The Television Affair Episode 3: Satellite and Cable TV in the 1990s Part 2

This time around we're continuing our look at the new satellite and cable channels for the 1990s. Mainly focussing on the Sky multi-channels, but also some of the channels that were free to air that you could get on Satellite and cable. Looking into channels such as EBN, Discovery, TLC, and the rise and fall of Granada Sky and L!ve TV.
You can see Episode 1 here • The Television Affair:...
And Episode 2 here • The Television Affair:...
Please be aware that I've added a modesty ducky to cover up some stuff that people may feel a little uncomfortable with.

[@bluefrogTV_]

Very intriguing series, to say the least. The Paint Drying Network needs to be a thing like genuinely

[@bigjaffa02]

33:55 My colleague bought the old L!ve TV content and IP. ~5000 tapes in all. Many of the betacam and digibeta tapes were digitalised and archived so the content all still exists somewhere.

[@estherastudillo8647]

Good, because preservation matters. It may be strange, but it's still a part of history.

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Live TV was great for stoners late at night. Just watching the presenters at 4am having long since lost the will to live and things to talk about was hilarious

[@DrBenson21]

Fantastic little documentaries you've put together. At 37 i remember cable and wireless/nynex before we got a sky box. It all felt like magic compared to normal terrestrial TV. Hope you make some more content.

[@8bitnitwit]

Love your videos mate, you've got a great energy for this kind of thing

[@JHarper08]

Loving this series so far, keep up the amazing work!

[@Allanbuzzy]

9:24 Pretty sure they did use that song to introduce TLC to the UK, the idents might've just been made so they didn't have to constantly recontract to use that song in their idents.

[@RebeccaGunn]

Trying to decide which is worse - the original Sky Travel logo or the really generic "synergy" rebrand that happened shortly after for all the sky channels.

[@renbymon]

Love this Television Affair series that you're doing! Subbed!

[@akulamashina]

Really enjoyed this series, Cheers mate.

[@rtc9063]

Sky 2 took a lot of programmes from Sky 1, inc. 90210, Melrose Place, Hercules and Xena. But the problem was it wasn’t on cable and this really had a negative effect on Sly One even when they got those shows back

[@glenncampbell6038]

Sky2 was just awful ( pity as had a lot of potential) & less said bout sky3 the better 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@AJGuinness]

Absolutely love your content and commentary. Takes me back to growing up watching TV, we had Cable London, so got some of these, but also enjoyed going to my aunt's place as they had Sky analogue. I did later find out why I couldn't watch the German channels late at night...

[@heggy_69]

I swear men and motors was limping on when I was younger, it seemed to start at random times. But that could be rded child memory

[@StevenHuntington]

Sky analogue seemed to be much better than what Sky Digital became, but I think it's definitely a case of quantity over quality with all of the platforms of digital TV over all of the platforms of analogue TV. My first personal entry into digital TV was ONdigital, I had one of their prepaid packages for a year along with three faulty Philips DTX6371 boxes.

[@steeviebops]

The Sky One, Two and Three idents at 11:58 were ridiculed a fair bit at the time. Sky Onc, Sky Tuo and Sky Thrcc.

[@sports872]

I'd like to see more on Wire TV. Also on L!ve TV on the second time it was on air. Look forward to the video on foreign channels in the uk

[@jonkasonic]

Yeah I'd love to do more on wire tv... similarly more on the cable jukebox but there isn't much footage available of them, I would imagine that there wasn't much content on those channels that were needed for catch up, and that being on cable in selected areas, the audiences wouldn't have been very big. I will keep an eye out tho

[@simonough4195]

Technically, Sky One became Sky Max and moved channel number. Sky Showcase was a brand new channel and was slotted into the old EPG slot used by the old Sky One…

[@jonkasonic]

Cool thanks for that, I read that the old disney channel epg number is now Sky Kids

[@simonough4195]

@@jonkasonic I believe so

[@errontgordon]

Very well produced and entertaining shows thanks for making them.

[@rtc9063]

I don’t think Sky Max has achieved anything new. They’d be better going back to calling it Sky One

[@richmlvcable]

I still can't believe they'd un-brand their oldest and most famous channel ffs

[@Mchannnel]

The only thing Granada Talk TV did is launch Sacha Baron Cohen’s Career. It’s weird huh

[@timgoodwin4424]

F2F

[@JamesLehartProductions]

Gaylord drive 🤣 - It's like everytime I drive past the Gaydon sign on the M6 I always point it out and say "it's just like London.... but gayer"

[@MatWilliams91]

I remember living with my mum as a kid and having Cartoon Network, which shared its timeslot with TNT. I clearly recall my uncle fitting the dish, although the picture would occasionally scramble. Another memory is watching “Vampire in Brooklyn,” though I can’t remember which channel it was on. I don’t think we paid for the service, and I often went to my nan’s to watch channels like Nickelodeon and Fox Kids. Out of interest, do you have any idea what service we might have had?

[@CB394]

News for kids = BBC Newsround.

[@subliminalvibes]

John Craven! 👍😎

[@CB394]

@@subliminalvibes Yep. Those were the days. I'm pretty sure I was about 7 when he retired.

[@markssmith77]

One main thing I can remember that CNN International did was to advertise which really expensive hotels that you could watch the channel in... But I could watch it at home so I'm good Ted, thanks!

[@morbidsearch]

I'm convinced this channel was made by myself where I travelled back in time and developed an English accent

[@grindelston5968]

Can tell you are a radio presenter, you just have 'that voice' haha. More YTV chevron being a pest please!

