# Sky Atlantic

Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO programming until the end of 2025 (this doesn't cover Max original programming). It also broadcasts many original British-produced dramas. It is exclusively available on the Sky satellite TV platform (including Sky Go) and Sky's Now TV platform. Unlike the other channels from Sky Group, Sky Atlantic is not on Virgin Media. On 15 January 2024, select programming begun being simulcast on Sky Showcase.
Sky Deutschland broadcasts a German-language version of the channel in Germany and Austria, while Sky Italia broadcasts an Italian-language version of the channel in Italy. Their programming is also dominated by HBO and Showtime series, usually dubbed in the domestic language. The Italian channel also premieres Sky Originals produced in the country, like The Young Pope and Gomorrah.

## Background

Sky Atlantic launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Separated channels with the same name operate in Germany, Austria and Italy.
Sky Atlantic is available in both standard definition and high definition, the latter on Sky Atlantic HD. Stuart Murphy extended his responsibilities to become director of programmes for Sky One, Sky Two, Pick and Sky Atlantic. On 5 May 2011, Elaine Pyke, the head of drama at Sky, was promoted to director of Sky Atlantic, reporting to Murphy.
Programmes on the channel are also offered to Sky customers via on-demand channels including the On Demand and Sky Go services and Now TV. Both BT TV and Virgin Media had held talks with Sky over the new channel but have been unable to agree a carriage deal, in Virgin's case due to pricing.
It was announced on 25 October 2010 that Sky Atlantic would launch on Sky channel 108, which was previously occupied by Sky 3. 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.

### Sky Atlantic +1

A one-hour timeshift of Sky Atlantic started broadcasting on 20 September 2012 on channel 173. 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 VIP

Sky Atlantic VIP was a rewards channel for subscribers of Sky TV who had been with Sky for 2 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.

## Current programming
### Drama

| Title | Genre | Premiere | Series | Length | Status | Notes |
| Save Me | Mystery drama | 28 February 2018 | 2 series, 12 episodes | 46–51 min. | Renewed for final series | Retitled Save Me Too for the second series |

### Comedy

| Title | Genre | Premiere | Series | Length | Status | Notes |
| Small Town, Big Story | Comedy drama | 27 February 2025 | 1 series, 6 episodes | TBA | Series 1 ongoing | |

### Co-productions

| Title | Genre | Partner/Country | Premiere | Series | Length | Status |
| Gangs of London | Action crime drama | AMC/United States | 23 April 2020 | 2 series, 17 episodes | 53–93 min. | Series 3 due to premiere on 20 March 2025 |
| Sweetpea | Dark comedy drama | Starz/United States | 10 October 2024 | 1 series, 6 episodes | 41–50 min. | Renewed |
| The Day of the Jackal | Spy thriller | Peacock/United States | 7 November 2024 | 1 series, 10 episodes | 49–57 min. | Renewed |

### Acquired programming

* Dune: Prophecy
* Euphoria
* The Gilded Age
* House of the Dragon
* The Last of Us
* True Detective
* The White Lotus

## Upcoming programming
### Drama

| Title | Genre | Premiere | Series | Length | Status | Notes |
| Atomic | Action drama | 2025 | 1 series, 5 episodes | TBA | Post-production | |

### Comedy

| Title | Genre | Premiere | Series | Length | Status | Notes |
| The Death of Bunny Munro | Comedy drama | 2025 | 1 series, 6 episodes | TBA | Post-production | |

## Former programming
### Drama

| Title | Genre | Original Broadcast | Series |
| Hit & Miss | Crime drama | 2012 | 1 series, 6 episodes |
| The British | Docudrama | 2012 | 1 series, 7 episodes |
| Fortitude | Psychological thriller | 2015–18 | 3 series, 26 episodes |
| Riviera | Crime drama | 2017–20 | 3 series, 28 episodes |
| Tin Star | Crime drama | 2017–20 | 3 series, 25 episodes |
| Little Birds | Historical romance drama | 2020 | 1 series, 6 episodes |
| This England | Biographical drama | 2022 | 1 series, 6 episodes |

### Comedy

| Title | Genre | Original Broadcast | Series | Notes |
| This is Jinsy | Comedy | 2011–14 | 2 series, 17 episodes | Previously aired the pilot episode on BBC Three |
| Walking and Talking | Teen comedy | 2012 | 1 series, 4 episodes | |
| Hunderby | Historical black comedy | 2012–15 | 2 series, 10 episodes | |
| Common Ground | Comedy | 2013 | 1 series, 10 episodes | |
| Mr. Sloane | Historical comedy | 2014 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Doll & Em (series 2) | Comedy | 2015 | 1 series, 6 episodes | Previously aired on Sky Living for series 1. |
| Camping | Comedy | 2016 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| The Trip (series 3) | Sitcom | 2017 | 1 series, 6 episodes | Previously aired on BBC Two for series 1–2. Moved to Sky One for series 4. |
| I Hate Suzie | Black comedy drama | 2020–22 | 2 series, 11 episodes | Retitled I Hate Suzie Too for the second series |
| Dreamland | Comedy | 2023 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |

