2000s |
| Wed 2nd Dec 2009 | Freeview HD starts broadcasting, with BBC HD, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD. |
| Wed 30th Sep 2009 | National Freeview retune day. |
| Thu 27th Nov 2008 | All the BBC channels can now be watched online. |
| Thu 20th Nov 2008 | A little late to the party, FIVE launches on Freesat. |
| Thu 20th Nov 2008 | Selkirk (and its relays), becomes the first digital only main terrestrial tranmitter. |
| Thu 23rd Oct 2008 | Freesat+, the digital recorder for Freesat is launched. |
| Fri 10th Oct 2008 | Channel 4 pulls out of digital radio |
| Fri 19th Sep 2008 | Scots Gaelic channel BBC Alba starts broadcasting on satellite. |
| Fri 12th Sep 2008 | Sky cancels the Picnic project saving Sky News, Sky Three and Sky Sports News for Freeview viewers. |
| Sat 16th Aug 2008 | Freeview music channel The Hits becomes 4Music, under the Channel 4 umberella. |
| Wed 2nd Jul 2008 | Freeview's Network Information Table is split in two, invalidating some Freeview boxes. |
| Tue 1st Jul 2008 | Freeview HD starts test broadcasts from the Guildford transmitter. |
| Thu 12th Jun 2008 | BBC News 24 becomes just BBC News |
| Sat 7th Jun 2008 | ITV HD starts broadcasting. |
| Tue 6th May 2008 | The BBC and ITV launch Freesat. |
| Tue 25th Dec 2007 | BBC iPlayer leaves beta and is "hard launched" |
| Wed 14th Nov 2007 | Whitehaven switchover complete |
| Wed 17th Oct 2007 | Whitehaven begins the digital switchover process as BBC TWO is closed on analogue. |
| Wed 26th Sep 2007 | ABC-1 is pulled from Freeview and other platforms |
| Mon 20th Aug 2007 | Channel 4 starts the first timeshift of a terrestrial channel with Channel4+1 |
| Wed 27th Jun 2007 | BBC iPlayer is launched as a beta test |
| Tue 8th May 2007 | NEWS 24 becomes the first BBC TV channel to go online. |
| Fri 27th Apr 2007 | BBC and ITV announced high definition Freesat service to launch Spring 2008 |
| Wed 14th Mar 2007 | Michael Grade closes ITV Play. |
| Thu 25th Jan 2007 | MPs invesgiate quiz TV channels in the Houses of Parliament |
| Wed 15th Nov 2006 | Channel 4's quiz channel Quizcall is removed from Freeview |
| Sun 23rd Jul 2006 | Film4 relaunches as a free channel and gains a 4.3% share of viewing. |
| Mon 22nd May 2006 | Sky launch their satellite HDTV service |
| Thu 11th May 2006 | BBC launch their HDTV service on cable, satellite and Freeview (London only) |
| Wed 19th Apr 2006 | ITV Play starts as a full-time Freeview channel. |
| Sat 11th Mar 2006 | CITV, ITV's Children's Channel, starts broadcasting |
| Sat 17th Dec 2005 | Ofcom publishes the Digital Dividend Review - how the government can make money by selling off TV frequencies C31-40 and C63-68 |
| Tue 1st Nov 2005 | ITV-4 starts |
| Mon 31st Oct 2005 | Sky Three starts |
| Wed 12th Oct 2005 | ITV and C4 join Freeview founders BBC, BSkyB and National Grid Transco. |
| Mon 10th Oct 2005 | More4 launches free-to-air on Freeview. |
| Wed 25th May 2005 | E4 relaunches as a free-to-air channel on Freeview. |
| Wed 27th Apr 2005 | ITV pays £134m for acquisition of a Freeview multiplex |
| Mon 1st Nov 2004 | ITV adds a third branded channel to Freeview |
| Thu 21st Oct 2004 | Sky relaunches the non-subscription satellite boxes for one-off payment of £150. |
| Tue 31st Aug 2004 | National Grid Transco buys Crown Castle International for £1,138m |
| Mon 29th Dec 2003 | The Office of Communications (Ofcom) becomes TV's super-regulator. |
| Sun 9th Feb 2003 | BBC THREE replaces Choice channel. |
| Wed 30th Oct 2002 | BBC, BSkyB and Crown Castle International launch Freeview: a package of 30 free channels though and aerial with no contract. |
| Fri 5th Jul 2002 | ukfree.tv launched |
| Wed 1st May 2002 | ITV digital (see below) closed with huge losses. |
| Sat 2nd Mar 2002 | BBC FOUR replaces Knowledge channel. |
| Mon 11th Feb 2002 | BBC children's channels, cBeebies and CBBC start in BBC's digital daytime airtime. |
| Thu 27th Sep 2001 | Sky's analogue satellite service is closed. |
| Wed 11th Jul 2001 | ONdigital re-launched as ITVdigital. |
|
1990s |
| Tue 1st Jun 1999 | BBC Knowledge launches. |
| Mon 7th Dec 1998 | ITV-2 launces. |
| Sun 15th Nov 1998 | ONdigital launches a 40 channel mixture of pay and free channels, using digital technology though a roof-top aerial. |
| Thu 1st Oct 1998 | Sky launches Sky Digital, now with hundreds of channels and the highest standard pictures using a compact dish. New technology makes pay-per-view films and entertainment a daily reality. |
| Wed 23rd Sep 1998 | BBC Choice, the first UK widescreen channel launches with BBC Parliament. |
| Sun 9th Nov 1997 | BBC launch their News 24 domestic news channel.
