He initially sought cooperation from Thames Television, the Independent Broadcasting Authority and an industry group, but their refusal resulted in him setting up SATV alone.

[12] Originally it did not have a UK broadcasting licence, and consequently was in a similar legal situation to the pirate radio stations of the 1960s and 1970s; however, reception of the channel required a satellite dish approximately 10 feet (3 metres) wide, and it was believed that there were fewer than 50 privately owned installations.

The new channel broadcast many programmes from the archives of ITV companies such as LWT and Yorkshire Television; these included Please Sir!, Dickens of London, The Rag Trade, Within These Walls, Bouquet of Barbed Wire and Hadleigh.

The channel gradually added some programmes it produced itself, such as the music show Cable Countdown hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read.

Initially, the channel's own programming and continuity was played out from the Molinare studios at Fouberts Place in the West End of London.

[13] However, the station struggled financially because of a limited audience, mainly due to the weak signal from OTS that made direct-to-home reception of the service extremely difficult.

That same year, on 25 March, Rupert Murdoch had shown interest in the project and held talks with SATV's owners about buying a substantial stake in the company.

Plans were also made to start broadcasting from the new European communications satellite ECS-1 and additional cable operators, allowing it to increase its audience across Europe and gain access to British viewers.

Swindon was the first area in the UK to start receiving the channel via its Cable operations before expended to many others [20] Broadcast hours were extended by April and various English-language sports and entertainment shows were added to the schedule.

Despite the programming changes resulting in increased viewership across Europe (from 291,470 in December 1983 to 4,003,000 in June 1985, before reaching 9,001,905 by April 1987), Sky Channel was still considered underperforming, generating under $20 million per year in advertising revenue.

By the mid-1980s, Murdoch was looking to use newly emerging direct satellite broadcasting technology, and to focus primarily on the British market.

Initially, Sky Channel's programming remained much the same (children's programmes, soaps and American action series), except for a number of new game shows and a few travel documentaries.

[22][23] The suit was later settled with Disney selling its stake to Sky, and agreeing to license its movie library for a five-year period on 3 June of that year.

By contrast, BSB was only licensed to broadcast five channels, had to pay for the construction and launch of its own satellites, and used more ambitious and expensive technology.

Also it had higher capital expenditure overall, such as the construction of its Marco Polo House headquarters in London compared to Sky's industrial estate accommodation in Isleworth.