Sky Box Office (UK)
| Sky Box Office | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 16 March 1996 |
| Closed | 4 January 2017 (Cinema) |
| Owned by | Sky plc |
| Picture format |
576i (16:9 SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 0.01% (Sports) ~0.00% (Movies) (September 2015, BARB) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom Ireland |
| Formerly called | Sky Box Office (1996–2011) |
| Sister channel(s) |
Challenge, Pick, Real Lives, Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic, Sky Cinema, Sky Living, Sky News, Sky Sports, Sky Sports F1, Sky Sports News HQ |
| Website | skymovies.com/boxoffice |
|
Availability
|
|
| Satellite | |
| Sky | Channel 491 (Sports) Channel 492 (Sports HD) |
Sky Box Office is the name of Sky plc's pay-per-view (PPV) system. There are three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, the system ran under unified Sky Box Office branding. On 4 January 2017, all Sky Cinema Box Office channels ceased broadcasting.
Sky Box Office launched on 16 March 1996 on Sky Analogue. At the time it carried mainly sporting events, such as major boxing fights. The first of these was Frank Bruno's WBC World Heavyweight Championship defence against Mike Tyson. Initially events were ordered by telephone, either on the day of broadcast for £14.95 or in advance at a reduced price of £9.99. Ordering an event charged the viewer and then the subscriber's VideoCrypt viewing card would be activated over the air, enabling the viewing of the broadcast. The charge would be levied unless the viewer cancelled prior to broadcast, or returned the viewing card as proof that the event hadn't been watched.
Four dedicated Sky Box Office channels were launched on 1 December 1997 on Sky Analogue. At this time multiple showings of selected movies, shown in advance of their broadcast on Sky's existing subscription movie channels, were added. Initial movies included The Long Kiss Goodnight and Courage Under Fire. However, at least one hour pre-ordering was required, and for most movies one purchase at £2.99 only bought one viewing.
With the move to Sky Digital in 1998, where the Sky Digibox provided a data return path, events and movies – the latter now copy protected – could be bought minutes before or even during the event either by telephone or through an on-screen menu and PIN system.
A range of pay-per-view 3-D films were also screened on Sky 3D.
On 1 February 2011, Sky Box Office was rebranded as Sky Movies Box Office for Movies. Later in the year, Sky Sports Box Office branding was added for sports and Sky 3D Box Office for 3D.
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