In the two decades since its launch, Sky has transformed how and what we watch on television. But has it been a blessing or a curse?

WHEN subscription-funded satellite network Sky Television entered Britain's orbit for the first time on 5 February 1989, it seemed like a curious, potentially ill-starred novelty. Twenty years on, for better or worse, it has changed the TV landscape profoundly and become an indelible facet of most of our lives.

For fans of quality American imports such as 24, Lost and Battlestar Galactica, and every sport imaginable, or even just for those who cannot live without following rolling news stories at every hour of the day or night, Sky is a godsend.

On the other hand, it's also owned by Rupert Murdoch's all-powerful News International empire, which obviously means that it is a tool of the dark side and a very bad thing indeed. It's good if you like The Simpsons, though. And their Sky+ recording service is very handy …The thing is, you see, it's incredibly easy to ignore one's own political views and morals when tempted with escapist entertainment and expediency.

Murdoch actually acquired the genus of Sky in 1983, in the shape of a pioneering test channel called Satellite Television UK. This obscure experiment was running at an enormous loss, so Murdoch procured it for a mere £1 plus outstanding debts. It was undoubtedly one of his canniest investments. Renamed the Sky Channel, it became widely available throughout the Republic of Ireland from 1987, before being re-launched as Sky Television in 1989.

Initially just a four-channel package – incorporating Sky Channel (soon re-Christened Sky One), Sky News, Sky Movies, and Eurosport – Sky operated one of the first functioning direct-broadcast satellite services in the world. It wasn't alone, however: rival consortium British Satellite Broadcasting was also vying for attention in this strange new multi-channel age. Notoriously, though, neither network was at all successful in their first year of business, resulting in a desperate 50/50 merger in November 1990.
The resultant British Sky Broadcasting alliance gradually began to attract viewer interest, with more and more of their now familiar satellite dishes springing up around the country. Of all Sky's achievements, changing the appearance of Britain's towns and cities is undoubtedly one of its most significant. Critics complained that this was a dreadful aesthetic development – a perfectly pleasing semi with a scaled-down version of Jodrell Bank on its roof? A travesty! But as dishes became more commonplace, grudging acceptance prevailed.

What amazing new programmes would these curious contraptions be beaming into our homes? To start with it was mainly wall-to-wall sport (fine if you like it; I flee from it myself), Meg Ryan movies, rolling news and the odd cheap, in-house pop programme showing awful dance-music videos from around Europe. It was hardly enticing. Not until it started acquiring the big American hits – The X-Files, 24 – did Sky become a vital stopping-off point for fans of top-notch TV drama.

At the time of its launch, Murdoch boasted that Sky would offer British viewers something that would become one of the most double-edged terms in television: "choice". It is a universally accepted truism that Murdoch's "choice" is a euphemism for – to paraphrase Spinal Tap – "too much bloody choice".

When I were a lad, Bruce Springsteen's mordant critique of American TV culture, 57 Channels (and Nothin' On), sounded like a dispiriting vision of a world we in Britain would thankfully never experience. Now, thanks to this "choice", it sounds like a horrifyingly accurate prediction of our future.

Few would disagree that there are now far too many channels showing far too many programmes, the majority of which simply don't need to exist. Before Sky emerged in 1989, television was like a comparatively manageable, well-trained pet. Now it's like a sprawling, waste-excreting monster.

What it created is an environment in which there is too much airtime, and not nearly enough good content to fill it. So what we're left with is the choice – along with its exclamatory bedfellow, "demand!" – to watch more rubbish than ever before. Who actually wants all this choice? Where is all this demand? I don't see anyone demanding they be given the choice between a repeat of Club Reps on Sky Real Lives 2, or the umpteenth showing of a disappointing Simpsons episode from 2005.

As a functioning TV critic, I'm a passionate defender of the medium, but even I must admit that if over half the digital channels disappeared from our screens tomorrow, nobody would bat an eyelid. The problem with Sky is that there's just too much of it.

Take their 24-hour, US-influenced, rolling news service. Yes, it frequently wins awards for its often excellent reporting, but more often than not, the constant need to fill airtime results in desperate reporters exchanging repetitive details of breaking (and often non-existent) stories.

