Sky News facts for kids
Logo used since 2021
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| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Worldwide |
| Headquarters | Sky Central, Osterley, London |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Comcast |
| Parent | Sky Group |
| Key people |
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| Sister channels | List of Sky UK channels |
| History | |
| Launched | 5 February 1989 |
| Links | |
| Webcast |
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| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 233 |
| EE TV | Channel 233; Channel 313; Channel 385 (HD) |
| Saorview (Ireland) | Channel 23 |
| DStv (Sub-Saharan Africa) | Channel 402 |
| StarTimes (Sub-Saharan Africa) | Channel 258 |
| Zuku TV (East Africa) | Channel 530 |
| Streaming media | |
| Services (United States) |
Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV |
Sky News is a British television news channel. It is free to watch and offers live news streams. Sky News also provides news through radio and online. It is owned by Sky Group, which is part of Comcast.
In 2024, Sky News was named News Channel of the Year by the Royal Television Society. This was the 17th time it won this award and its 7th win in a row. You can watch Sky News on its website, on TV, and on online platforms like YouTube and Apple TV. It is also available on many mobile devices.
Sky News has a sister channel called Sky News Arabia. This channel is a joint project with another company. There is also Sky News International, which shows the same programs as the UK channel but without British ads. This version is available in many parts of the world. Instead of ads, it shows short segments about lighter topics. It also gives international weather forecasts.
Sky News Radio provides news to radio stations in the UK and other English-speaking countries. Sky News also shares its content with Yahoo! News.
Sky News Australia used to be partly owned by Sky News's parent company. However, since December 2016, Sky News Australia and Sky News UK are separate, even though they have similar names and logos.
Contents
The Story of Sky News
Sky News started broadcasting on February 5, 1989. Rupert Murdoch announced plans for the new news service in 1988.
How Sky News Began
When it first started, Sky News looked very professional. It had a clean and stylish design. The news studio was set up to look like a busy newsroom. This made it seem like the news was happening right now. People thought Sky News did a great job with this.
In its early days, Sky News cost a lot of money to run. Some people thought it should close. But Rupert Murdoch was happy with what it had achieved. He felt it was important to keep it going for its reputation. A politician named William Whitelaw said in 1990 that Sky News had a "very high reputation." He believed it would make other news channels, like the BBC, work harder.
By March 1992, Sky News's parent company started making a profit. Sky News was the first 24-hour news channel in the UK. It did not have any local competitors until November 1997. That is when BBC News launched its own 24-hour channel.
Sky News from 2000 to 2018
In March 2000, Sky News launched Sky News Active. This was an interactive service that offered headlines and other information 24 hours a day. You could get weather, top stories, and showbiz news whenever you wanted.
In March 2004, Sky News won a contract to provide news to Channel 5. They started doing this in January 2005.
On October 24, 2005, Sky News moved to new studios in London. They also updated their on-screen look. The new studio was connected to the newsroom. It had a very large video wall. New music was created for the channel. Sky News also started broadcasting in widescreen (16:9) format.
The 2005 update also brought a new schedule. It had specific programs at certain times instead of just continuous news. However, this new schedule was not very popular. From October 2005, the BBC News channel started getting more viewers than Sky News.
Because of this, Sky News changed its schedule again in July 2006. They brought back more continuous news. They also added an interactive program. These changes happened when John Ryley became the head of Sky News. He still leads the channel today.
On March 8, 2010, Sky News was presented and produced only by women. This was done to celebrate International Women's Day. This special broadcast was repeated in 2011 and 2012.
Sky News launched its HD (High Definition) channel on May 6, 2010. This happened just in time for the 2010 general election results. Sky News also got new graphics and a new logo. Its famous orchestral theme music was updated too.
After the 2015 general election, Sky News updated its look again. It got new graphics and a new way of starting each hour. On October 24, 2016, Sky News began broadcasting from a new studio. This studio is called "the glass box."
Comcast Takes Over: 2018 to Today
In December 2016, a company called 21st Century Fox wanted to buy the rest of Sky. This led to worries that the Murdoch family would have too much control over news in the UK.
In January 2018, a report suggested that Sky News should be kept separate. This was to make sure its news reporting stayed independent. Fox then offered to fund Sky News for 10 years and create an independent board.
Later, The Walt Disney Company also showed interest in buying parts of 21st Century Fox, including Sky. Then, another company called Comcast made an offer to buy Sky. This led to a bidding war between Comcast and Fox. On September 22, 2018, Comcast won the auction. This meant Sky News became part of Comcast.
Being part of Comcast meant Sky News became a sister company to NBC News in the U.S. In April 2019, Comcast's CEO said they were thinking about starting a "global" news channel. This would be a joint project between Sky News and NBC News. This new channel was going to be called NBC Sky World News. However, the plan was stopped in August 2020.
