Sky News is a British
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by
Sky Group
Sky Group Limited is a British media conglomerate, media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a division of Comcast, and headquartered in London. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ital ...
, a division of
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
.
John Ryley
John Hamilton Ryley (born 21 December 1961) is a British television producer, and the head of Sky News.
Early life
He was born in Chelmsford in Essex. He is a single child. His father worked for the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales ...
is the head of Sky News, a role he has held since June 2006. In 2019, Sky News was named
Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year, the 12th time it has held the award.
The channel and its
live streaming world news
Livestreamed news refers to live videos streams of television news which are provided via streaming television or via streaming media by various television networks and television news outlets, from various countries. The majority of live news s ...
is available on its website, TV platforms, and online platforms such as YouTube and
Apple TV, and various
mobile devices
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
and
digital media players
A digital media player (also sometimes known as a streaming device or streaming box) is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integr ...
.
A sister channel,
Sky News Arabia
Sky News Arabia (stylised as Sky News عربية) ( ar, سكاي نيوز عربية ') is an Arabic 24-hour rolling news channel broadcast mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a joint venture between UK-based Sky Group and Abu Dha ...
, is operated as a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation. A channel called Sky News International, simulcasting the UK channel directly but without British advertisements, is available in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Asia Pacific, Australia, and the Americas. Narrated segments (which generally cover lighter issues unrelated to current news stories) are played in lieu of advertisements, and international weather forecasts also are given at the end of each half-hour newswheel. Sponsored advertisements are still broadcast before and/or after the sports news and weather segments.
Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio is the radio arm of Sky News, owned by Sky UK. It has been operating since June 1999, providing a news bulletin service for UK commercial radio stations operators across the UK and for a number of English-speaking radio stations ar ...
provides national and international news to
commercial radio
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (an ...
and
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...
stations in the UK and other English-language stations around the world. Sky News also provides content to
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associate ...
.
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...
was part-owned by Sky News parent Sky plc until December 2016. Sky News Australia and Sky News UK are presently unlinked, despite the similar names and logos.
History
Establishment and early years
On 8 June 1988,
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
announced in a speech to the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
plans to start a new television news service. Sky News started broadcasting at 6 pm on 5 February 1989.
In the early days, the channel operated on a £40 million budget (plus £10 million share of overheads), which led
Sam Chisholm
Samuel Hewlings Chisholm AO (8 October 1939 – 9 July 2018) was a New Zealand-born Australian media executive who was a significant figure in the Australian media.
Career
Chisholm attended King's College, Auckland.
Chisholm had been f ...
, chief executive of the newly merged BSkyB, to suggest to Murdoch that the station be closed, but Murdoch was "pleased with its achievements ... there were overriding reasons of prestige and politics for keeping it ... the final hurdle of the Broadcasting Bill had still to be overcome and the case for the acceptability of Sky would collapse if suddenly there was no news channel." Former Home Secretary
William Whitelaw
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...
said in the House of Lords in 1990 that Sky News had "a very high reputation ... I admire it, as do many other people, it will certainly waken up both the BBC and ITN and ensure that they compete with what is a very important news service". The channel has never been run for a profit, and has considered using ITN to supplement the service.
By March 1992, Sky News' parent company turned from loss to profit.
Sky News was the UK's first 24-hour news channel, broadcast on
Astra 1A
Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES (Société Européenne des Satellites), launched in December 1988. During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite origina ...
. It had no local competition until November 1997, when
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
launched a new 24-hour channel, BBC News 24, now known simply as
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
. In September 1999, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
ruled against a Sky News complaint, which argued that the publicly funded BBC News 24 was unfair and illegal under EU law. The EC ruled that the
television licence fee
A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of Television broadcasting, television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or ...
''should'' be considered state aid (within the meaning of Article 87), but that the BBC's public service remit justified the channel.
2000–2018
![Sky News 2015 Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Sky_News_2015_Logo.svg)
In March 2000, Sky News Active, a 24-hour interactive service providing headlines and other services which ranged from weather, the top story of the day, and showbiz on demand, was launched.
