15-09-2023, 02:20 PM
(15-09-2023, 11:05 AM)Stooky Bill Wrote: Yes for all intents and purposes it was a takeover of BSB by Sky. News International had the biggest stake in the company, they had control via the board of the company and eventually it was their brand, their satellite space and their building that got used long term. BSB was essentially wiped out.
But it's interesting that the actual company we know now is actually BSB. Why this happened, well I suspect that as Sky TV was owned by just News International doing it that way round was just easier. It might well been because of their IBA franchise.
The only other legacy of BSB (except Memphis Bell) is the BSB uplink site at Chilworth in Hampshire, which is still Sky's uplink site and also handles some of its playout - Sky Box Office came from there.
It's not the only anomoly like this, for example currently every ITV license is held by the company formally known as Anglia TV
Similar to the NTL/Telewest merger, but in reality, Telewest acquired NTL, so there wouldn't be any change of ownership legalities involving the UKTV joint-venture between Flextech (Telewest) and the BBC.
Anglia TV was probably chosen to be renamed as ITV Broadcasting Ltd as it was the first alphabetically.
I've noticed Sky Stream has a logo like BSB's Squarial, likely a coincidence (due to the shape of the streaming device), but BSB probably would have used a logo like that today if it was still around.