This is a timeline of the history of non-flagship BBC television channels, i.e., BBC channels that have initially appeared on cable or satellite or digital television. The list excludes events from BBC One and BBC Two, unless they also relate to one of the other channels.
1990s 1996 9 May – The BBC announces its plans for digital television. They include a free-to-air news channel, widescreen versions of BBC1 and BBC2, "side channels" which will broadcast extra programmes related to what is on the main channels and a series of paid-for channels featuring programming from the BBC archives.BBC News - BBC unveils plans for Digital Services The BBC holds talks with Flextech and BSkyB about a partnership to launch the paid-for channels. The BBC later decides not to pursue any partnership with BSkyB.
1997 4 March – The BBC and Flextech agree on a deal to provide several BBC-branded channels – BBC Showcase, for entertainment; BBC Horizon, for documentaries; BBC Style, for lifestyle; BBC Learning, for schools, and BBC Arena, for the arts – plus three other channels: BBC Catch-Up, for repeats of popular programmes within days of their original transmission, a dedicated BBC Sport channel and a TV version of Radio 1. 9 October – The Department of Culture, Media and Sport gives the BBC permission to offer its forthcoming 24-hour news channel free to cable operators, thus breaking a monopoly that had previously been held by Sky News. 1 November – Three of the proposed BBC/Flextech channels, UK Horizons, UK Style and UK Arena launch, but they use the ‘UK’ prefix because Flextech wanted these channels to carry adverts but the BBC did not. BBC Showcase/Catch-Up and BBC Learning are removed from the venture and launched in 1998 and 1999 as BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge respectively. The proposed TV version of Radio 1 eventually launches as a music and comedy channel called UK Play but with no connection to Radio 1 and plans for the sports channel come to nothing. 9 November – At 6pm, BBC News 24 is launched. It is the BBC's first new UK channel since BBC Two in 1964. It is only available full time via cable with all other viewers able to see the channel overnight on BBC One.
1998 10 June – The BBC switches on its digital signal, doing so to coincide with the start of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The technology will be showcased at a number of public venues over the Summer, before the launch of the BBC's first digital television channel, BBC Choice, in the Autumn. 23 September BBC Choice, the UK's first digital-only TV station, launches at 12pm. However, viewers can only watch the launch online due to digital receivers not being on sale to the general public yet. Following its purchase of the cable-only Parliamentary Channel, the BBC launches BBC Parliament on digital satellite and analogue cable with an audio feed of the channel on DAB. 15 November – The public launch of digital terrestrial TV in the UK takes place. Consequently, BBC Choice is now viewable by the general public via their television sets if they have digital equipment.
1999 1 June – The educational channel BBC Knowledge launches at 5pm. 29 September – The European Commission rejects a complaint from BSkyB that the licence fee funding of BBC News 24 is illegal under EU law because it amounts to state funding. 25 October – Relaunch of BBC News 24 with a new set design. 29 November – From that day, children's programming is broadcast all day on BBC Choice. Branded CBBC on Choice, children's programming is broadcast on the channel every day from 6am until 7pm.
2000s 2000 June – BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge are reformatted to focus on more specific audiences. Knowledge adopts a broader documentary and culture mix and Choice focusing on developing a stronger relationship with the young adult audience, an audience the BBC had historically had difficulty in reaching. Many of its original programmes, such as Backstage, were replaced with shows aimed at younger people, with most of the early part of the schedules being made up of fifteen-minute programmes under the banner of "Refreshing TV" or "Micro TV". Entertainment news magazine Liquid News, presented by Christopher Price, evolved out of News 24's Zero 30 and became the channel's flagship show. 6 August – It is reported that the BBC is considering a reorganisation of their digital channels to replace BBC Choice and BBC Knowledge with BBC Three and BBC Four. 2 October – Rather than continuing to broadcast its own breakfast news programme, BBC News 24 begins to simulcast BBC’s One’s breakfast programme which on this day is revamped and relaunched as Breakfast. 14 November – BBC Parliament's audio feed on DAB is closed down.
2001 BBC Choice's national late night outputs are abandoned as BBC Choice Northern Ireland closes on 30 March. 16 July – A one-minute news summary called 60 Seconds launches on BBC Choice. October – BBC Choice is further tilted towards youth programming, showcasing the kind of content that will be shown on BBC Three.