In March 2004, Sky News was announced to have won a five-year contract to supply news bulletins to
Channel 5, taking over from
ITN in January 2005.
On 24 October 2005, Sky News moved to new studios in
Isleworth
Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...
, Greater London, and underwent a major on-screen revamp. The new studio was integrated with the newsroom and boasted the biggest video wall in Britain; it was designed by New York architects
Janson Design Group.
New music was scored by Adelphoi Music and recorded with a full orchestra at Air Studios,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, and mastered at Metropolis Studios. New on-screen graphics were launched and the channel began broadcasting in
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
(
16:9) format.
The 2005 relaunch also had the introduction of a new schedule designed around "appointment to view" programmes rather than continuous rolling news.
James Rubin
James Phillip Rubin (born March 28, 1960) is an American former diplomat and journalist who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Clinton Administration from 1997–2000. He wrote a regular column on foreign aff ...
joined to present a new evening programme called ''World News Tonight'',
Julie Etchingham
Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
presented another new "hard-hitting" evening show called ''
The Sky Report'',
joined to present ''
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
'',
Kay Burley
Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...
presented a new programme called ''
Lunchtime Live'' from 12 to 2 pm, and the daytime show ''
Sky News Today
''Sky News Today'' is a live news programme on Sky News which usually runs between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm on weekdays. The programme was presented by two anchors, however following on from the social distancing measures due to COVID-19, and the de ...
'' had the introduction of a three-presenter format. However, the relaunched schedule was unsuccessful, and from October 2005, the BBC News channel overtook Sky News in the ratings.
In response to the schedule's unpopularity with viewers, July 2006 saw the removal of the evening programmes—which were replaced by rolling news and an interactive programme, ''
Sky News with Martin Stanford'', and the return to a two-presenter format on ''Sky News Today''. These changes came with the arrival of John Ryley, who is still the head of Sky News. On 1 October 2007, Sky introduced another new schedule, extending Kay Burley's ''Lunchtime Live'' programme and renaming it ''Afternoon Live''. It also switched to a new format for much of the day, with a solo lead presenter and a summary newsreader. Sky News put more emphasis on interactive news with
Martin Stanford's new ''
SkyNews.com'' programme; an early evening financial news programme presented by
Jeff Randall, was also introduced, initially on Mondays only. Further changes were made to the Sky News schedule on 8 September 2008, with
Colin Brazier presenting a new show from 1 – 2 pm, ''
The Live Desk'', and Martin Stanford's ''Sky.com News'' became ''SkyNews.com'', moving to 7 pm every weeknight. More changes took place during the early part of 2009. These changes involved major changes to the layout of the newsroom/studio, the introduction of a morning edition of ''The Live Desk'' and the extension of the financial news programme ''
Jeff Randall Live'' to run for four nights each week, Monday to Thursday.
From 6 am to midnight on 8 March 2010, Sky News was presented and produced exclusively by women to mark
International Women's Day. This exercise was repeated in 2011 and 2012.
In preparation for the start of high-definition broadcasting, Sky News moved to its second studio (Studio B) on the morning of 30 March 2010. Broadcasting from Studio B continued until 9 pm on 6 May, when it moved back to the main newsroom and launched Sky News HD in time for the
2010 general election results. Sky News received a graphics refresh and a new logo to coincide with the launch of the new HD channel – this was tried out during the soft launch for Sky News HD on 22 April; Sky News' distinctive orchestral theme music, in use since 2005, was also updated on 6 May 2010. The new title music, orchestrated by
David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series ''Little Britain'' ...
, was recorded with a 60-piece
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
in
Angel Recording Studios, London, and uses more than 132
audio channel
An audio signal is a representation of sound, typically using either a changing level of electrical voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric poten ...
s for 18 seconds of sound.
Following the
2015 general election, Sky News was rebranded, with a new top-of-the-hour sequence and on-screen graphics. The traditional opening voiceover, read by Bruce Hammal, was dropped after two decades in use. On 24 October 2016, Sky News began broadcasting from a new studio (Studio 21) at Sky Central, Sky's new headquarters in West London. The "glass box" studio was initially used for broadcasts from 6 am to 6.30 pm each weekday (with the exception of ''All Out Politics'', which comes from Sky's Westminster studio) - as of April 2019 it was only used from 11 am to 7 pm, and 9 pm to 12 am. The schedule was also changed.