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| Sat 1st Nov 1997 | Launch of uktv channels. |
| Sun 30th Mar 1997 | Flavour of the month, the Spice Girls, launch Channel 5. |
| Fri 16th Aug 1996 | Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) experimental transmissions start in the Birmingham area. |
| Tue 21st May 1996 | ITC begins public consultations on digital terrestrial TV. |
| Sun 17th Mar 1996 | Pay-per-view arrives in UK with Sky charging viewers to watch Bruno v Tyson world title boxing match. |
| Fri 27th Oct 1995 | Fifth terrestrial licence award to Channel 5 Broadcasting by the regulator, the Independent Television Commission ITC. |
| Thu 26th Jan 1995 | BBC launches 24-hour news station, BBC World for viewers outside the UK. |
| Wed 1st Sep 1993 | BSkyB launches its Multichannels package with encryption for non-premium channels, including UK Gold. |
| Fri 1st Jan 1993 | ITV (now officially "Channel 3") is reconfigured following the 1990 Broadcasting Act.
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| Sun 1st Nov 1992 | Launch of UK Gold
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| Mon 8th Apr 1991 | BSB's Power station closes, Sports Channel becomes Sky Sports, The Movie Channel joins Sky Movies on the Astra satellite. |
| Sun 2nd Dec 1990 | BSB's Now and Galaxy channels close. Replaced for BSB customers with Sky One, Sky News (weekdays) and Sky Arts (at weekends) |
| Fri 2nd Nov 1990 | Sky TV and BSB merger to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). |
| Mon 30th Jul 1990 | Sky Channel renamed Sky One |
| Sun 25th Mar 1990 | Launch of the officially sanctioned British Satellite Broadcasting, BSB with their The Movie Channel, The Sports Channel, Galaxy, Power Station and Now.
 |
1980s |
| Mon 6th Feb 1989 | Launch of Sky Television (Sky Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport)
 |
| Sun 11th Dec 1988 | Astra launch first "mass market" European TV satellite, and Sky Channel moves to Astra |
| Wed 8th Jun 1988 | Rupert Murdoch announces Sky Television. |
| Thu 11th Dec 1986 | The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) awards the contract for direct broadcast by satellite services to British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB). |
| Mon 30th Sep 1985 | CNN launches it's international service. |
| Mon 1st Jul 1985 | Home Secretary asks IBA to review prospects for commercial DBS |
| Sun 1st Jan 1984 | Fledgling company Satellite Television purchased by Murdoch and re-launched as Sky Channel. Watch by 10,000 UK cable viewers. |
| Tue 1st Feb 1983 | ITV breakfast television (tv-am) started |
| Mon 17th Jan 1983 | BBC starts UK breakfast television (Breakfast Time). |
| Tue 2nd Nov 1982 | Channel 4 begins broadcasting. |
| Mon 1st Nov 1982 | S4C begins broadcasting. |
| Sun 1st Jun 1980 | Cable Network News, CNN, starts broadcasting live news to the US. |
1970s |
| Wed 5th Dec 1979 | Harold Wilson makes speech forecasting foreign cultural invasion |
| Mon 6th Aug 1979 | Strikes takes ITV off the air for nine weeks |
| Thu 23rd Sep 1976 | ITV and BBC commence teletext transmissions |
| Mon 8th Oct 1973 | Britain's first legal commercial radio station, London Broadcasting starts |
| Wed 19th Jan 1972 | Post Office control of broadcasting hours ended |
1960s |
| Sat 15th Nov 1969 | BBC1 and ITV begin regular colour transmissions. |
| Sat 1st Jul 1967 | Regular colour transmissions begin on BBC2. |
| Fri 8th Oct 1965 | London Post Office Tower opened. |
| Sun 2nd May 1965 | First television transmission from USA using a geo-stationary satellite. |
| Mon 20th Apr 1964 | BBC2 opens on 625 lines. |
| Thu 16th Apr 1964 | First live television relay from Japan via Telstar satellite. |
| Fri 14th Sep 1962 | ITV network completed as last of first companies goes on air |
| Wed 11th Jul 1962 | First transatlantic satellite exchange via Telstar satellite at Goonhilly Downs Earth station in Cornwall. |
1950s |
| Thu 22nd Sep 1955 | ITV starts broadcasting in the London area. |
| Fri 30th Jul 1954 | Television Act 1954, establishing commercial TV, receives Royal Assent. |
| Tue 2nd Jun 1953 | UK's first major outside broadcast, Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. |
| Sun 27th Aug 1950 | First live link from Europe (Calais) to UK |
1940s |
| Fri 7th Jun 1946 | UK television service resumed. |
1930s |
| Fri 1st Sep 1939 | Wartime close-down of television. |
| Wed 12th May 1937 | First ever outside broadcast for coronation of George VI along the processional route to Alexander Palace. |
| Thu 4th Feb 1937 | Baird system dropped |
| Mon 2nd Nov 1936 | BBC begins broadcasting from Alexandra Palace transmitter to the London area (Baird system and Marconi-EMI system on alternate weeks). |
1920s |
| Wed 1st Apr 1925 | First public demonstrations of television by John Logie Baird from the first floor of Selfridges Store. |
