''Sky News Today'' is a live news programme on
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air 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, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
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
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and the departure of
Colin Brazier from Sky News, the programme is now solo anchored.
Jayne Secker
Katherine Jayne Secker (born 12 July 1972) is an English journalist and newsreader for Sky News. She has presented ''Sky News Today'' on the channel since September 2014, formerly alongside Colin Brazier.
Early life
Secker was born in 1972 i ...
is the main presenter of the programme from Monday to Thursday with Samantha Washington usually presenting the Friday edition.
Overview
''Sky News Today'' was launched in September 2002, presented by
Martin Stanford and
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 ...
, broadcast on weekdays between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. In contrast to the rest of Sky News' coverage at that time, ''Sky News Today'' was largely presented from the heart of the newsroom, with frequent use being made of a large videowall at the back of the newsroom.
When Sky News underwent a major relaunch in October 2005, ''Sky News Today'' relaunched with it; it was brought forward an hour, now running from 9 am to 12 pm, and an afternoon edition was introduced, from 2 pm until 5 pm. The programme was now also presented by three presenters at a time: the morning edition by Martin Stanford,
Anna Botting
Anna Elizabeth Botting (born 4 November 1967) is an English news presenter with Sky News, a broadcasting network based in the United Kingdom. She currently presents Sky News from 21:00 until midnight from Monday to Thursday. Prior to the channel ...
and former BBC News presenter
Anna Jones, and the afternoon edition by
Mark Longhurst
Mark Longhurst is a British news presenter. Longhurst presented on ITV's regional news, ITV News West Country until October 2017. Before this, he was a presenter at Sky News, where he presented the channel's evening news programmes from Friday to ...
,
Stephen Dixon and new signing
Ginny Buckley
Virginia Louise Buckley (born 1 April 1968 in Rochdale) is a British journalist, radio and television presenter.
Early life
Buckley was born and brought up in Rochdale, England, before moving to Australia at the age of 18.
She started her ca ...
. The three-presenter format was axed in early 2006, with the strand returning to a more traditional two-presenter format.
In October 2007, Sky made the move to single headed presentation with Julie Etchingham becoming the anchor of ''Sky News Today'' between 9 am and 1 pm on weekdays; news summaries were presented by
Colin Brazier.
From Tuesday 8 January 2008, former
BBC Breakfast
''BBC Breakfast'' is the BBC television Breakfast television, breakfast news programme. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News (TV channel), BBC News channel. The simulcast is presented live, originally from ...
anchor
Dermot Murnaghan
Dermot John Murnaghan (; born 26 December 1957) is a British broadcaster. A presenter for Sky News, he was a news presenter at CNBC Europe, Independent Television News and BBC News. He has presented news programmes in a variety of time slots ...
replaced Julie Etchingham as main presenter of the show. Etchingham moved to
ITV News to present the relaunched ''
News at Ten'' with Sir Trevor McDonald. Likewise
Emma Crosby
Emma Catherine Crosby (born 5 June 1977) is a British television newsreader and journalist.
Between 2003 and 2009, Crosby worked at Sky News, regularly co-presenting their breakfast programme ''Sunrise'', along with various other programmes o ...
took over the news summaries from
Colin Brazier who moved to ''
Afternoon Live'' to work alongside Kay Burley. However, shortly after taking up the headline post, Crosby moved to Sky's business news department, and then onto
GMTV
GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
.
In February 2009, ''Sky News Today'' was reduced by one hour, broadcasting from 10 am to 1 pm (once again since October 2005), with ''
The Live Desk'' running from 9 am to 10 am.
From January 2011, the strand started airing on Saturdays, and no longer featured a news summary presenter. Dermot now presented Monday to Wednesday with
Colin Brazier presenting from Thursday - Saturday.
In September 2014, as part of a schedule revamp at Sky News, double-headed presentation was reinstated; a new strand running from 9 am to 12 pm weekdays was launched, presented by Colin Brazier and
Jayne Secker
Katherine Jayne Secker (born 12 July 1972) is an English journalist and newsreader for Sky News. She has presented ''Sky News Today'' on the channel since September 2014, formerly alongside Colin Brazier.
Early life
Secker was born in 1972 i ...
. Dermot Murnaghan now presents a lunchtime slot from Monday to Wednesday.
From 26 September 2016, the slot moved to start at 11 am, as part of a new schedule; from 24 October, it was extended to 4 hours, finishing at 3 pm.
During the summer of 2017, the programme had a different format. Seeing as ''
All Out Politics
Sky News is a British free-to-air 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, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...
'' was on a summer break, one presenter presented from 10 to 12, it was double headed from 12–1, and then the presenter who started at noon took over from 1–3.
From April 2019, on Mondays to Thursdays the programme runs from 11 am until 1:30 pm, with ''
Ian King Live
Ian King is an English business journalist who presents ''Ian King Live'', the eponymous daily business programme on Sky News.
Early life and career
King was brought up in Bristol and Devon. He has a degree in history from the University of ...
'' following from 1:30 pm until 2 pm. On Fridays, the programme runs from 11 am until 2 pm as there is no ''Ian King Live''.
In September 2020, the timings changed once more with the show airing from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm. On Wednesdays however the show typically airs from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm allowing an extended
All Out Politics
Sky News is a British free-to-air 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, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...
to cover
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...
. On occasion, the show airs an hour earlier from 11 am if ''All Out Politics'' isn't on air, such as during parliamentary recess.
In February 2021, it was announced that
Colin Brazier was to leave ''Sky News Today'' to join
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+ ...
, a new television news channel due to launch in the UK.
Following
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 departure from Sky News, as of January 2022, Sky News Today now airs from 11 am each day and runs for 3 hours. During some holiday periods, the programme airs from 10 am - replacing Ian King Live - and aiding for four hours.
Presenters
Current presenters
Presenter history
Morning edition
Afternoon edition
References
{{Sky News
2002 British television series debuts
2010s British television series
2020s British television series
Sky News
Sky UK original programming
English-language television shows
Sky television news shows