Country Greece Broadcast area Internationally Headquarters Piraeus | Language Greek Owned by Skai Group Founded 2006 | |
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Launched 21 September 1993
1 April 2006 (relaunch) Picture format 576i (SDTV) 16:9
1080i (HDTV) 16:9 Audience share 12.6% (23/9/2013 - 29/9/2013, AGB) TV shows The Voice of Greece, The X Factor, Great Greeks, Survivor Greece, Proti Grammi | ||
Skai TV is a television network based in Piraeus, Greece. It is part of the Skai Group, one of the largest media groups in the country. It was relaunched in its present form on 1 April 2006 in the Athens metropolitan area, and gradually spread its coverage nationwide. Besides analogue terrestrial transmission, it is available on the subscription-based encrypted services of Nova and OTE TV. Skai TV is also a member of Digea, a consortium of private television networks introducing digital terrestrial transmission in Greece.
Contents
At launch, Skai TV opted for dubbing all foreign language content into Greek, instead of using subtitles. This is very uncommon in Greece for anything except documentaries (using voiceover dubbing) and children's programmes (using lip-synced dubbing), so after intense criticism the station switched to using subtitles for almost all foreign shows.
History
Skai TV was first launched on 21 September 1993 with emphasis in news and sports but on 26 September 1999 was sold and the new owners gradually rebranded it as Alpha TV. The new station had an entirely different programming perspective and opted for a more mainstream profile, soon managing to become one of the top three TV stations in Greece.
On 1 April 2006, the company who originally launched Skai TV bought Seven TV, a holder of a Greek National broadcasting licence holder that failed to expand its coverage all over the country or attract a wide audience. The station was renamed to 'Skai TV' allowing the brand to re-emerge on the Greek television scene after 7 years, but this time the owners decided to forgo their previous approach and opted for high-quality foreign shows and valid news coverage.
On September 6, 2007, Skai TV was added to the lineup of NOVA Greece digital platform.
On March 2, 2016, Skai TV started broadcasting in High Definition.
On September 2, 2016, SKAI TV won one of four national television licenses auctioned in Greece after Iannis Alafouzos paid EUR 43.6m in a highly unusual competitive bidding process.
Criticism
Original Skai TV was heavily criticised for its "yellow press" news coverage and low-budget programming. In an incident still remembered by Greek viewers and later investigated by a Channel 4 documentary, the station was unanimously slated for its involvement (and live coverage) of a hostage situation that ended with the death of the victim.
Skai TV has been ferociously criticised by Greek socialists for allegedly promoting right-wing, liberal and pro-EU politics in its news reporting and political commentary, and for being essentially the mouthpiece of big business in Greece. It has also been soundly criticised by some Greek conservative commentators for its political documentaries.
Technology
Skai TV has made a pioneering appearance in international airwaves, being the first non-subscription TV station worldwide to use solely digital technology thus being completely tapeless. It uses the SONAPS network broadcast system made by Sony and installed by British company VSC Design. The system is considered by the former as a showcase example of the system. Skai also use Omneon Spectrum servers for Playout together with IBIS automation.
Skai TV is also the first station in Greece to broadcast its full programme in 16:9 format.
Programming
Skai TV airs a diverse programming mix with a focus on entertainment and information. Programming includes comedies, dramas, current affairs shows, documentaries and sports. Foreign programmes originally made up the bulk of Skai TV's schedule but in recent years it has begun producing an increasing amount of original programs which now comprise a third of the schedule. It has programing alliances with popular foreign networks including National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and the BBC and a large part of its schedule features recent and past-years documentaries. There is also a Greek dubbed BBC World News news bulletin following the station's own news bulletin and a news-themed morning show. Skai TV also shows some friendly matches of Panathinaikos FC when these friendlies are not on any of the Premium Services (Either OTE TV or Nova Sports).
Greek
Current shows include:
Foreign
Some of the shows currently being aired:
Skai HD
The Skai broadcast in high definition from the OTE TV platform and online. In August 2014, it announced that it will broadcast a new TV channel in high definition terrestrial digital television, which will relay the homonymous station program in high definition picture. The HD channel is expected to broadcast in early 2015, but the channel finally sent out on February 27, 2016 with 1080i resolution at about 6Mbit/s bitrate.
Skai International
In 2013, Skai TV expanded their service into North America, entering into programming supply agreements with local broadcasters. It launched in the United States via a partnership with local Greek broadcaster New Greek TV, which is available on Time Warner Cable in NY. On December 12, 2013, Skai launched in Canada on Bell Fibe TV via a partnership with ethnic broadcaster Ethnic Channels Group.