[@repairsnstuff]

I miss the weather channel

[@jonkasonic]

They should have made the scenery channel like on back to the future. I know we had landscape but I think having a pretend window in your house looking to an outside that's not outside your house would be cool. Maybe weather channel could have a service where they put a different weather outside your window

[@townsjim]

What is the name of the song that starts at 4:51?

[@CrazyTobster]

Amazing video mate. Wire TV was a huge success which is why the Mirror Group brought it. Live TV was a complete failure. The ratings were dire which lead to the channel closing. Poter departed ways because she thought Live TV was going to be like Wire TV... As we all know it was anything but

[@jonkasonic]

I couldn't find much Wire TV but you can see a lot of thought went into it and Live TV was a huge downgrade

[@CrazyTobster]

@@jonkasonic Hay I think you will find this interesting. It documentary from 1995 about LiveTV. It where I got the info from: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enK2ZJehqbl0pZo

[@michaeljohnson5365]

When sky came out in 1989 there was no subscription and then around 1990 sky movies plus and the movie channel came out and it was 18 pounds per month but you could get free sports until 1992

[@evonne_o]

Because of they probably didn't wanted people to have the neatly formed Premier League for free...

[@timgoodwin4424]

Any place for Bruce Hammel on the paint drying network?

[@glenncampbell6038]

Dd you miss the computer channel ? I’ve a VHS recoding of old sky promos which is funny to look back on - really enjoyed these KZbin videos

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

Used to have a share tip section on one show on the computer channel. They tipped a company called affinity internet holdings at a quid. Bought them on the Monday and they sailed up to 80 quid over the next six months and then went out of business when the bubble popped. Paid for a few years of my sky subscription

[@estherastudillo8647]

The Computer Channel was a hidden part of B.S.B.

[@jonkasonic]

Yeah i didn't want to put it in because it was a hidden channel. I might do something on hidden or secret channels in the future but I think AMTV did a hidden channels video and Bob the fish covered the bsb channels so I didn't want to go over too much of what others have already done.

[@glenncampbell6038]

@@jonkasonic what you mean hidden channel ? Didn’t it come on at 6/7pm when I think sky travel closed ?

[@rachel.mcgowan]

​@@jonkasonicA video on "hidden" channels would be excellent, if you've not already done it (just making my way through this playlist so I don't know what's yet to come...) BBC Select is a largely forgotten service I'd love to find out more about, I know you needed a special box to receive it's programming.

[@syed_mamoon99]

The Sky Max channel is basically Sky One.

[@malleychristian]

in case of the Disney Channel the German Version is the only one Left Standing

[@jonkasonic]

cool i didn't know that was still around, i think i heard the U.S one was still around

[@user-gt9gy7rz1x]

@@jonkasonic #RAISERIGGY

[@Uandalvin]

Also the polish disney

[@mbad7827]

Dude! That very first clip of the countdown... Where's it from?

[@jonkasonic]

I made the visuals but it was based on the bbc and itv television for schools count downs, and the music used was for ITV schools on Channel 4. It's called "just a minute" ( bbc countdown, kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5ypmH2jlJmcoaM. Itv countdown - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYKZhJpsbLN-ock. Just a minute (c4 schools) kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWqxq6Sjoch9psU )

[@mbad7827]

@@jonkasonic brilliant, i did think it was from my school days, thanks for the memory

[@dtvfan24]

Agree withe the NBC Europe vs cnbc europe. NBC Europe is way different to its OG NBC as thats a NBC stations in US run regular shows. CNBC Europe is now just a shell of its former self with even more sharing with US CNBC.

[@videonut1988]

Except TDC is still on the air in the States. It’s on its 40th Anniversary year

[@jonkasonic]

Apparently disney pulled out world wide specifically due to the UK deal falling through with Sky and Virgin

[@carlhartwell7978]

25:35 To me, the logo appears to be answering the question _'Why do you even exist'?_

[@petemarr824]

Live TV was utter crap to put it mildly.

[@jordanhowell7798]

I really miss Disney Channel and Fox Kids, most of their shows are now on the Disney+ streaming services.

[@jonkasonic]

I was going tonmention Fox Kids but it slipped my mind... hopefully a short thing on that next week

[@jordanhowell7798]

@@jonkasonic that's ok, thank you for letting me know.

[@centrevezgaming4862]

@@jonkasonic You need to look into the law suit of The name WWF

[@estherastudillo8647]

Not. All of them.

[@jordanhowell7798]

@@estherastudillo8647 well not the Power Rangers franchise, but shows from Marvel that were on Fox Kids are on Disney+.

[@mayousimon1]

Filmnet with late night club special as us rock band van halen said pictures on a sliver screen greatest things you're never seen... it is one of every household passon that first wave of satellite entertainment effusiontives!

[@adolfkudlinski]

shame the CMT Europe closed in 1998 :/ ... and never came back

[@mrraoulandtheking11]

Sonic? 🙄🤔

[@CB394]

The Scottish television logo was supposed to be a thistle.

[@GaryCrew437]

Apt title 2: The Television Affair Episode 5: UK Satellite and Cable TV in the 2000s Part 2

[@johnbarr6277]

If memory serves me right wire tv degenerated into live tv with topless darts being the nadir,all the angles

[@sargonsblackgrandfather2072]

Topless Darts was pure art, how very dare you!?! Think they also did a topless trampoline version too

[@GaryCrew437]

Apt title: The Television Affair Episode 4: UK Satellite and Cable TV in the 2000s

[@stephenrobinson8244]

Its food for toys 😂

[@rewind1980]

Is the commentary meant to be “funny”? The History Channel ownership is also wrong.