In January 2017, Sky moved its business operations into
the News Building in central London. On 16 January 2018, Sky moved all its news operations over to Studio 21, "the glass box", and a new studio in
Sky Studios
Sky Studios is a production company founded by Sky in June 2019 with assets from the now defunct Sky Vision. It develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has investments in a number of production businesses in ...
.
Comcast acquisition, 2018–present
On 9 December 2016, Sky shareholder
21st Century Fox announced that it had made an offer to acquire the remainder of the company for £11.7 billion.
The combination of Sky with Fox's other assets led to concerns that the
Murdoch family
Members of the Murdoch family are prominent international media magnates and media tycoons with roots in Australia and the United Kingdom, along with their media assets in the United States. Some members have also been prominent in the arts ...
would attain "material influence over news providers with a significant presence across all key platforms" and "increased influence over the UK news agenda and the political process". Concerns were also raised about recent
sexual harassment allegations centered upon Fox's U.S. network
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, although Ofcom did deem 21st Century Fox to be "fit and proper" to hold broadcast licences.
On 14 December 2017,
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in turn announced its intent to
acquire 21st Century Fox, following the divestiture of certain assets (particularly the U.S.
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
proper). Analysts felt that would ease regulatory tensions surrounding the Fox purchase of Sky, as Sky was to be included in the purchase, and Disney's scope of media ownership in the UK was not as wide.
In January 2018, the
Competition and Markets Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...
issued a preliminary report recommending that Sky News be insulated from the remainder of Murdoch's assets, or divested, in order to preserve its editorial independence. The following month, Fox proposed a commitment to funding Sky News for 10 years, and the establishment of an independent editorial board. The commitments would have been inherited by Disney if it completed its purchase. On 3 April 2018, Fox stated that Disney had expressed interest in acquiring Sky News in a separate transaction, not dependent on the outcome of the Disney/Fox purchase.
On 5 June 2018,
Culture Secretary
The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...
Matt Hancock
Matthew John David Hancock (born 2 October 1978) is a British politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January to July 201 ...
cleared Fox's proposed deal, contingent on the divestiture of Sky News. It also cleared counteroffers for Sky that were being made in a
bidding war
A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for some goods. It is usually referred to simply as the "bid". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or "offer", and the difference between ...
by U.S. telecoms and media conglomerate
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
. Comcast made a US$65 billion counter-offer to acquire the 21st Century Fox assets being sold to Disney. Fox rejected the offer, in favour of a higher-valued offer from Disney. Comcast subsequently pursued a counter-offer for Sky only, resulting in the
Panel on Takeovers and Mergers
The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, or more commonly The Takeover Panel, is the United Kingdom's regulatory body charged with the administration of The Takeover Code.
It was set up in 1968 and is located in London, England.
Its role is to ensu ...
ordering that a
blind auction
A first-price sealed-bid auction (FPSBA) is a common type of auction. It is also known as blind auction. In this type of auction, all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bi ...
be held between Comcast and Fox. On 22 September, Comcast was declared the winner of the auction, resulting in Fox agreeing to sell its controlling stake in Sky to the company.
The sale made Sky News a sister division to
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
—a U.S.-based news operation owned by Comcast's U.S. media division
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
, its U.S. pay television news channel
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, as well as
Euronews
Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective.
The majority of Eurone ...
—a pan-European news channel which NBCUniversal owned a stake in at the time of purchase. In April 2019, Comcast CEO
Brian Roberts stated that the company was exploring the establishment of a "global" news channel as a joint venture between Sky News and NBC News. In January 2020, it was stated that this new channel would also be carried on NBCUniversal's new U.S. streaming video platform
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
. In April 2020, it was stated that the launch of the service, now known as
, would be delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On 20 April 2020, NBCUniversal sold its stake in Euronews to one of its existing shareholders, citing a desire to prioritise the NBC/Sky service instead. The proposed service was scrapped in August 2020, resulting in layoffs of 60 employees.
