Former British satellite television channel devoted to soap operas (1994?1999)
Television channel
Sky Soap
was a British and Irish satellite television channel operated by
British Sky Broadcasting
devoted to American and British
soap operas
that include
Emmerdale Farm
,
Take the High Road
,
Families
and
Albion Market
.
History
[
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]
When
Sky Channel
was launched on the Astra satellite on 5 February 1989, the daytime schedule was overhauled and included a block of five soaps. The first, starting at 11.30am from
Australia
,
The Sullivans
, which was also still airing in some
ITV regions
. Next were four
American
daytime soaps ?
Another World
, which had been airing on the channel since 1987, started at 12.00pm; followed by
General Hospital
from 12.55pm; and
As the World Turns
at 1.50pm and finally,
Loving
in a regular 2.45pm slot.
[1]
A sixth soap opera,
The Young Doctors
, was another Australian serial also being broadcast on ITV. Sky Channel initially aired it in an early evening slot at 5.00pm, before switching to mid-afternoon after 6 months, and then finally, at 10:30am, from 1990.
[2]
The network changed its name to Sky One on 31 July 1989.
The Sullivans
,
General Hospital
and
As the World Turns
were all dropped, and in November 1990, newer American daytime soaps were added to the line-up:
The Bold and the Beautiful
and
The Young and the Restless
were both inherited from
BSB
's
Galaxy
channel
[3]
following the corporate merger of the two companies, although neither were retained once the 3-year contract with BSB expired in 1993. In February 1991, Sky bought
Santa Barbara
, which was
another
soap opera originally broadcast on the
ITV network
. By 1993, with the addition of Australian soaps
E Street
and
Paradise Beach
to the schedules, as well as daytime repeat runs of American primetime series,
St Elsewhere
and
Falcon Crest
, the block of daily soap operas on Sky One ran from 10.30am through to 3.30pm.
With the success of Sky One's daytime soap opera block, it was decided in 1994 to create a new, dedicated channel, and Sky Soap began broadcasting on 3 October 1994 from the
Astra 1C
satellite on weekdays between 8.00am and 12.00pm.
[4]
The original line-up on the channel consisted entirely of American daytime soaps: a repeat run of the first season of
Loving
which originally aired on Sky One;
Peyton Place
(originally aired on ITV, and was replaced by
Santa Barbara
); plus, a new serial to UK viewers,
Guiding Light
, premiered, and
As the World Turns
returned, having aired on Sky One in 1989. Finally, current episodes of
Another World
, were moved across from Sky One.
The channel didn't attract viewers, and so the broadcast hours were changed to between 12.00pm and 4.00pm. By 1997, Sky Soap was broadcasting from
Astra 1B
, and the hours were extended to 11.00am to 4.00pm. The only American daytime soaps airing by then were
As the World Turns
and
Guiding Light
, while old episodes of British soaps were added to the line-up, including
Emmerdale Farm
,
Families
and
Take the High Road
.
Poor viewing figures following the launch of Sky Digital led to the channel's closure on 30 April 1999.
Programming
[
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]
American
[
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]
Australian
[
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]
British
[
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]
References
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External links
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