Editing Amstrad (section)

=== Launch of Sky and Astra Satellite ===
[[File:Luxcrypt_%2B_Amstrad_SRX200.jpg|thumb|Amstrad SRX200 satellite receiver, with Luxcrypt decoder]]
Amstrad had been a major supplier of [[set top box]]es to UK [[satellite television]] pay-TV provider [[Sky UK|Sky]] since its launch in 1989 following the launch of the SES [[Astra 1A]] TV satellite. Amstrad was key to the introduction of Sky, as the company was responsible for finding methods to produce the requisite equipment at an attractive price for the consumer - Alan Sugar famously approached "someone who bashes out dustbin lids", to manufacture mesh [[satellite dish]]es cheaply. Ultimately, it was the only manufacturer producing receiver boxes and dishes at the system's launch, and continued to manufacture set top boxes for Sky, from analogue to digital including Sky's [[Sky+]] [[digital video recorder]].

With the addition of the [[Astra 1B]] TV satellite in May 1991 even more TV programs were available in Central Europe. In former East Germany as well as in the parts of former West Germany that had no access to cable TV, the affordable Amstrad receiver with the typical black mesh minidish were sold in large numbers.