On 3 June 2021, Sky News updated its top-of-the-hour sequence, soundtrack and on-screen graphics package. A Sky News source denied the move was related to the launch of
GB News
GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ ...
.
Reception
Sky News is
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
on the
Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. It is one of the major TV satellite positions s ...
satellites carrying
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
. It is also available on
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
and analogue and digital cable. In 2007, BSkyB announced its intention to cease broadcasting Sky News – as well as other BSkyB channels – over Freeview, pending
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
approval.
In the 1990s, short-form news updates were broadcast between programs on other Sky networks, including
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
,
Sky Movies
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...
and
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel (TMC) is an American premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Media Networks unit. The network's programming mainly features first-run theatrically released ...
. Sky One also simulcast the 11PM ''Sky World News Hour'' for a time in the early 1990s.
Sky News International
Sky News is also available internationally on cable systems, on satellite, and in some hotels. While the UK feed is broadcast in 16:9, the international version remained broadcast in a 4:3 picture format until August 2010. Sky News broadcasts in Europe, Middle East, Africa.
The international version is shown as free-to-air on
Astra 1L at 19.2° east. It is also carried encrypted on a number of satellites for international reception, including
Hot Bird,
Nilesat
Nilesat (; , ''or'' ) is an Egyptian company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated mission control center and ground st ...
, Amos 1, and
Intelsat 10-02. It is also usually carried on cable systems in Europe, particularly in Northern Europe, especially in the Scandinavian countries.
International viewers receive the same programming line-up of Sky News as the UK version. Brief news stories, entertainment news, worldwide weather forecast summaries, and the front pages of international newspapers are broadcast in lieu of UK commercials. The timepiece on the lower left side of the ticker is covered with a banner that says "skynews.com".
Sky News is not available on
Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...
, Sky plc's offering in Germany, but is available on
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...
.
On 19 June 2013, Sky News International was added to
Apple TV for users in the UK, Ireland, and the United States. Viewers can watch clips or live streaming of the channel at no charge. On 24 July 2013, it was added to the
Roku
Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services.
The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...
streaming player. Sky News International is available on news.sky.com to viewers around the world. On 30 September 2014, Sky News began
live stream
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...
ing the channel on YouTube. The free streaming service
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported video streaming service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Co-founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in Los Angeles, California, in the United Sta ...
also offers a live feed of Sky News to American users on channel 135. Since its acquisition by Comcast, Sky News has been made available in the U.S. on the
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
streaming service run by NBCUniversal, and simulcast on MSNBC and
NBC News Now
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
during events of major significance such as the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
and the
death of Queen Elizabeth II
On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...
.
Sky News International's live stream, including the YouTube stream, is not available within Australia.
Sky News International and Sky News Ireland feeds are registered to broadcast within the European Union/EEA through ALIA in Luxembourg.
Related channels
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...
was one-third owned by Sky plc until December 2016, when it was acquired by
News Corp Australia
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,00 ...
. It carries Sky News UK overnight and shares some of its presentational style. On
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
in Australia, Sky News UK is available on channel 604.
From 2004 to 2006,
Sky News Ireland
Sky News Ireland was a programming block on Sky News broadcast in Ireland. It was a separate feed from the UK and international versions of Sky News. Sky News Ireland was broadcast from its studios in Dublin. The service was also available in th ...
broadcast two newscasts produced in Dublin. The newscasts were cancelled due to low viewership. Sky News in Ireland now carries the same programming as Sky News in the UK, but with local advertising.
Sky News Arabia
Sky News Arabia (stylised as Sky News عربية) ( ar, سكاي نيوز عربية ') is an Arabic 24-hour rolling news channel broadcast mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a joint venture between UK-based Sky Group and Abu Dha ...
, broadcasting in Arabic and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, launched in 2012. Sky plc owns 50% of the channel.
Sky TG24
Sky TG24 is Italy's second all-news channel, owned by Sky Italia.
Launched on 31 July 2003, it provides non-stop rolling news, weather forecasts and sports stories with half-hourly updates.
