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 (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sky Group |
| Parent | Comcast |
| Key people | David Rhodes (Head of Sky News Group); Jonathan Levy (Managing Director and Executive Editor, Sky News UK) |
| 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 |
Sky News is a British TV channel that shows news for free. It also shares news through radio and online. Sky News is owned by a company called Sky Group, which is part of Comcast.
In 2019, Sky News won an award for being the best news channel. This was the 12th time it had won this award! You can watch Sky News on its website, on TV, and on apps like YouTube and Apple TV. You can also watch it on many mobile phones and other digital media players.
Sky News also has a sister channel called Sky News Arabia. It is run with another company in Abu Dhabi. There's also Sky News International. This channel shows the same programs as the UK channel but without British ads. It is available in many parts of the world. Instead of ads, it shows short stories about lighter topics. It also gives international weather forecasts.
Sky News Australia used to be partly owned by Sky News's parent company until 2016. Even though they have similar names and logos, Sky News Australia and Sky News UK are now separate. Sky News also provides news to Yahoo! News.
Contents
How Sky News Started
The Beginning
On June 8, 1988, Rupert Murdoch announced his plans to start a new TV news service. Sky News began broadcasting at 6 PM on February 5, 1989.
When it first started, Sky News looked very neat and professional. The studio was designed to make it seem like the newsreaders were in a busy newsroom. People thought Sky News did a great job with this. Its slogan was "We're there when you need us," meaning it was always on.
In its early days, the channel 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 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 had no competition until November 1997. That's when BBC News launched its own 24-hour channel.
Changes Over the Years (2000-2018)
In March 2000, Sky News launched Sky News Active. This was an interactive service that gave headlines and other news on demand. You could choose to watch weather, top stories, or showbiz news.
In March 2004, Sky News won a contract to provide news for Channel 5. They started doing this in January 2005.
On October 24, 2005, Sky News moved to new studios in London. They also changed how their programs looked on screen. The new studio was connected to the newsroom. It had the biggest video wall in Britain! New music was created for the channel. The channel also started broadcasting in widescreen (16:9) format.
The 2005 changes also brought new shows. For example, Eamonn Holmes started presenting Sunrise. However, these new shows were not very popular. After 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 focused more on interactive news. More changes happened in 2008 and 2009. These included big changes to the newsroom and new shows like Jeff Randall Live.
On March 8, 2010, Sky News had a special day. All its shows were presented and produced only by women. This was to celebrate International Women's Day. They did this again in 2011 and 2012.
Sky News moved to a different studio on March 30, 2010. This was to get ready for broadcasting in high-definition (HD). Sky News HD officially launched 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 changed its look again. On October 24, 2016, Sky News started broadcasting from a new studio called Studio 21. This studio is at Sky Central, Sky's new main building in West London.
In January 2017, Sky moved its business offices to a building in central London. By January 16, 2018, all Sky News operations moved to Studio 21 and another new studio at Sky Studios.
Comcast Takes Over (2018-Present)
In 2016, a company called 21st Century Fox wanted to buy the rest of Sky. This led to concerns about one family having too much control over news. Later, The Walt Disney Company announced it wanted to buy 21st Century Fox. This made things simpler for Sky.
In January 2018, a government group 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.
On June 5, 2018, the government approved the deal, but only if Sky News was sold separately. Another company, Comcast, also wanted to buy Sky. After a bidding war, Comcast won on September 22. This meant Sky News became part of Comcast.
Now, Sky News is a sister company to NBC News in the U.S. In 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 planned to be on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock. However, the plan for this new service was later stopped in August 2020.
On June 3, 2021, Sky News updated its on-screen look and music again. On February 9, 2023, David Rhodes became the head of all Sky's news operations. Jonathan Levy became the Managing Director and Executive Editor for Sky News UK.
Sky News HD
Starting in 2008, Sky News began using HD cameras for filming outside the studio. Some special programs were also available in HD.
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. Michael Jackson's memorial service was also shown in HD.
Sky News moved to a different studio on March 30, 2010. This was to get the main newsroom ready for HD broadcasting.
The first live broadcast of Sky News HD was a debate on April 22, 2010. Sky News HD officially launched on the evening of May 6, 2010. This happened during the coverage of the 2010 general election results.
On July 26, 2010, Sky News HD also launched in the Middle East and Africa. On January 1, 2015, Sky News HD became available on Virgin Media.
Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio provides news updates to radio stations in the UK and around the world.
In 2007, there were plans to launch a special Sky News Radio station. However, these plans did not go ahead. You can still listen to the Sky News Radio feed for free on a satellite.
Extra Channels
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 on from 7 AM to 5 PM. It was available on Sky TV and online.
This special channel celebrated Sky News's 30th birthday. Robotic cameras were placed around the newsroom and studios. They also showed features from the Sky News helicopter and other news vehicles.
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Sky News Raw logo as 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 about Brexit (the UK leaving the European Union). The head of Sky News said they created this channel because viewers were tired of hearing only about Brexit.
In-depth Series
Sometimes, Sky News focuses on specific topics. Past examples include Inside Iraq and Green Britain.
Pakistan: On Terror's Frontline was a series shown in March 2009. It explored why Pakistan had become a place for terror. It also asked what other countries could do to help. This series won an award in 2009 for International News Coverage.
Awards
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 award 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 beat other big news channels like Al Jazeera English and the BBC.
The channel won another BAFTA Award on May 10, 2015. This was 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 they had won this award.
Sky News won another BAFTA Award on May 13, 2018, for "The Rohingya Crisis." Special Correspondent 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 changed to look more like the TV channel. It used videos and showed breaking news. The website was updated again in 2012. In 2021, the website got small updates to match the new Sky News TV branding.
Virgin Media Dispute
On March 1, 2007, Sky's agreement to provide its channels (including Sky News) to Virgin Media ended. Sky News was removed from Virgin Media's TV guide. The guide even showed a message saying "Sky Snooze Try BBC". However, Richard Branson, who owned Virgin Media, asked for the message to be removed. He said they did not mean to disrespect Sky News.
Sky News and other Sky channels came back on Virgin Media on November 13, 2008.
How Sky News is Organized
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
- Bureaus (Main Offices)
- 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.
- Sydney (with Sky News Australia)
- Washington, D.C., U.S.
- Additional 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.
- 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
