Greek television channel
Television channel
Skai
TV
(
Greek
: ΣΚΑ?) is a Greek free-to-air
television network
based in
Piraeus
. It is part of the
Skai Group
.
[1]
It was relaunched in its present form on 1 April 2006 in the
Athens
metropolitan area, and gradually spread nationwide. Besides
digital
terrestrial
transmission, it is available on the
subscription
-based
encrypted
services of
Nova
and
Cosmote TV
.
Skai TV is also a member of
Digea
, a consortium of private television networks introducing
digital terrestrial
transmission in Greece. At launch, Skai TV opted for dubbing all foreign language content into Greek, instead of using subtitles. This practice is rarely used in
Greece
for anything except documentaries and children's programs, so after intense criticism, the station switched to using subtitles for almost all foreign shows.
History
[
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]
Skai TV was first launched on 21 September 1993 with an emphasis on news and sports. However, on 26 September 1999, it was sold, and the new owners gradually rebranded it as
Alpha TV
. The new station had an entirely different programming perspective and opted for a more mainstream profile. It soon became one of the top three TV stations in
Greece
.
On 1 April 2006, the company that originally launched Skai TV bought Seven TV, a holder of a Greek National broadcasting license that failed to expand its coverage all over the country or attract a wide audience. The station was renamed to 'Skai TV' allowing the brand to re-emerge on the Greek television scene after 7 years, but this time the owners decided to forgo their previous approach and opted for foreign shows and news coverage. On 6 September 2007, Skai TV was added to the lineup of
NOVA Greece
digital platform. On 2 March 2016, Skai TV launched its own high-definition feed. On 2 September, the network won one of four national television licenses auctioned in Greece after Iannis Alafouzos paid €43.6 million in an unusually high competitive bidding process.
[2]
Criticism
[
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]
Skai TV was heavily criticized for its "
yellow press
" news coverage and low-budget programming. In an incident still remembered by Greek viewers and later investigated by a
Channel 4
documentary
, the station was unanimously slated for its involvement (and live coverage) of a hostage situation that ended with the death of the victim.
[3]
Skai TV has been criticized by Greek socialists for allegedly promoting
right-wing politics
,
liberal
and pro-EU politics in its news reporting and political commentary, and for being essentially the mouthpiece of
big business
in Greece. It has also been criticized by some Greek conservative commentators for its political documentaries. Statements by various journalists of the channel such as
Aris Portosalte
have evoked criticism, while it has been also criticised for portraying the Mitsotakis cabinet with a very positive point of view.
Technology
[
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]
Skai TV has made an appearance in international airwaves, being the first non-subscription TV station worldwide to use solely digital technology thus being completely tapeless.
[
citation needed
]
It uses the
SONAPS
network broadcast system made by
Sony
and installed by British company VSC Design. Skai also uses
Harmonic
Spectrum servers for Playout together with IBIS automation.
Skai TV is also the first station in
Greece
to broadcast its full program in
16:9 format
.
Programming
[
edit
]
Skai TV focuses on entertainment and information, with the program including comedies, dramas, current affairs shows, documentaries, and sports.
Foreign programs originally made up the bulk of Skai TV's schedule, but in recent years it has begun producing an increasing amount of original programs which now comprise a third of their schedule. It has programming agreements with popular foreign networks including
National Geographic
,
Discovery Channel
and
BBC
. A large part of Skai TV's schedule features recent and past-years documentaries. There is also a Greek dubbed
BBC World News
news bulletin following the station's own news bulletin and a news-themed morning show.
Skai TV also shows some friendly matches of Panathinaikos FC which are not on any Greek Premium Services (either
Cosmote Sport
or
Nova Sports
).
Skai HD
[
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]
The Skai broadcasts in high definition from the Cosmote TV platform and online. In August 2014, it announced that it will broadcast a new TV channel in HD on digital terrestrial television. It was expected to be launched in early-2015, but it was delayed until 27 February 2016.
Skai International
[
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]
In 2013, Skai TV expanded its service into
North America
, entering programming supply agreements with local broadcasters. It launched in the
United States
via a partnership with local Greek broadcaster
New Greek TV
, which is available on
Time Warner Cable
in
New York
.
[4]
On 12 December 2013, Skai launched in Canada on
Bell Fibe TV
via a partnership with ethnic broadcaster Ethnic Channels Group.
[5]
However, as of 2016, Skai programming is no longer available in North America.
[
citation needed
]
Logos
[
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]
-
1993?1998
-
2006?2009
-
2009?2018
-
2018?present
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
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]
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