Overview
Part of Sky TG24's programming is available o ...
, Italy's version of Sky News, launched in 2003.
Previous partnership with CBS News
Until 2017, Sky News had a resource-sharing agreement with
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
in the United States to share footage and reporting. In July 2017, in the wake of Sky's pending takeover by
21st Century Fox (which runs the competing and ''de facto'' sister
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
in the U.S.), and
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
acquiring a stake in
Euronews
Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective.
The majority of Eurone ...
, CBS ended the agreement and entered into a similar deal with the BBC.
Sky News HD
![Sky News HD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Sky_News_HD.png)
Beginning in early 2008, Sky News began using HD-capable cameras in the field. Some one-off programmes were made available in HD to
Sky+ HD
Sky+ HD was the brand name of the HDTV service launched by Sky plc on 22 May 2006 in the United Kingdom and Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky to be viewed. For the first two years after launch, the service was branded Sky H ...
subscribers on
Sky On Demand
Sky On Demand was a video on demand service exclusively available to Sky subscribers in the Philippines. It was owned and operated by Sky Cable Corporation, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. It allowed users who were subscribed to either Sky Cable, Sky ...
. The programmes included ''Technofile'', ''Diana: The Final Word'', ''Canoe Man: Rise and Fall of John Darwin'', and ''Pathfinders: Into The Heart Of Afghanistan''.
On 20 January 2009, before the launch of the Sky News HD channel,
Sky Arts
Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
broadcast Sky News coverage in HD of the
Inauguration of Barack Obama.
Jeremy Thompson
Jeremy Gordon Thompson (born 23 September 1947) is an English journalist and former news presenter for Sky News, the 24-hour UK television news service operated by Sky UK. He was based at Sky News Centre in west London. He started out as a jou ...
fronted the coverage from Washington, D.C.
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's memorial service was also broadcast in HD, with Kay Burley presenting.
Sky News moved operations to a
chroma-key set in Studio B from 30 March 2010, so final preparations for HD could take place in the main newsroom.
The first live broadcast of Sky News HD, on Sky Channel 517, was the channel's election debate, which was held on 22 April 2010. For the 10 days leading up to the debate, channel 517 displayed a countdown clock to launch. The debate was hosted in HD by
Kay Burley
Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...
and
Adam Boulton
Thomas Adam Babington Boulton (born 15 February 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster who is regular panelist on TalkTV. He was formerly editor-at-large of Sky News, and presenter of '' All Out Politics'' and ''Week In Review''. He is ...
. Following the end of the coverage for the evening, channel 517 moved to show a looping preview tape. The tape included the HD, which were available on Sky Anytime. The loop continued until Sky News HD was launched on the evening of 6 May 2010, coinciding with the coverage of the
2010 general election results, hosted by Adam Boulton.
On 26 July 2010, Sky News HD launched on the
OSN Network, broadcasting to the Middle East and Africa.
On 1 January 2015, Sky News HD launched on Virgin Media.
Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio provides news bulletins to radio stations in the United Kingdom and to other English-language radio stations around the world.
In March 2007, BSkyB and
Chrysalis Group
Chrysalis Group was a UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in ''Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books an ...
announced plans to launch a dedicated Sky News Radio station on the proposed bid by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's
4 Digital Group for the second
digital audio broadcasting
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting syst ...
multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
* Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make
* Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain
* Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company
* Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...
in the United Kingdom. However, two months later Chrysalis sold its radio stations to
Global Radio, and in October 2007 following a business review Global's chief executive announced that it would be withdrawing from the joint venture.
The Sky News Radio feed is available
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
on the Astra 2A satellite at 28.2 East by tuning it manually: 12207.00 V, 27500, 2/3 (Label: SNR).
Additional channels
Sky News Raw
On 5 February 2019, Sky News launched a pop-up channel called Sky News Raw. It aired with behind-the-scenes programming from 07:00 to 17:00 on channel 523 on Sky TV and online via Sky News' social media channels. The pop-up channel celebrated the 30th anniversary of Sky News, having first broadcast on 5 February 1989.
