It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as PKS (Programmgesellschaft für Kabel- und Satellitenrundfunk), initially a joint venture of various publishing houses, and was rebranded as Sat.1 in January 1985.

The first broadcast could only be seen by roughly 1200 households who had cable access in the city of Ludwigshafen.

Early programs included old films (mainly from the archives of KirchMedia) American hit series and game shows (the most notable show being the German version of Wheel of Fortune, Glücksrad).

Later, the station acquired a name for its original series and TV films.

Regional newscasts are broadcast under the title 17:30 Sat.1... in Bremen, Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Bavaria.