Independent Broadcasting Authority rival Sky Television plc was able to launch an analogue service and intended to overshadow BSB by leasing transponders from Société Européenne des Satellites' RCA Astro-built satellite, Astra 1A. After around a year, the company merged with BSB. The IBA was disbanded as part of the Broadcasting Act 1990, being replaced on New Year's Day 1991 by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) (which also absorbed the Cable Authority), and the Radio Authority (RAu), which have since been merged with other regulators such as Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) and Oftel (Office of Telecommunications) to form one regulator, Ofcom. All of the
The Movie Channel (UK) The Movie Channel (UK) The Movie Channel was a British television channel, which only aired movies. Launched on BSB in 1990, The Movie Channel was a predecessor of some of the Sky Movies channels, having survived the merger with Sky Television, another satellite service launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International later in 1990 to form British Sky Broadcasting. After its merger on 31 March 1991, The Movie Channel continued to broadcast until 1997 when it was rebranded as Sky Movies Screen 2. The Movie Channel began in 1990 as one of the channels of British Satellite Broadcasting, a consortium formed