Sky Atlantic is a forthcoming television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, due to launch in February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and the Ireland. Sky Atlantic will be available in both standard-definition and high-definition, the latter on Sky Atlantic HD. Stuart Murphy will extend his responsibilities and become Director of Programmes for Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3 and Sky Atlantic.
Programmes on the channel will also be offered to Sky customers via on-demand channels including the Sky Anytime+ service. As of 1 October 2010, BSkyB said that it could not confirm any wholesale deals with other pay-TV operators, such as Virgin Media, to carry Sky Atlantic.
The launch of Sky Atlantic follows the broadcaster's £150m, five-year deal to snap up the exclusive UK and Irish TV rights to HBO's entire archive, new HBO programming and a first-look deal on all co-productions. The deal does not cover programmes with pre-existing agreements with other broadcasters, such as the first-run rights to Eastbound & Down and True Blood on FX, until their licence expires. Sky is also understood to have bid at least 25% more than the BBC to acquire Lionsgate Television's Mad Men.
It was announced on 25 October 2010, that Sky Atlantic would launch on Sky channel 108, which is currently occupied by Sky3.
