Sky unveils Channel 6 plan

The channel would develop from Sky Travel

BSkyB has said it may launch a major entertainment and lifestyle channel to compete with ITV1 and Five.

Channel 6 would be a digital channel available free to viewers with Freeview, a BSkyB official said.

Growing out of Sky's travel channel, it would have a £200m budget and offer a mix of programmes including US imports.

The company said it was "a real possibility within the next few years", depending on the government's planned digital switchover.

BSkyB chief operating officer Richard Freudenstein announced the proposal on Friday at this year's Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge.

'Evolve'

He said: "I think if there was fast growth of Freeview, Sky Travel would evolve.

"It absolutely makes sense if there is that level of free-to-air viewing we could invest more in a channel."

The government hopes every home in Britain will have digital television by 2010.

But the convention also heard that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's hopes for analogue switch-off by 2010 were "unrealistic".

Media analyst Spectrum Strategy has prepared a model of what TV will be like in 2010, based on interviews with industry figures.

According to its study, just 80% of homes - 21 million households - will have digital TV by that date.