Channel 810 Zee Cinema
- Channel 811 Bangla TV
- Channel 812 ARY Digital
- Channel 813 MATV National (FTA)
- Channel 814 Vectone Channel-I
- Channel 815 PTV Prime
- Channel 816 Vectone Tamil
- Channel 817 South For You
- Channel 818 AlphaEtcPun
- Channel 819 Al Jazeera (FTA)
- Channel 820 Vectone Bangla
- Channel 821 DW-TV
- Channel 822 TVEi
- Channel 823 Vectone Punjab
- Channel 824 Abu Dhabi TV (FTA)
- Channel 825 TV5
- Channel 826 SET Max (FTA)
- Channel 827 ATN Global (FTA)
- Channel 828 Aastha TV (FTA)
- Channel 829 Apna Bazaar (FTA)
- Channel 830 Record TV (FTA)
- Channel 836 Islam Channel (FTA)
- Channel 837 Channel S (FTA)
- Channel 838 GEO UK (FTA)
- Channel 839 Zee Gujarati
- Channel 841 DM Digital (FTA)
- Channel 842 ATN Bangla (FTA)
- Channel 846 Pub Channel (premium)

Radio Channels

EPG 851-940 (Most FTA)

Other

All ITV and BBC regions Free to air apart from Channel 4 London (FTV). EPG 941-964.

Adult (all premium)


- Channel 966 Playboy TV
- Channel 967 Adult Channel
- Channel 968 Spice Extreme
- Channel 969 Television X
- Channel 970 Television X 2
- Channel 971 Television X 3
- Channel 972 Climax3 1
- Channel 973 Climax3 2
- Channel 974 Climax3 3
- Channel 975 Sport XXX Babes
- Channel 976 Red Hot Rears
- Channel 977 Red Hot 40+ Wives
- Channel 978 Red Hot Amateur
- Channel 979 Red Hot All Girl
- Channel 980 Red Hot Wives
- Channel 981 Red Hot Climax
- Channel 982 Red Hot Only 18
- Channel 983 Red Hot Movies
- Channel 984 Xplicit XXX
- Channel 985 Playboy TV
- Channel 986 Adult Channel
- Channel 987 Spice Extreme
- Channel 988 Private Blue
- Channel 989 Private Girls
- Channel 990 XXX TV
- Channel 991 Amateur Babes
- Channel 992 Gay TV
- Channel 993 18 Plus XXX
- Channel 994 XXX Housewives
- Channel 995 Live XXX TV

Sky Information


- Channel 965 Sky Customer Channel (FTA)
- Channel 996 Channel Line-up (FTA)
- Channel 998 Sky Welcome (FTA)
- Channel 999 Sky Customer Channel (FTA)
- The Hits, TMF, Sky Sports News, UK History, UK Bright Ideas, FTN, E4, E4+1, More 4 and ABC1 are free on Freeview, but not on Sky. Additionally, CNBC, Bloomberg, Eurosport, DW-TV, TV5, TVEi and MTV are available free to air on alternate satellites

See also


- British Sky Broadcasting
- Sky One

External links


- [http://www.sky.com/ Sky.com - Official Site]
- [http://www.exthus.co.uk eXthus: News on Sky and other satellite services]
- [http://www.wickonline.com/fta.htm Free channels on Sky Digital]
- [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/satellite/ Digital Spy: Sky News & Discussion Forums]
- [http://www.heyrick.co.uk/ricksworld/digibox/skyfrlst.html Free to air channels on Sky] Category:Direct broadcast satellite services Category:British television

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.

Terminology


- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.

History

Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.

Government and politics

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.

Subdivisions

The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Military

The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.

Geography

Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Society

Demographics

At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.

Culture

Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.

Sport

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.

Miscellaneous topics

External links


- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

Ireland

:This page is about the island of Ireland. For the state also called Ireland, see Republic of Ireland. :For an explanation of terms like Ulster, Northern Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology) . British Isles (terminology)] Ireland (Irish: Éire) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean and it is composed of the Republic of Ireland (officially, Ireland), which covers five sixths of the island (south, east, west and north-west), and Northern Ireland; part of the United Kingdom, which covers the northeastern sixth of the island. The population of the island is approximately 5.8 million people; 4.1 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.6 million in Greater Dublin) and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast). Belfast 2003. Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales are visible to the east]]

Geography

Wales with more details).]] A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntuohill (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1041 m (3414 feet). The island is bisected by the River Shannon, at 259 km (161 mi) the longest river in Ireland or Britain. The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet "Emerald Isle". The island's area is 84,079 km² (32,477 mile²). Ireland is divided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. In Irish these are referred to as Cúige's ( Cúige - meaning fifths). Previously there were five provinces - Connacht, Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Meath, comprising the counties of Meath, Westmeath and Longford. These were further divided into 32 counties for administrative purposes. Six of the Ulster counties remain under British sovereignty as Northern Ireland following Ireland's partition in 1922 (the remaining 26 forming present-day Republic of Ireland); since the UK's 1974 reshuffle these county boundaries no longer exist in Northern Ireland for administrative purposes, although Fermanagh District Council is almost identical to the county. In the Republic, the county boundaries are still adhered to for local government, albeit with Tipperary and Dublin subdivided (some cities also have their own administrative regions). For election constituencies, some counties are merged or divided, but constitutionally the boundaries have to be observed. Across Ireland, the 32 counties are still used in sports and in some other cultural areas and retain a strong sense of local identity. Ireland's least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely spectacularly mountainous and rocky, with beautiful green vistas.