2002 11 February – Two new BBC children's channels, CBeebies (aimed at children under 6) and CBBC (aimed at children aged 6–12) launch. 2 March – BBC Knowledge ceases transmission in the early hours of the morning (the first BBC channel to permanently close) with BBC Four launching to replace it at 7pm. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two. 10 April – BBC Four airs Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, in which Patricia Hodge plays the role of Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War. The play was originally written in 1986, but shelved by the BBC because of an upcoming General Election and the play's perceived pro-Thatcher stance. The play has separate radio and television versions (airing on Radio 4 on 6 April), and gives BBC Four an audience of 174,000, the channel's highest audience since its launch. 3 June – BBC Parliament broadcasts archived programming for the first time when it reruns the BBC's coverage of the Queen's Coronation as part of the Golden Jubilee Weekend. 7 September – Following the success of its rerun of the BBC's coverage of the Queen's Coronation, BBC Parliament replays coverage of archive BBC General Election coverage for the first time. The first to be shown is the coverage of the results of the 1979 General Election and the following day, the channel shows the results programme of the 1997 General Election. These reruns subsequently became a mainstay of the channel for many years thereafter and were usually shown to coincide with the anniversaries of their original transmissions. September – BBC Three is finally given the go-ahead after the BBC submitted a revised proposal for the new channel. It raised the target age range to 25–34 and increased the amount of factual, news and arts programming. It had previously been refused over worries that it would be too similar to rival channels such as E4, ITV2 and Sky 1. 6 October – BBC Choice's Liquid News is relaunched with a new studio and graphics and a new presenting team consisting of Claudia Winkleman and Colin Paterson. 30 October – BBC Parliament launches on digital terrestrial television, having previously only been available as an audio-only service. However, capacity limitations mean that the picture is squeezed into just one quarter of the screen.
2003 8 February – After more than four years on the air, BBC Choice closes. Its final night is given over to previews of its replacement, BBC Three. 9 February – After a long delay, BBC Three launches. The opening night is simulcast on BBC Two. 27 November – The BBC unveils a revamped version of its news channel in an attempt to make it appear more dynamic to viewers. Changes include a new studio set and redesigned branding and graphics. 8 December – BBC News 24 is relaunched with a new set and titles, as well as a new Breaking News sting. Networked news on BBC One and Two remains with the same titles though the set was redesigned in a similar style to that of the new News 24. The relaunch had been scheduled for the previous Monday (1 December), but was delayed due to a power failure the week before which had disrupted work on the new set.
2004 15 January – BBC Four begins a six-part adaptation of the Alan Clark Diaries, starring John Hurt and Jenny Agutter. The series concludes on 17 February and is later repeated on BBC Two. 1 April – BBC Three's entertainment news programme Liquid News ends. 14 May – BBC Four Controller Roly Keating is appointed to succeed Jane Root as Controller of BBC Two.
2005 27 January – Holocaust Memorial Day and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp are observed in the UK. BBC Two and BBC News 24 air Auschwitz Remembered, a special news programme providing coverage of memorial events. 2 April – Digital channel BBC Four broadcasts a live remake of the famous 1953 science-fiction drama The Quatermass Experiment. The production is the first live drama broadcast by the BBC for over twenty years and draws BBC Four's second highest audience to date with an average of 482,000 viewers. 4 April – BBC Four airs Speak No Evil – The Story of the Broadcast Ban, a documentary recalling the 1988 broadcasting restrictions imposed by the Government of Margaret Thatcher on organisations in Northern Ireland believed to support terrorism. 30 September – CBBC's identity is relaunched with its second new look since the launch of the CBBC Channel, known as the Green Gumdrop. 2 December – BBC Three's weeknight news bulletin The 7 O'Clock News is broadcast for the final time. It is axed following a report which a report into the BBC's digital outputDigital report sets poser for BBC BBC News, 13 October 2004 claimed that the show "achieves nothing and attracts tiny audiences".
2006 13 November – BBC Parliament broadcasts in full screen format for the first time on the Freeview service, having previously only been available in quarter screen format. The BBC eventually found the bandwidth to make the channel full-screen after receiving "thousands of angry and perplexed e-mails and letters", not to mention questions asked by MPs in the Houses of Parliament itself.
2007 22 January – BBC News 24 is rebranded with new titles and on-screen graphics. 3 September – CBBC identity relaunched with its third new look since the launch of the CBBC channel with a stylised ident.
2008 24 March – BBC Four broadcasts a revived, special two-hour-long episode of the 1960s satire The Frost Report. 21 April – As part of a major rebranding of BBC News, BBC News 24 becomes the BBC News Channel. 19 September – BBC Alba, a Scottish Gaelic language digital television channel, is launched through a partnership between the BBC and MG Alba. 1 October – BBC Four Controller Janice Hadlow is appointed Controller of BBC Two, replacing outgoing incumbent Roly Keating from November.
2010s 2010 15 February – Fiona Armstrong and Julia Somerville join the BBC News Channel as regular presenters. They will later be joined by Zeinab Badawi and Carole Walker as the BBC seeks to fight accusations that it has an ageist policy. 23 June – Following the previous day's emergency budget statement, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are questioned by a live audience on its potential impact. The programme Britain's Economy: Cameron and Clegg Face the Audience is presented by Nick Robinson and aired on the BBC News Channel and BBC Two. 15 October – BBC Three Controller Danny Cohen is named as the new Controller of BBC One, replacing Jay Hunt. 20 October – The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announces that part of the responsibility for funding the Welsh language channel S4C is to be transferred to the BBC.
2011 7 April – Top of the Pops returns to television in its former Thursday evening slot as BBC Four begins airing old episodes from 1976, the point at which the broadcaster's full archive of shows begins.
2012