Sky was by no means the first in the UK to offer Pay-TV, as this article from the former Vintage Broadcasting site describes.
In the 1960s, a company called Pay Television Limited started broadcasting via cable in London and after a period of time, extended its operation to Sheffield.
I personally remember, as a child, seeing the programme listing for Pay-TV in the London Evening News. I was quite fascinated by this, next to each programme was the price - a feature film 7/6d, documentary 3/6d and so on - and I vividly remember the Election Results programme in 1966 was offered at no charge
When Pay-TV was extended to Sheffield, the service was opened by The Right Hon. Ted Short, the Postmaster General.
Click on the screen shot below to view Ted Short’s introduction, in MPEG 1 format.