Politics

Dublin Politically, Ireland is divided into:
- The Republic of Ireland, with its capital in Dublin. This state is often simply referred to internally and internationally as "Ireland" in English or "Éire" in Irish. Technically Ireland and Éire are the official names of the state while the "Republic of Ireland" is its official description.
- Northern Ireland is unofficially known as 'the North', and 'Ulster' (the province of Ulster also includes Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan which are in the Republic). Northern Ireland is a region of the United Kingdom. Prior to the Government of Ireland Act 1920 the island had been a unified political entity within the United Kingdom (see United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) from 1801. From 1541 the Kingdom of Ireland was established by the King of England, though this realm did not cover the whole island till the early 17th century. Up to then, Ireland had been politically divided into a number of different Irish kingdoms (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Mide, Ulster, and others). Contrary to some assertions, at no time did a national kingdom headed by an Ard Ri exist. In a number of respects, the island operates officially as a single entity, for example, in most kinds of sports. The major religions, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, are organised on an all-island basis. Some 92% of the population of the Republic of Ireland and about 44% of Northern Ireland is Roman Catholic. Some trade unions are also organised on an all-Irish basis and associated with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) in Dublin, while others in Northern Ireland are affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom - though such unions may organise in both parts of the island as well as in Britain. The island also has a shared culture across the divide in many other ways. Traditional Irish music, for example, though showing some variance in all geographical areas, is, broadly speaking, the same on both sides of the border. Irish and Scottish traditional music have many similarities. The Ireland Funds, an international fund-raising organisation, tries to help people on both sides find peace and reconciliation through community development, education, arts and culture. The island is often referred to as being part of the British Isles. However, some people, especially in Ireland, take exception to this name, which seems to suggest that both islands belong to Britain. For this reason, "Britain and Ireland" is commonly used as a more neutral alternative. Another suggestion, although much less used, is the Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA).

Flag of Ireland

There is no universally agreed flag that represents the island of Ireland. Historically a number of flags were used, including St. Patrick's cross, the flag sometimes used for the Kingdom of Ireland and which represented Ireland on the Union Jack after the Act of Union, a green flag with a harp (used by some radical nationalists in the 19th century and which is also the flag of Leinster), a blue flag with a harp used from the 18th century onwards by many nationalists (now the standard of the President of Ireland), and the Irish tricolour. However as the tricolour is the flag of the Republic of Ireland it is not used to represent the island of Ireland, given that the island also includes Northern Ireland. The Royal Standard also shows a version of an ancient Irish flag in one of its four quadrants. St Patrick's Saltire is used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In contrast the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) uses the tricolour to represent the whole island.

History

Gaelic Athletic Association]] Ireland was mostly ice-covered and joined by land to Britain and Europe during the last ice age, has been inhabited for about 9,000 years. Stone age inhabitants arrived sometime after 8000 BC, with the culture progressing from Mesolithic to high Neolithic over the course of three or four millennia. The Bronze Age, which began around 2500 BC, saw the production of elaborate gold and bronze ornaments and weapons. The Iron Age in Ireland is associated with people now known as Celts. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the Gael, the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scholars, however, now favour a view that emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation.The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia. Ptolemy in AD 100 records Ireland's geography and tribes. Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings. Tradition maintains that in AD 432, St. Patrick arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new faith. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin learning during the Early Middle Ages. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. This era was interrupted in the 9th century by 200 years of intermittent warfare with waves of Viking raiders who plundered monasteries and towns. Eventually they settled in Ireland, and established many towns, including the modern day cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. In 1172, King Henry II of England gained Irish lands by the granting of the 1155 Bull Laudibiliter to him by then English Pope Adrian IV, and from the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. English rule was largely limited to the area around Dublin, known as the Pale, and Waterford, but this began to expand in the 16th century with the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century, as a result of the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland and English and Scottish Protestant colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, which established English control over the whole island. After the the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics were barred from voting or attending the Irish Parliament. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as the Protestant Ascendancy In 1800 the Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland would remain within the United Kingdom, ruled directly by the UK Parliament in London. The 19th century saw the Great Famine of the 1840s in which at least 1 million Irish people died and over a million were forced to emigrate. The late 19th and early 20th century saw a vigorous but unsuccessful campaign for Irish home rule, followed by the eclipse of moderate nationalism by militant separatism. In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish War, twenty-six counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. The remaining six, in the north-east, remained within the Union as Northern Ireland. Secession for the rest of Ireland led directly to the Civil War, as militant nationalists split into two factions and turned against one another.

History since partition

Irish Independence: The Irish Free State, Éire, Ireland

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 but was rejected by a large minority, resulting in the Irish Civil War which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. For its first years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party introduced a new constitution in 1937 which renamed the state to simply "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (preface to the Constitution). The state was neutral during World War II but offered some assistance to the Allies. In