Carl Waring wrote 
 on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:26:45 +0100 in message  
 <7Kz3k.44132$TL1.16870@newsfe21.ams2>: 

>Klunk wrote:
>>  Before Sky Digital came along, Sky One was free to air...
>
>Really?
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_One
>"On 1 September 1993 Sky One was encrypted as part of the Sky Multichannels 
>subscription package, and could no longer be viewed outside the UK and 
>Ireland without exporting a box, or receiving it over cable."
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Digital_%28UK_%26_Ireland%29
>"Sky Digital was officially launched on 1 October 1998..."
>
>So there you go.
>
>Although I am quite willing to accept that Wikipedia cannot be relied upon 
>for 100% accuracy at all times, I think we can accept that most of the 
>information is mostly accurate :-)


They however can be relied upon here.

I've had satellite since the mid 1980s, before Astra 1 was launched.

Sky Channel, later renamed Sky One, was indeed Free To Air for some while,
it did later become a subscription channel, long before Sky Digital was
launched.