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BBC Two

BBC Two
BBC Two.svg
BBC Two logo
Launched 20 April 1964; 52 years ago (1964-04-20)
Owned by BBC
Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Audience share 5.04% (September 2015 (2015-09), BARB)
Country United Kingdom
Broadcast area United Kingdom and Ireland
Formerly called BBC2 (20 April 1964 – 3 October 1997)
Sister channel(s) BBC One
BBC Four
BBC News
BBC Parliament
CBBC
CBeebies
Website www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 2
Channel 102 (HD)
Digitenne
(Netherlands)
Channel 20
Satellite
Freesat Channel 102
(SD: Sco/Wal/NI; HD: England)
Channel 109
(SD: England; HD: Sco/Wal/NI)
Channels 968–971 (regional variations)
Sky (UK) Channel 102
(SD: Sco/Wal/NI; HD: England)
Channel 115
(HD: Sco/Wal/NI)
Channel 141
(SD: England)
Channels 969–972 (regional variations)
Sky (Ireland) Channel 142 (SD/HD)
Channel 143 (SD)
Astra 2E 10773 H 22000 5/6
10847 V 23000 2/3 (HD)
BFBS Channel 2
Channel 12 (Delayed)
Cable
Virgin Media (UK) Channel 102
Channel 162 (HD)
Virgin Media (Ireland) Channel 109
Channel 140 (HD)
Ziggo (Netherlands) Channel 62 (SD/HD) (England)
Naxoo (Switzerland) Channel 214
UPC Switzerland Channel 156
WightFibre Channel 2
Telenet (Belgium) Channel 121
IPTV
KPN(Netherlands) Channel 24
Telfort(Netherlands) Channel 24
XS4ALL(Netherlands) Channel 24
Belgacom TV(Belgium) Channel 68 (Brussels)
Channel 24 (Flanders)
Channel 214 (Wallonia)
Streaming media
BBC iPlayer Watch live (UK only)
TVPlayer Watch live (UK only)
Horizon Go Watch live (Ireland only)
Horizon.tv (Netherlands only)

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more "highbrow" programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore commercial-free. It is a comparatively well-funded public service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public service networks worldwide.

Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 20 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, now tend to appear on BBC Four instead.

A high-definition version of the channel launched on 26 March 2013, replacing BBC HD.

British television at the time of BBC2's launch consisted of two channels: the BBC Television Service and the ITV network made up of smaller regional companies. Both channels had existed in a state of competition since ITV's launch in 1955, and both had aimed for a populist approach in response. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any serious programming. It therefore decided that Britain's third television station should be awarded to the BBC.

Prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service: the soon to be renamed BBC1. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots "Hullabaloo", a mother kangaroo, and "Custard", her joey. Prior to, and several years after, the channel's formal launch, the channel broadcast "Trade Test Transmissions", short films made externally by companies such as Shell and BP, which served to enable engineers to test reception, but became cult viewing.


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