
On This Day...
1st October
Channels
1992
Sky Movies Gold begins broadcasting. The channel aired classic movies, from 4pm to 12am each day. It replaced The Comedy Channel.
1993
QVC begins broadcasting in the UK, from 2pm.
1995
The Disney Channel begins broadcasting in the UK and Ireland, as subscription-only.
1996
A joint venture between Granada Television and British Sky Broadcasting launches four channels:
- Granada Plus: initially, the channel showed programmes produced by Granada TV and London Weekend TV, such as On the Buses, Crown Court, The Comedians and The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club. The channel was replaced by ITV 3 in 2004.
- Granada Men and Motors: aimed at men, focused on motoring and erotic content.
- Granada Good Life: women's lifestyle.
- Granada Talk TV: talk shows.
1998
Sky Sports News begins broadcasting, after a couple of months of internal trials.
2007
Virgin 1 begins broadcasting, replacing Ftn. The channel was apparently positioned as a rival to Sky 1. Shows included Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Riches and the Star Trek franchise.
Miscellaneous
1998
Sky launches their new digital satellite service, Sky Digital.
Programmes
1961
The first edition of Songs of Praise airs on BBC TV.
1963
The first edition of The Five o'Clock Club airs on ITV.
1964
The Thursday edition of Blue Peter is introduced.
1965
The first episode of The Addams Family airs on ITV.
1965
The final episode of 199 Park Lane airs on BBC One.
1972
The first edition of Weekend World airs on ITV. Political series, produced by LWT. Presented by Peter Jay.
1973
The first edition of Granada Reports airs on ITV (Granada).
1975
The first edition of Arena airs on BBC Two.
1979
The 3,000th edition of Jackanory airs on BBC One. J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit is read by Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Jan Francis and David Wood.
1980
The first episode of King Rollo airs on BBC One.
1980
The first episode of Bric-a-Brac airs on BBC One.
1981
The first edition of 40 Minutes airs on BBC Two.
1984
The first episode of The Glory Boys airs on ITV.
1985
The first episode of Galloping Galaxies! airs on BBC One.
1989
The first episode of Close to Home airs on ITV.
1992
The first episode of Australian series GP airs on ITV (London).
1993
The pilot episode of Anna Lee airs on ITV.
1994
The first edition of Steve Wright's People Show airs on BBC One.
1996
The first episode of Springhill airs on Channel 4.
2001
The first edition of BBC LDN (BBC London News) airs on BBC One.
2004
The first edition of Newswatch airs on BBC One/BBC News channel. Presented by Raymond Snoddy.
2011
The final edition of Doctor Who Confidential airs on BBC Three/BBC One.
2020
The first edition of The Apprentice: Best Bits airs on BBC One.
2021
The final edition of
ITV Nightscreen airs on ITV.
RELATED ARTICLE: ITV Nightscreen bows out after more than 23-and-a-half years.
2023
The first episode of Boiling Point airs on BBC One. Drama. Following on from the 2021 film of the same name. Starring Vinette Robinson and Stephen Graham.
Test Card/Teletext In-Vision Music
1992
BBC Two tape Looks Good Feels Good (2) airs for the first time.

On This Day...
1st October
Births
1908
Former pianist and TV/radio announcer, Kay Cavendish.
1927
Former TV news reporter/presenter, Sandy Gall.
1940
Former musician and TV presenter, Atarh Ben-Tovim.
1943
Former TV announcer,
Michael Speake.
1974
Actor, singer and TV presenter, Keith Duffy.
Deaths
2012
Former TV news reporter/presenter, Prakash Mirchandani.
2019
Former TV news presenter, Peter Sissons.
2023
Former actor and TV presenter, Jake Abraham.
Research for On This Day in TV History is by Paul R. Jackson.
Details about test card/teletext in-vision music and BBC trade test films are available as a result of decades of research and logging by members of the Test Card Circle.