Original Channel
| Sky 2 | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 1 September 1996 |
| Closed | 31 August 1997 |
| Owned by | British Sky Broadcasting |
| Country | United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Replaced by | National Geographic Channel |
| Sister channel(s) | Sky 1 |
| Availability (at time of closure) |
|
| Satellite | |
| Analogue | Astra 1E, 11.303H |
Sky 2 was originally a television channel from British Sky Broadcasting, which launched on 1 September 1996 as a sister channel to Sky One, as part of a new bouquet of Sky channels including The Computer Channel and Sky Scottish. For an opening night it held an X-Files theme night. While the channel was still being broadcast, Sky One was branded as "Sky 1". Unlike the later Sky One spin-off, Sky One Mix, the channel showed exclusive first-run television shows rather than the same programming as its parent. Prominent shows on its schedule included Xena: Warrior Princess, Profit, TekWar and Melrose Place.
Sky used the launch of the channel and the rebrand of Sky 1 to introduce Digital On-screen Graphics, on both channels.
While at some points the channel reached viewing figures nearly equal to that of its sister channel (such as for the initial episode of Xena: Warrior Princess), it was never very successful. It was eventually closed following the death of Princess Diana on 31 August 1997.
Read more about this topic: Sky Mix
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