### Unscripted

| Title | Genre | Original Broadcast | Series | Notes |
| Thronecast | Talk show | 2011–19 | 8 series, 77 episodes | Aftershow for Game of Thrones |
| The Devil's Dinner Party | Game show | 2011–12 | 1 series, 20 episodes | |
| Cleverdicks | Game show | 2012 | 1 series, 30 episodes | |
| Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia | Talk show | 2012 | 1 series, 10 episodes | |
| God Save The Queens | Docuseries | 2012 | 1 series, 3 episodes | |
| Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge | Radio show | 2012–16 | 2 series, 12 episodes | Edited version of the web series of the same name |
| Adam Buxton's Bug | Stand-up | 2012 | 1 series, 8 episodes | |
| Ronna and Beverly | Talk show | 2012 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Don't Sit In The Front Row | Stand-up | 2012–13 | 2 series, 16 episodes | |
| Set List: Stand Up Without a Net | Stand-up | 2013–14 | 2 series, 14 episodes | |

### Co-productions

| Title | Genre | Partner/Country | Original Broadcast | Series | Notes |
| Falcón | Crime drama | Canal+/France ZDF/Germany | 2012 | 1 series, 4 episodes | |
| The Tunnel | Crime drama | Canal+/France | 2013–17 | 3 series, 24 episodes | |
| Penny Dreadful | Dark fantasy drama | Showtime/United States | 2014–16 | 3 series, 27 episodes | |
| The Last Panthers | Crime drama | Canal+/France | 2015 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Guerrilla | Historical drama | Showtime/United States | 2017 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Britannia | Historical fantasy | Amazon Prime Video (series 1) Epix/United States (series 2–3) | 2018–21 | 3 series, 27 episodes | |
| Patrick Melrose | Drama | Showtime/United States | 2018 | 1 series, 5 episodes | |
| Sally4Ever | Comedy | HBO/United States | 2018 | 1 series, 7 episodes | |
| Chernobyl | Historical drama | HBO/United States | 2019 | 1 series, 5 episodes | |
| Catherine the Great | Historical drama | HBO/United States | 2019 | 1 series, 4 episodes | |
| Upright (series 1) | Comedy drama | Fox Showcase/Australia | 2019 | 1 series, 8 episodes | Moved to Sky Comedy for series 2. |
| The End | Drama | Fox Showcase/Australia | 2020 | 1 series, 10 episodes | |
| The Third Day | Psychological thriller | HBO/United States | 2020 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Domina | Historical drama | Sky Atlantic/Italy MGM+/United States (series 2) | 2021–23 | 2 series, 16 episodes | |
| Landscapers | True crime comedy drama | HBO/United States | 2021 | 1 series, 4 episodes | |
| The Baby | Horror comedy | HBO/United States | 2022 | 1 series, 8 episodes | |
| The Lovers | Romantic comedy | Sundance Now/United States | 2023 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Mary & George | Historical drama | Starz/United States | 2024 | 1 series, 7 episodes | |
| The Tattooist of Auschwitz | Historical drama | Peacock/United States Stan/Australia | 2024 | 1 series, 6 episodes | |
| Lockerbie: A Search for Truth | Biographical drama | Peacock/United States | 2025 | 1 series, 5 episodes | |

### Acquired programming

Sky Atlantic relies heavily on screenings of US television programmes, with more than 50% of all programming coming from HBO. Although the channel mainly screens dramas, blocks in the channel's schedule were dedicated to comedies and movies. The launch of Sky Atlantic in 2011 followed the broadcaster's £150m, five-year deal to buy exclusive UK and Irish TV rights to HBO's entire archive, new HBO programming and a first-look deal on all co-productions. Although it has been renewed since, the exclusivity deal with HBO is currently set to expire by the end of 2025, allowing for the launch of Max in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy in 2026. Despite this, Sky planned to acquire new and returning series via separate agreements on a programme-by-programme basis, including House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The White Lotus and Euphoria. In December 2024, a new agreement was made between Sky UK & Ireland and Warner Bros. Discovery that extended Sky's distribution of HBO original programming until Max launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2026. The agreement would also allow for all HBO programming that premiered on Sky Atlantic through the end of 2025 to continue to air there exclusively and for future series in existing franchises to continue on Sky Atlantic while new series like the untitled Harry Potter series will be released on Max.
In January 2016, Sky expanded the acquired programming on Atlantic after purchasing the broadcast rights to Showtime programming; however, Sky Atlantic does not broadcast all Showtime programmes, as some series would later air on Channel 4 as part of a separate deal. The deal with Showtime expired in December 2021, with all future series becoming exclusive to Paramount+, while a separate agreement allowed Billions to continue on Sky.

