Sky Atlantic

Logo used since 2020
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom Ireland
Programming
Language	English
Picture format	1080iHDTV (downscaled to16:9576i for theSDTV feed.)
Timeshift service	Sky Atlantic +1
Ownership
Owner	Sky Group (Comcast)
Sister channels	List of Sky UK channels
History
Launched	1 February 2011; 14 years ago (2011-02-01)
Replaced	Virgin1 Bravo
Links
Website	sky.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Sky UK	Channel 108
Streaming media
Sky Go	Watch live(UK and Ireland only)
Now	Watch live(UK and Ireland only)

Sky Atlantic VIP

Logo used from 2017 to 2019
Country	United Kingdom
Broadcast area	United Kingdom Ireland
Programming
Language	English
Picture format	1080iHDTV (downscaled to16:9576i for theSDTV feed.)
Ownership
Owner	Sky Group (Comcast)
History
Launched	25 July 2017; 8 years ago (2017-07-25)
Closed	12 June 2019; 6 years ago (2019-06-12)
Links
Website	skyatlantic.sky.com

Sky Atlantic is a Britishpay television channel owned bySky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas likeFortitude,Tin Star, andGangs of London but is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States. It has held the domestic rights toHBO programming since 2011, which is set to expire in early 2026, and has previously held the domestic rights toShowtime programming from 2016 to 2021. It is exclusively available on theSky satellite TV platform (includingSky Go andNow).

Sky Deutschland broadcasts aGerman-language version of the channel in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, whileSky Italia broadcasts anItalian-language version of the channel in Italy. Their programming is also dominated by acquired series, usually dubbed in the domestic language. The Italian channel also premieres Sky Originals produced in the country, likeGomorrah,The Young Pope, andZeroZeroZero.

It was announced on 25 October 2010 that Sky Atlantic would launch on Sky channel 108, which was previously occupied bySky 3.^[1] Sky Atlantic launched on 1 February 2011 onSky in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[2][3]

At launch,Stuart Murphy was the director of programmes forSky One,Sky Two,Pick and Sky Atlantic.^[2] On 5 May 2011, Elaine Pyke, the head of drama at Sky, was promoted to director of Sky Atlantic, reporting to Murphy.^[4] Programmes on the channel are also offered to Sky customers via on-demand channels including theOn Demand andSky Go services andNow. BothBT TV andVirgin Media had held talks with Sky over the new channel but have been unable to agree a carriage deal,^[5] in Virgin's case due to pricing.^[6][7]

A one-hourtimeshift of Sky Atlantic started broadcasting on 20 September 2012 on channel 173 asSky Atlantic +1.^[8] It moved to channel 170 on 9 June 2015 as part of a reshuffle which also included the closure ofSky 3D, Sky Livingit becomingReal Lives and Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 merging to become simplySky Arts. It moved to channel 217 on 18 July 2017 as part of theSky Sports reshuffle which included Sky Sports Mix moving to entertainment, and again to 208 on 1 May 2018 as part of Sky's major EPG reshuffle due to Sky Atlantic being channel 108.

Sky Atlantic was available in bothstandard definition andhigh definition, the latter onSky Atlantic HD.^[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 808.^[10]

Sky Atlantic VIP was a rewards channel for subscribers of Sky TV who had been with Sky for two or more years and for subscribers who had the Sky Original Bundle (later Sky Entertainment pack, then Sky Signature pack). The HD version also required the HD pack in the UK and the Sky Box Sets pack in Ireland. The channel only broadcast brand new episodes of a popular show a week or so before being shown on the main Sky Atlantic channel. An example of this is when episodes ofRiviera were shown first on Sky Atlantic VIP, then a week or so later on Sky Atlantic. Sky Atlantic VIP was under Sky VIP's "See-It-First" offer. Sky VIP is a rewards programme for long-term Sky subscribers. When the channel was not broadcasting a brand new episode of a programme, the channel was off-air resulting in the channel being on-air only for a few hours per week. The channel only broadcast adverts for programmes on Sky channels. The SD version was on Sky channel 994 with the HD version on channel 995. The channel closed on 12 June 2019.

In January 2024, select programming begun being simulcast onSky Showcase.^[11]

Sky Atlantic relies heavily on screenings of US television programmes, with more than 50% of all programming coming fromHBO.^[12] Although the channel mainly screens dramas, blocks in the channel's schedule were dedicated to comedies and movies.^[13][14] The launch of Sky Atlantic in 2011 followed the broadcaster's £150m,^[15] five-year deal to buy exclusive UK and Ireland television rights to HBO's entire archive, new HBO programming and a first-look deal on all co-productions.^[16] Although it has been renewed since, the exclusivity deal with HBO is set to expire in early 2026,^[17][18] allowing for the launch of theHBO Max streaming service in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.^[19] In December 2024, the existing deal between Sky andWarner Bros. Discovery^[18] was updated to include life-of-series rights to select HBO programming released before the deal ends,^[20] includingHouse of the Dragon,The Last of Us,The White Lotus,Euphoria, andDune: Prophecy.^[21] Sky still planned to make new acquisitions via separate agreements on a programme-by-programme basis,^[22] while new series in existing franchises would continue to be released on Sky but all other future HBO original programming, likeHarry Potter, would be released exclusively on HBO Max.^[18]

In January 2016, Sky expanded the acquired programming on Atlantic after purchasing the broadcast rights to Showtime programming; however, Sky Atlantic does not broadcast all Showtime programmes, as some series would later air onChannel 4 as part of a separate deal.^[23] The deal with Showtime expired in December 2021, with all future series becoming exclusive to theParamount+ streaming service which launched in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy in 2022,^[24] while a separate agreement allowedBillions to continue on Sky.^[25]

• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (19 January 2026)^[35]

The following is a list of the ten most watched programmes on Sky Atlantic (all of them being episodes ofGame of Thrones), based on Live +7 data supplied byBARB up to 20 May 2019.^[36] The number of viewers does not include repeats or Irish ratings. Additionally, all of these episodes were the most viewed programme of the week on non-terrestrial television in the UK. Game of Thrones is Sky's most popular show.^[37]

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