It's 1989 and ITV's dishing the dirt on Sky

"The launch of Freesat is the final piece in the digital jigsaw and will ensure that all viewers in the UK have access to free-to-air digital and high definition television," crowed ITV chair Michael Grade at today's launch of Freesat, the BBC/ITV free-to-air satellite joint venture. "Now everyone in the UK can experience the benefits of digital television: more choice of channels, interactivity and the extraordinary picture quality of HD." All very wonderful. But almost 20 years ago, at the dawn of multichannel TV, when Sky, BSB and cable TV were all spluttering into life, ITV was singing from a rather different hymnsheet. In fact, back in 1989, the network paid for this full-page ad in the Financial Times, pouring hefty dollops of scorn on how "Mr Murdoch's Sky Channel" was charging a fortune for lots of recycled programming. "Money for old soap," ran the headline - the advice being "do not adjust your set". All of ITV's wonderful free entertainment programming was "achieved without turning Acacia Avenue into a cross between Cheltenham's GCHQ and Jodrell bank", the advert sniffed. Of course this was before Sky took over BSB and bought the football rights that began its transformation into a broadcasting behemoth with almost 9 million subscribers. It reads like an artefact from a bygone age, but it's a fascinating reminder of how times have changed.