GB News: Launch

[VMPhil]

Am I right in thinking that when BBC News 24 launched it actually was only viewable in BBC offices as digital boxes had not yet been made publicly available?

You might be thinking of BBC Choice - that was digital only, and launched a few weeks before the general availability of Sky Digital. The launch programme was streamed on the internet, but for a few weeks after launch, you could only watch the channel if you somehow had a digibox before they went on general sale (presumably TV dealers, and internally within the BBC?)

As mentioned above, News 24 was available on analogue cable, but was obviously planned to be part of the BBC's digital offering. I think the launch of digital TV was delayed, so possibly News 24's launch timescale may have been developed with a 1997 digital TV launch in mind.