QVC UK is a television shopping channel broadcast from the United Kingdom to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. agreed to a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. “QVC – The Shopping Channel” was first broadcast in the UK on 1 October 1993.
The original US channel was founded in 1986 in West Chester, Pennsylvania by Joseph Segel. It grew into a multinational corporation, specialising in televised home shopping. It now broadcasts in five countries to 141 million consumers. The name is an initialism—standing for Quality, Value, Convenience. However, unlike in the US, the expansion of initialism is no longer used on-air in the UK.
In 1998 the UK venture turned its first net profit (£12.5 million), against a loss of £228,000 in 1997. Originally 20% owned by Sky, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US broadcaster in 2004.
In 2008 QVC UK launched a multiscreen video service accessible via the interactive television layer, making three video streams available to Sky viewers via the red button:
QVC Live
QVC+1 (a time-delayed service)
Today’s Special Value presentation
In February 2020, QVC UK had a whole new rebrand with a whole new logo