Robotic cameras were placed around the newsroom and planning rooms at
Sky Studios
Sky Studios is a production company founded by Sky in June 2019 with assets from the now defunct Sky Vision. It develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has investments in a number of production businesses in ...
, in the three main television studios at Osterley and Millbank, and in the
broadcast galleries. There were also behind-the-scenes features from elsewhere in the newsgathering operation, such as the Sky News helicopter and
ENG vehicles.
File:Sky News Raw.jpg, Sky News Raw logo as used in January and February 2019
File:Sky News Helicopter (6905905008).jpg, The Sky News Helicopter was featured on the channel
File:Romeva a Sky News - "Si el 'sí' guanya el referèndum, Catalunya serà un estat independent".jpg, Cameras were also installed in the Millbank studios
Sky News Brexit-Free
From 16 October to 1 November 2019, Sky News ran a pop-up channel called Sky News Brexit-Free. The channel aired on weekdays from 17:00 to 22:00, and carried coverage of other news headlines unrelated to
the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Sky News head John Ryley cited viewer fatigue over the near-constant coverage of Brexit as justification for the channel.
On-air staff
In-depth series
The channel occasionally focuses on specific areas of society and current affairs. Past examples include ''Inside Iraq'', ''Green Britain'' and ''Crime Uncovered''.
''Pakistan: On Terror's Frontline'' was shown throughout the week beginning Monday 23 March 2009. A Sky News press release stated:
The series of reports won a 2009 RTS Award for International News Coverage.
Criticism and perception
![Sky News viewing share history](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Sky_News_viewing_share_history.png)
Sky News operates under
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
broadcasting regulations which require impartial, unbiased coverage and prevent the channel from being encrypted in the UK. The channel is viewed by some in the media establishment as an impartial and unbiased provider of news.
There are sources stating
that Sky News may be inherently biased due to the fact that throughout the 1990s and 2000s it was minority owned and dominated by Rupert Murdoch's right-leaning News Corporation, and thereafter the Murdoch family's 21st Century Fox. Many News Corp subsidiaries, including News Corp UK & Ireland Ltd, the owner of the ''
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
'', ''
Times
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems.
Time or times may also refer to:
Temporal measurement
* Time in physics, defined by its measurement
* Time standard, civil time speci ...
'' and ''
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' newspapers, have an openly conservative or right-wing outlook. In a 2010 article in the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', prominent journalist and broadcaster
Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Raza Hasan (born July 1979) is a British-American political journalist, broadcaster and author of Indian descent.
Hasan has been the host of ''The Mehdi Hasan Show'' on Peacock since October 2020 and on MSNBC since February 2021.
In 2 ...
argued that "in style and in substance, of course, it is nothing like the pro-war, pro-
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, pro-
Palin
The surname Palin is a name of British origin, either English or Welsh. Possible derivations include an anglicization of the Welsh patronymic ''ap Heilyn'' ("son of Heilyn") or a reference to the English placenames Poling, West Sussex or Sea Pallin ...
Fox News Channel... Sky News remains, as far as I can see, free of party political bias."
As of October 2018, Fox no longer has any stake in the broadcaster.
Ofcom received complaints regarding the network's lack of neutrality ahead of the 2010 general election, but these were not upheld.
In early 1994
Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of '' The Sun'' in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. Aft ...
, former editor of ''
The Sun'' newspaper, was appointed managing director of BSkyB, Sky News's parent company at the time. MacKenzie's proposed changes to Sky News led to clashes with CEO Sam Chisholm and the head of Sky News, Ian Frykberg, who protested at what they saw as an attempt to take the channel's news values downmarket. The most ferocious battle occurred when Mackenzie wanted Sky News to run an interview with
Lady Bienvenida Buck. Frykberg refused to air the interview and resigned shortly afterwards. The interview was broadcast on
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
.
MacKenzie announced his resignation in August 1994,
but not before Sky News had transmitted live pictures of the freeway chase of
O. J. Simpson's white
Bronco
A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock.
The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...
on 17 June 1994, bringing US ''helicopter journalism'' to the UK.
