British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) was a television company, headquartered in London, that provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. The company was merged with Sky Television plc on 2 November 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). It started broadcasting on 25 March 1990. In 1977, the World Administrative Radio Conference assigned each country five high-powered channels for direct broadcast by satellite (DBS) for domestic use. In 1982, after being awarded two of the channels, the BBC proposed its own satellite service, with two conditions: During Autumn 1983, the cost of Unisat was found
British Satellite Broadcasting general entertainment and living/current affairs. Unfortunately, this increased the size of the dishes which the public had to purchase from 25 centimetres to 35–40 centimetres; subsidies from BSB helped maintain retail prices at £250. BSB's satellite channels for the general public were: With a sixth for business users: BSB launched its service on 25 March 1990, with the slogan "It's Smart to be Square". The launch, six months late, came 13 months after Sky's launch. BSB was due to start broadcasting in September 1989 but was delayed by problems with the supply of receiving equipment and because BSB wanted to