This approach has had a negative influence on the BBC's own News 24 coverage (launched in 1997), which displays a similar commitment to bringing you the news, even when there isn't any.

That's not to say Sky's influence has been all bad. For instance, it was instrumental in popularising the concept of handy "catch-up" channels, offering viewers the chance to watch repeat showings of programmes they may have missed in the previous few days. Channel 4 and ITV now operate similar channels, as does the BBC with their hugely popular online iPlayer service. In short, Sky has been partly responsible for creating the way that many of us now watch TV.

If, in 1989, you'd predicted that in just 20 years' time you'd be able to watch, on a portable computer, a lightly amusing TV panel show featuring Hugh Dennis at 2am on the sleeper train from Aberdeen to London, you'd be dismissed as a lunatic (because who'd even heard of Hugh Dennis in 1989?). It's taken a while, but we are finally living in the future.

There is one area, however, in which Sky has never flourished. Although rightly praised for its commitment to acquiring quality American shows, it has singularly failed to create any memorable programmes of its own. Just last year, for example, it revived the Spandex-clad 1990s moron-athon Gladiators, to the delight of precisely no-one.

Currently, it seems intent on encouraging the uncalled-for comeback of Noel Edmonds by allowing him to make baffling, egocentric programmes such as Noel's HQ.

Yet despite its flaws, Sky has grown from being something of an industry joke, in its earliest days, into one of the most successful business enterprises in Britain, and an all-pervading element of our media culture. Somehow, it manages to encompass everything that is wrong and everything that is right about modern television. And that, in its own infuriating, dichotomous way, is quite an achievement.

THE BEST

The Simpsons (1990-present)

A RATINGS disaster when first shown on Sky1, but has since become synonymous with the channel.

The X-Files (1994)

SKY1 premiered the first series of this hugely popular sci-fi drama.

24 (2003-present)

ONE of the most nail-biting TV thrillers ever made. Preposterous but fun.

Battlestar Galactica (2003-present)

CAMP 1970s sci-fi series reimagined as heavyweight political allegory.

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (2006)

ABOVE-par fantasy romp starring David Jason. A rare in-house production, followed by The Colour of Magic in 2008.

THE WORST

Dr Phil (2002-present)

POP psychologist from The Oprah Winfrey Show gets his own vehicle. Why?

The Sharon Osbourne Show (2003-2004)

WOEFULLY self-indulgent chat show, featuring guests of whom nobody in Britain had heard.

Noel's HQ (2008-present)

HYSTERICAL nonsense in which Noel Edmonds attempts to right the nation's wrongs. Getting rid of Noel would be a start.

Don't Forget the Lyrics! (2008-present)

HIDEOUS karaoke quiz show hosted by Shane Richie. Read that sentence again and weep.

Gladiators (2008-present)

PERHAPS the least anticipated comeback in television history.

TIMELINE

1989

Sky Television plc launched.

1990

Merger with rival, British Satellite Broadcasting, forms British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).

1992

BSkyB signs exclusive live television rights deal with the FA Premier League.

1993

Sky analogue multichannel packages launched.

1994

Sky News broadcasts live feed of OJ Simpson fleeing from the police, introducing "helicopter journalism" to the UK.

1997

Sky News broadcasts live coverage of the US trial of British nanny Louise Woodward.

1998

Sky Digital launched.

2001

Sky News wins television Baftas for its coverage of the 11 September terrorist attacks.

2001

Sky+ digital video recorder service is launched.

2003

The television series 24, previously shown in the UK on BBC2, is acquired from Fox.

2003

Sky subscribers reach 7.5 million.

2006

Sky News wins the International Emmy Breaking News award for its "fast and accurate" reporting of the 7 July 2005 London bombings

2006

Seasons 3 and 4 of hit US series, Lost, are acquired in a multimillion pound deal with Buena Vista International Television. Previous seasons were shown on Channel 4 in the UK.

2006

Sky High Definition TV is launched.

2007

Sky News crowned Best News Channel at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards.

2008

BSkyB announces that their satellite TV channels will be broadcast over the internet, with no satellite receiver needed.