In 1997, Sky News broadcast live coverage of
Louise Woodward
Louise Woodward (born 1978) is a British former au pair, who at the age of 18 was accused of second degree murder but subsequently convicted of the involuntary manslaughter (reduced from the jury trial verdict) of eight-month-old Matthew Eappe ...
's trial, held in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, US.
When Sky returned to a regular schedule, viewers demanded the trial coverage be continued.
Sky News broadcast reaction from Woodward's home town of
Elton, Cheshire
Elton is a village and civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England, northeast of Chester, between Helsby and Ellesmere Port, near the River Mersey. Its proximity to the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal have contributed ...
, leading to criticism that the station had a pro-Louise Woodward stance.
In November 2005 the then head of BBC News,
Peter Horrocks
Peter John Gibson Horrocks CBE (born 8 October 1959) is a broadcast executive and a former Vice-Chancellor (chief executive) of The Open University. He was educated at the independent King's College School in Wimbledon and at Christ's College, ...
, acknowledged that Sky News remained the first choice for "key opinion formers".
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
received 652 complaints regarding the network's neutrality after it hosted the second leaders' debate ahead of the
2010 General Election.
Ofcom received 832 complaints about a May 2010 interview with electoral reformist David Babbs conducted by Sky News presenter
Kay Burley
Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...
. The interview led to Burley being heckled by protesters while reporting from Westminster, and further protest via a Twitter campaign.
Ofcom received 696 complaints relating to Sky News's then political editor
Adam Boulton
Thomas Adam Babington Boulton (born 15 February 1959) is a British journalist and broadcaster who is regular panelist on TalkTV. He was formerly editor-at-large of Sky News, and presenter of '' All Out Politics'' and ''Week In Review''. He is ...
's conduct during a May 2010 interview with
Alastair Campbell
Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist known for his roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director ...
.
In 2014, Sky News journalist
Colin Brazier rifled through an
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...
victim's possessions on live TV. He picked up objects and briefly described what he had before putting them down and saying "we shouldn't really be doing this I suppose, really". 110 complaints were submitted to Ofcom. Sky News stated both Brazier "and Sky News apologise profusely for any offence caused".
Sky News was again embroiled in controversy in October 2014, when crime correspondent
Martin Brunt and his camera crew doorstepped Brenda Leyland, who had posted controversial comments concerning the
McCann investigation on social media. Following the confrontation Leyland was found dead in a hotel, leading to calls on social media for Brunt to be sacked. During the inquest into Leyland's death, Brunt expressed to the coroner that he was devastated at hearing the news of Leyland's suicide. Following the inquest,
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
reported it had received 171 complaints in relation to the case and that it would consider these complaints in light of the coroner's verdict.
In 2015, Kay Burley caused further controversy when, in response to the
November 2015 Paris attacks, she
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
a photograph of a
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...
dog, to which she had added, "Sadness in his eyes #parisattacks".
Fabrication
In April 2003, Sky News carried a report from James Forlong aboard the British nuclear
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
HMS ''Splendid'' purportedly showing a live firing of a cruise missile during the Iraq war. The report was a fabrication, with the crew acting along for the benefit of the cameras. The ''Sky News'' team did not accompany the submarine when it left port and the scenes were actually recorded whilst the vessel was docked. The shot of the missile launch had been obtained from stock footage.
The faked report was revealed because another film crew did accompany the vessel to sea, and its footage showed that a modern missile is not launched by a crew member pressing a red button marked with the word "FIRE", as had been portrayed in the Sky News report, but is actually launched with a left mouse click. When the fabrication was exposed, Forlong and his producer were suspended. The next day, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported that Forlong had resigned following an internal investigation. In a follow-up article, ''The Guardian'' speculated on the long-term effects on Sky News credibility. In October 2003, Forlong was found dead by his wife after committing suicide. In December, Sky News was fined £50,000 by the
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
for breaching accuracy regulations.
