Sky Atlantic

Launch and availability

It was announced on 25 October 2010 that Sky Atlantic would launch on Sky channel 108, which was previously occupied by Sky 3.^[2] Sky Atlantic launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[3][4]

At launch, Stuart Murphy was the director of programmes for Sky One, Sky Two, Pick and Sky Atlantic.^[3] On 5 May 2011, Elaine Pyke, the head of drama at Sky, was promoted to director of Sky Atlantic, reporting to Murphy.^[5] Programmes on the channel are also offered to Sky customers via on-demand channels including the On Demand and Sky Go services and Now. Both BT TV and Virgin Media had held talks with Sky over the new channel but have been unable to agree a carriage deal,^[6] in Virgin's case due to pricing.^[7][8] On 23 February 2026, Virgin Media O2 announced that Sky Atlantic would be added to Virgin Media's Stream and TV 360 packages beginning on 1 April under a new deal with Sky.^[9]

Additional channels

A one-hour timeshift of Sky Atlantic started broadcasting on 20 September 2012 on channel 173 as Sky Atlantic +1.^[10] It moved to channel 170 on 9 June 2015 as part of a reshuffle which also included the closure of Sky 3D, Sky Livingit becoming Real Lives and Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 merging to become simply Sky Arts. It moved to channel 217 on 18 July 2017 as part of the Sky 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 both standard definition and high definition, the latter on Sky Atlantic HD.^[11] 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.^[12]

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 of Riviera 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 began being simulcast on Sky Showcase until its shutdown in February 2026.^[13][14]

Acquisitions

Sky Atlantic relies heavily on screenings of US television programmes, with more than 50% of all programming coming from HBO.^[15] Although the channel mainly screens dramas, blocks in the channel's schedule were dedicated to comedies and movies.^[16][17] The launch of Sky Atlantic in 2011 followed the broadcaster's £150m,^[18] 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.^[19] Although it had been renewed since, the exclusivity deal with HBO expired on 26 March 2026^[20][21][22] with the launch of the HBO Max streaming service in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.^[23][24] In December 2024, the existing deal between Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery was updated to include life-of-series rights to all HBO programming released before the expiry date,^[22][25] including House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Euphoria, and Dune: Prophecy.^[26] All future HBO original programming, like Harry Potter, would be released exclusively on HBO Max.^[22] Sky still planned to make new acquisitions via separate agreements on a programme-by-programme basis,^[27] while new series in existing franchises would continue to be released on Sky as "co-exclusives".^[20][22]

In January 2016, Sky expanded the acquired programming on Atlantic after purchasing the broadcast rights to Showtime programming; however, Sky Atlantic did not broadcast all Showtime programmes, as some series would later air on Channel 4 as part of a separate deal.^[28] The deal with Showtime expired in December 2021, with all future series becoming exclusive to the Paramount+ streaming service which launched in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy in 2022,^[29] while a separate agreement allowed Billions to continue on Sky.^[30]

In 2025, Sky started acquiring several series from Peacock.^{[31][32][33][34][35]} In early 2026, they signed first-look deals with Starz and Canal+ that would involve co-commissioning future projects together.^[36][37]

Drama

Co-productions

Acquired programming

Drama

Co-productions

Acquired programming

• Hacks (series 5; 17 April 2026)^[b][53]
• Ponies (May 2026)^[35]
• Crystal Lake (2026)^[34]
• The Good Daughter (2026)^[32]
• Superfakes (2026)^[35]
• Yaga (2026)^[35]

Drama

Comedy

Unscripted

Co-productions

Acquired programming