Sky Atlantic
| Sky Atlantic | |
|---|---|
| 250px | |
| Launched | 1 February 2011 |
| Owned by | Sky plc |
| Picture format | 576i (16:9/4:3) (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 0.21% 0.02% (+1) (September 2015, BARB) |
| Slogan | The Home of World Class Television[1]/The Home of HBO[2]/Let The Stories Begin |
| Country | United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Sister channel(s) | Challenge, Pick, Real Lives, Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky Arts, Sky Living, Sky Movies, Sky Movies Box Office, Sky News, Sky Sports, Sky Sports F1, Sky Sports News HQ |
| Timeshift service | Sky Atlantic +1 |
| Website | skyatlantic.sky.com |
|
Availability
|
|
| Satellite | |
| Sky | Channel 108 (SD/HD) Channel 170 (+1) Channel 222 (SD) On Demand |
| Streaming media | |
| Sky Go | Watch live (UK and Ireland only) |
| Now TV | Watch live (UK only) |
Sky Atlantic is a television channel brand owned and operated by Sky plc. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Separate channels with the same name also operate in Germany, Italy and Austria.
It launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[1][3][4]
Sky Atlantic is available in both standard definition and high definition, the latter on Sky Atlantic HD.[5] Stuart Murphy extended his responsibilities to become director of programmes for Sky 1, Sky 2, Pick and Sky Atlantic.[3] On 5 May 2011, Elaine Pyke, the head of drama at Sky, was promoted to director of Sky Atlantic, reporting to Murphy.[6]
Programmes on the channel are also offered to Sky customers via on-demand channels including the On Demand and Sky Go services. Both BT TV and Virgin Media had held talks with Sky over the new channel but have been unable to agree a carriage deal,[7] in Virgin's case due to pricing.[8]
It was announced on 25 October 2010 that Sky Atlantic would launch on Sky channel 108, which was previously occupied by Sky3.[9] Sky Atlantic also utilises the HD swap bouquet system developed by Sky, which switches SD channels with HD channels for HD Pack subscribers, meaning Sky Atlantic HD is on channel 108 and the standard definition version appears on channel 222.[10]
A one-hour timeshift of Sky Atlantic started broadcasting on 20 September 2012 on channel 173.[11] It moved to channel 170 on 9 June 2015 as part of a reshuffle which also consisted of Sky 3D closing (only an On Demand channel), Sky Livingit renaming to Real Lives, and Sky Arts 1 and 2 merging to form a single channel.
Contents
Programming
Sky Atlantic relies heavily on screenings of US television programmes, with 40% of all programming coming from HBO.[12] Although the channel mainly screens dramas, there are blocks in the schedule dedicated to comedies and movies [13][14] The launch of Sky Atlantic followed the broadcaster's £150m,[15] five-year deal to buy exclusive UK and Irish TV rights to HBO's entire archive, new HBO programming and a first-look deal on all co-productions.[16]
In January 2016, Sky expanded the portfolio shown on Atlantic after purchasing exclusive rights to Showtime programming.
US shows
Dramas
- Game of Thrones
- The Leftovers
- Vinyl
- Banshee
- Ray Donovan
- The Affair
- Billions
- Blue Bloods
- Aquarius
- Six Feet Under
Unscripted
Comedies
Most watched programmes
The following is a list of the ten most watched programmes on Sky Atlantic, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB up to 16 May 2016.[17] The number of viewers does not include repeats.
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Number of Viewers | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Game of Thrones | 5.01 – The Wars to Come | 2,633,000 | 13 April 2015 |
| 2 | 6.03 - The Oathbreaker | 2,470,000 | 9 May 2016 | |
| 3 | 6.04 - Book of the Stranger | 2,414,000 | 16 May 2016 | |
| 4 | 6.01 - The Red Woman | 2,289,000 | 25 April 2016 | |
| 5 | 5.10 – Mother's Mercy | 2,269,000 | 15 June 2015 | |
| 6 | 5.09 – The Dance of Dragons | 2,175,000 | 8 June 2015 | |
| 7 | 5.08 – Hardhome | 2,027,000 | 1 June 2015 | |
| 8 | 5.06 – Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | 2,019,000 | 18 May 2015 | |
| 9 | 5.05 – Kill the Boy | 2,002,000 | 11 May 2015 | |
| 10 | 5.03 – High Sparrow | 1,976,000 | 27 April 2015 |
References
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- ↑ BARB, via