In August 2016 Sky News was criticised after allegedly paying €2,000 to a group of Romanians to pretend they were part of an eastern European gang selling guns to terrorists in Syria. The Romanians were arrested by Romanian
DIICOT
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism ( ro, Direcția de Investigare a Infracțiunilor de Criminalitate Organizată și Terorism, DIICOT) is a law enforcement agency of the Romanian government tasked with investigating a ...
and confessed that they were paid by Sky News journalist
Stuart Ramsay to pretend they were gun traffickers. The guns featured in the report were legally owned and were hunting weapons. Sky News has said it stands by the story.
Legal cases
In November 2008 BSkyB paid substantial undisclosed libel damages to
Robert Murat in relation to their reporting of the abduction of
Madeleine McCann
Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. ''The Daily Telegraph'' described the disappeara ...
. Sky News had falsely suggested that Murat, who was assisting in the search of McCann, had acted like child murderer
Ian Huntley
The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident an ...
following McCann's disappearance. Sky News also falsely accused Murat of misleading journalists into thinking he was working for the police. An apology was also placed on the Sky News website, the libellous material removed and Murat's costs were paid.
In November 2010 the
Attorney General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...
,
Dominic Grieve
Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (born 24 May 1956) is a British barrister and former politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He served as the Member of Parl ...
QC, was given the right to launch
contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
proceedings against Sky News over the broadcaster's alleged breach of a media injunction. It was in relation to the reporting of the story of
Paul and Rachel Chandler, a Kent couple who were held captive by
Somali pirates
Somali may refer to:
Horn of Africa
* Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region
** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis
** Somali culture
** Somali cuisine
** Somali language, a Cushitic language
** Somali, ...
for 13 months. The media was blocked from publishing details of the couple's "health and welfare" prior to their being freed on 14 November 2010. Sky claims that it "scrupulously observed the terms of the injunction", but also admitted that it "followed the spirit, if not the letter" of the order. At the time, lawyers representing the Chandlers obtained the court order over fears that their lives could be put in danger by the media reporting their capture. Sky News was alleged to have breached the injunction on the day of their release around from Somalia, leading the Attorney General to seek permission at the
High Court to bring contempt proceedings. The Attorney General dropped the case in January 2012; a spokesperson for his office said that continuing with proceedings would no longer be in the public interest.
In March 2013 Sky News journalist Mark Stone and his camera operator were detained in
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...
live on television, in what he described as a surreal but telling episode about reporting in China. Viewers saw Stone being directed into a police van live from Beijing. A police officer was filmed asking the Sky team to switch off their camera, saying they were now inside the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
and did not have permission to film there. While they had permission to film in the square, Stone said police told him the team were not displaying their passes correctly.
Awards
Sky News won
BAFTA awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
for coverage of the
11 September 2001 attacks and the 2002
Soham murders
The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident an ...
.
Sky News's coverage of the
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...
won the 2006 International Emmy for Breaking News award. The coverage was commended as "fast and accurate".
In June 2007, Sky News was named Best News Channel at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards. It beat several other national and international broadcasters, including
Al Jazeera English and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
News Channel of the Year, the eleventh time the channel had won the award.
Sky News won a BAFTA Award in the News Category on 13 May 2018 for "The Rohingya Crisis". Special Correspondent
, cameraman Martin Smith and producer Neville Lazarus travelled into Myanmar to bring a first-hand report of what was happening in
. The same programme also won an
for News in October 2018.
In November 2014, Sky News sponsored the Young Person in Business category of the
. It was won by Oliver Bryssau of Origin Broadband, which was named Business of the Year.
Sky News has bureaus across the world; some are operated in conjunction with other media outlets.
)
* New York City, U.S.
* Sydney (with Sky News Australia)
* Washington, D.C., U.S.
, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
* Los Angeles, U.S.
*
news.sky.com is the channel's main website. It provides news, sport, weather, showbiz and business stories.
In 2009, the website changed to bring it in line with the on-screen look of Sky News. The site made use of
. The site underwent a further refresh in 2012, when both the look of the pages and the content management system were updated.
In 2021, to bring the website in line with the new Sky News branding on-screen minor tweaks were made such as font updates and updated breaking news graphics.
On 1 March 2007, Sky's agreement to provide its basic channels (including Sky News) to
expired. At midnight, Sky News was removed and the
...