#### HBO programming

* Angels In America
* Ballers
* Band Of Brothers
* Banshee
* Barry (series 1–2)
* Big Little Lies
* Big Love
* Boardwalk Empire
* Bored to Death
* The Brink
* Camping
* Carnivàle
* The Comeback
* Crashing
* Curb Your Enthusiasm (series 1–9)
* The Deuce
* Divorce
* Enlightened
* Entourage
* Funny or Die Presents
* Game of Thrones
* Girls
* Hello Ladies
* Here and Now
* High Maintenance
* How to Make It in America
* The Idol
* I Know This Much Is True
* Insecure (series 1–3)
* In Treatment
* Irma Vep
* John Adams
* Julia
* The Knick
* Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (series 1–6)
* The Leftovers
* Looking
* Lovecraft Country
* Luck
* Mare of Easttown
* Mildred Pierce
* Mosaic
* Mrs. Fletcher
* My Brilliant Friend
* The Nevers
* The Newsroom
* The Night Of
* Olive Kitteridge
* The Outsider
* The Pacific
* The Penguin
* Perry Mason
* The Plot Against America
* Quarry
* Raised By Wolves
* Real Time with Bill Maher (series 12–17)
* The Regime
* Room 104 (series 1)
* Scenes from a Marriage
* Sex and the City
* Sharp Objects
* Show Me a Hero
* Silicon Valley
* Six Feet Under
* The Sopranos
* The Staircase
* Succession
* The Sympathizer
* Tell Me You Love Me
* The Time Traveler's Wife
* Togetherness
* Trackers
* Treme
* True Blood
* The Undoing
* Veep
* Vice Principals
* Vinyl
* Watchmen
* We Own This City
* Westworld
* White House Plumbers
* Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
* The Wire

#### Showtime programming

* The Affair
* American Rust (series 1)
* Billions
* The Borgias
* Black Monday (series 1–2)
* Brotherhood
* Californication
* City on a Hill (series 1–2)
* The Comey Rule
* Dexter
* Dexter: New Blood
* Dice
* Escape at Dannemora
* The Good Lord Bird
* Happyish
* House of Lies
* I'm Dying Up Here
* Kidding
* The Loudest Voice
* The L Word: Generation Q (series 1–2)
* Nurse Jackie
* Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
* Ray Donovan
* SMILF
* Twin Peaks: The Return
* Weeds
* White Famous
* Yellowjackets (series 1)
* Your Honor (series 1)

#### Miscellaneous

* Awake
* Blue Bloods (series 1–8)
* Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond
* The Following
* Friday Night Lights
* Homicide: Life on the Street
* Mad Men
* Smash

## Most watched programmes

The following is a list of the ten most watched programmes on Sky Atlantic (all of them being episodes of Game of Thrones), based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB up to 20 May 2019. The number of viewers does not include repeats or Irish ratings. Additionally, all of these episodes were the most viewed programme of the week on non-terrestrial television in the UK. Game of Thrones is Sky's most popular show.
| Rank | Programme | Episode | Number of viewers | Date |
| 1 | Game of Thrones | 8.04 – The Last of the Starks | 5,430,451 | 6 May 2019 |
| 2 | Game of Thrones | 8.02 – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms | 5,266,034 | 22 April 2019 |
| 4 | Game of Thrones | 8.05 – The Bells | 5,039,355 | 13 May 2019 |
| 3 | Game of Thrones | 8.06 – The Iron Throne | 5,011,277 | 20 May 2019 |
| 5 | Game of Thrones | 8.03 – The Long Night | 4,983,910 | 29 April 2019 |
| 6 | Game of Thrones | 8.01 – Winterfell | 4,380,834 | 15 April 2019 |
| 7 | Game of Thrones | 7.07 – The Dragon and the Wolf | 3,535,000 | 28 August 2017 |
| 8 | Game of Thrones | 7.01 – Dragonstone | 3,487,000 | 17 July 2017 |
| 9 | Game of Thrones | 7.05 – Eastwatch | 3,420,000 | 14 August 2017 |
| 10 | Game of Thrones | 7.03 – The Queen's Justice | 3,263,000 | 31 July 2017 |