On June 3, 2021, Sky News updated its on-screen look, music, and graphics again. On February 9, 2023, David Rhodes became the head of the Sky News Group. Jonathan Levy was named Managing Director and Executive Editor for Sky News UK.
On July 19, 2024, Sky News briefly went offline. This was due to a technical issue that affected many companies. On November 9, 2024, Sky News reported on the November 2024 Amsterdam riots.
Sky News HD
Sky News started using cameras that could record in HD (High Definition) in early 2008. Some special programs were made available in HD for Sky+ HD viewers.
On January 20, 2009, before the Sky News HD channel launched, Sky Arts showed Sky News's HD coverage of the Inauguration of Barack Obama.
Sky News HD officially launched on May 6, 2010. This happened at the same time as their coverage of the 2010 general election results.
On July 26, 2010, Sky News HD also launched on the OSN Network. This allowed people in the Middle East and Africa to watch it. On January 1, 2015, Sky News HD became available on Virgin Media.
Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio provides news updates to radio stations. These stations are in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries around the world.
Other Channels from Sky News
Sky News Raw
On February 5, 2019, Sky News launched a special channel called Sky News Raw. It showed what goes on behind the scenes at Sky News. This channel was available from 7 AM to 5 PM. It was on Sky TV and online.
This special channel celebrated the 30th anniversary of Sky News. Robotic cameras were placed around the newsroom and studios. They also showed features from other parts of the news operation, like the Sky News helicopter.
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Sky News Raw logo used in January and February 2019
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The Sky News Helicopter was featured on the channel.
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Cameras were also installed in the Millbank studios.
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Sky News Brexit-Free
From October 16 to November 1, 2019, Sky News had another special channel. It was called Sky News Brexit-Free. This channel aired on weekdays from 5 PM to 10 PM. It showed news that was not related to the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Sky News created this channel because many viewers were tired of hearing only about Brexit.
Special News Series
Sky News sometimes focuses on specific topics in society. Past examples include Inside Iraq and Green Britain.
Pakistan: On Terror's Frontline was a series of reports shown in March 2009. A Sky News statement said they would explore why Pakistan had become a "frontline of terror." They also asked what other countries could do to help. This series won an award in 2009 for International News Coverage.
Legal Matters
In November 2008, Sky News had to apologize and pay money for incorrect reporting. This was about a person involved in the search for a missing child. Sky News had wrongly suggested things about this person. They removed the incorrect information from their website and paid the person's legal costs.
In March 2013, a Sky News journalist and his camera operator were stopped while filming in Tiananmen Square in China. This happened live on television. The journalist said it was a strange but important moment about reporting in China. Police asked them to turn off their camera. They said the team was in a restricted area without permission.
Awards and Recognition
Sky News has won many awards for its news coverage. It won BAFTA awards for its reporting on the September 11, 2001 attacks and the 2002 Soham murders.
Its coverage of the 7 July 2005 London bombings won an International Emmy for Breaking News in 2006. The coverage was praised for being "fast and accurate."
In June 2007, Sky News was named Best News Channel at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards. It won against other big news channels.
The channel won a BAFTA Award in May 2015 for Alex Crawford's reporting on the 2014 Ebola crisis.
In 2018, Sky News was named Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year. This was the eleventh time the channel had won this award.
Sky News won another BAFTA Award in May 2018 for "The Rohingya Crisis." Special reporter Alex Crawford and her team traveled to Myanmar to report on what was happening there. This program also won an International Emmy Award in October 2018.
Online Presence
news.sky.com is the main website for Sky News. It provides news, sports, weather, showbiz, and business stories.
In 2009, the website was updated to look more like the TV channel. It used videos and showed breaking news. The site was updated again in 2012. In 2021, the website was tweaked to match the new Sky News branding on TV.
Where Sky News Works
Bureaus and Studios
Sky News has offices and studios in many places around the world. Some of these are shared with other news companies.
- United Kingdom
- Osterley, London, England (Sky Group's main office)
- City of Westminster, London, England
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Birmingham, England
- Bristol, England
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Manchester, England
- London, England (NBC News’ London Bureau)
- Bureaus around the world
- Abu Dhabi, UAE (with Sky News Arabia)
- Beijing, China
- Brussels, Belgium
- Dubai, UAE
- Dublin, Ireland
- Jerusalem, Israel
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Melbourne, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Moscow, Russia (with NTV)
- New Delhi, India (with WION and Zee Live)
- New York City, U.S. (with NBC News)
- Sydney, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Washington, D.C., U.S. (with NBC News)
- Other live studios
- Auckland, New Zealand (with Sky News New Zealand)
- Adelaide, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Brisbane, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Canberra, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Los Angeles, U.S. (with NBC News)
- Milan, Italy (with Sky TG24)
- Perth, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
- Rome, Italy (with Sky TG24)
See also
In Spanish: Sky News para niños
- List of television stations in the United Kingdom
