Timeline of Sky News facts for kids

This is a timeline showing the history of Sky News, a TV channel from Britain that provides news for free.

The 1980s

• 1988
  • On June 8, Rupert Murdoch shared his idea to start four new TV channels using the Astra satellite. One of these channels would be a news channel that showed news all the time.
• 1989
  • On February 5, Sky Television officially began broadcasting at 6 PM. This included the launch of Sky News.

The 1990s

• 1990
  • On December 2, after Sky TV and BSB joined together, Sky News also started broadcasting on the Marco Polo satellite. For a short time, arts programs were shown on weekends as a separate option from Sky News.
• 1991
  • From January 16 to March 2, Sky News provided continuous news coverage of the Gulf War.
• 1992
  • In February, the TV channel TV-am stopped creating its own news and instead used news reports from Sky News. This was the first time Sky News was shown on regular TV. This continued until December 31, which was TV-am's last day on air.
  • On December 31, Sky and Sky News stopped broadcasting through the Marco Polo satellite.
• 1997
  • On August 31, TV schedules were filled with news about Diana, Princess of Wales's car accident. Sky News showed continuous coverage for most of the next week, ending with her funeral on September 6.
  • On November 9, Sky News got its first competitor when the BBC launched its own news channel, BBC News 24.
• 1998
  • On October 1, Sky Digital launched, offering more channels.
• 1999
  • On March 8, after ITV stopped its News at Ten program, Sky News launched Sky News at Ten.
  • In June, Sky News Radio was launched, providing news for radio stations.

The 2000s

• 2000
  • In March, Sky News Active launched, offering more interactive news.
• 2001
  • On September 11, people around the world watched a terrorist attack happen in the United States. The Twin Towers in New York City collapsed. Sky News provided continuous coverage, with some reports coming from Fox News.
• 2002
  • On January 7, Sky News content became available on regular TV again after ten years. This happened when Channel 5 started showing parts of Sky News' breakfast program Sunrise.
  • In February, Sky News Today was launched. This was the new name for Sky News' weekday morning news slot.
  • On October 30, Freeview launched. Sky News was one of three channels that Sky offered for this new service.
• 2003
  • On March 20, as the 2003 invasion of Iraq began, Sky News provided continuous live coverage of the events.
• 2004
  • On May 24, Sky News Ireland was launched. This was a special news broadcast made just for the Republic of Ireland.
• 2005
  • On January 1, Sky News took over from ITN as the news provider for Channel 5. This meant Sky News was seen on a regular TV channel for the first time, both in morning slots and during big news events like the 2005 General Election results.
  • Sky News launched an overnight global news report called Sky World News. It was shown every weekday night from 3 AM to 5:30 AM.
  • On October 24, the first episode of the global news program World News Tonight was shown on Sky News. This was part of a big change for the channel, moving from continuous news to programs with specific presenters. The new show started when Sky News moved to new studios in Isleworth, Greater London. Other new shows included The Sky Report with Julie Etchingham, Lunchtime Live with Kay Burley, and Saturday Live.
• 2006
  • On July 10, after less than a year, the last episode of World News Tonight was shown on Sky News. The program was stopped because viewers didn't like it, and BBC News 24 started getting higher ratings than Sky News. The evening programs went back to continuous news and an interactive program called Sky News with Martin Stanford.
  • On November 3, the last episode of Sky News Ireland was broadcast. The program ended early after staff walked out because they were unhappy with how the closure was handled by their managers.
• 2007
  • On March 1, the basic Sky channels, including Sky News, stopped being available on Virgin Media. This happened because the two companies could not agree on a new deal.
  • On October 1, Sky News introduced another new schedule. Kay Burley's Lunchtime Live program was made longer and renamed Afternoon Live. The channel also changed to a new format for most of the day, with one main presenter and a separate newsreader for summaries. Sky News also focused more on interactive news with Martin Stanford's new SkyNews.com program. A new early evening financial news program presented by Jeff Randall was also introduced.
• 2008
  • On September 8, Colin Brazier presented the first episode of The Live Desk. Martin Stanford's Sky.com News became SkyNews.com and moved to 7 PM every weekday night.
  • On November 13, after more than 18 months, the basic Sky channels, including Sky News, returned to Virgin Media.
• 2009
  • Jeff Randall Live was expanded from a weekly show to being on air four nights each week, from Monday to Thursday.
  • On March 3, Independent Radio News changed its main news provider from ITN to Sky News Radio. This meant Sky News Radio gained more than 280 new radio stations as customers, giving it almost all of the commercial radio news in the UK. The first news report produced by Sky News was broadcast at 2 PM.

The 2010s

• 2010
  • On May 6, Sky News HD launched, offering high-definition broadcasts.
  • On May 21, Sky News confirmed it would stop having weather presenters, except during the breakfast program Sky News Sunrise. Instead, news presenters would read weather headlines. This change happened at the same time Sky News reduced its sports reporting, favoring reports from Sky Sports News.
  • On September 10, the final episode of SkyNews.com was broadcast.
  • In December, the final episode of Sunday Live with Adam Boulton was broadcast. It was replaced in the new year by a similar show presented by Dermot Murnaghan. Adam Boulton moved to a new weekday show at 1 PM on Sky News.
• 2011
  • On January 15, the final episode of Saturday Live was broadcast.
  • On January 17, the first episode of Boulton & Co was broadcast.
  • In April, Live at Five was removed from the schedule due to a change in how the channel branded its shows. Most of Sky News' programs were simply rebranded as "Sky News." The name "Live at Five" had been used since the channel first started. Also disappearing from the schedule in 2011 was The Live Desk.
  • In December, Sky News produced the Queen's Christmas Day broadcast for the first time.
  • In December, Sky News provided news coverage for Channel 5 for the last day. The next day, the contract returned to ITN.
• 2012
  • On October 23, the digital switchover was completed in the UK. This meant that Sky News was now available in about 90% of homes across the UK.
  • On November 26, a special 60-second news report from Sky News was launched on Pick. It was broadcast nightly at 9 PM.
• 2014
  • On March 27, the final episode of the business news program Jeff Randall Live was broadcast.
  • On August 1, the final episode of the weekday lunchtime program Boulton & Co was broadcast.
  • On September 1, Sky News launched a new main evening news report called Sky News Tonight.
• 2015
  • After the 2015 general election, Sky News changed its look. It got a new sequence at the top of each hour and new on-screen graphics. The traditional opening voiceover, which had been used for two decades, was stopped.
• 2016
  • On April 21, the first episode of the discussion program The Pledge was broadcast. It was shown every Thursday evening at 8 PM.
  • On October 24, Sky News began broadcasting from a new studio (Studio 21) at Sky Central, which is Sky's new main office in West London.
• 2017
  • On January 8, Sophy Ridge on Sunday launched. Also launching in 2017 was the weekday show All Out Politics.
• 2018
  • On September 24, the first episode of the teatime program The News Hour with Mark Austin was broadcast.
• 2019
  • On October 13, Sky News Sunrise was broadcast for the final time. This program had been on air since Sky News first launched more than 30 years ago. The next day, it was replaced by two new shows: The Early Rundown and Sky News @ Breakfast.
  • From October 16 to November 1, Sky News ran a special temporary channel called Sky News Brexit-Free. It was on air on weekdays from 5 PM to 10 PM and showed news that was not related to the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Sky News head John Ryley said this was because viewers were tired of the constant news about Brexit.

The 2020s

• 2020
  • In March, The Pledge was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has not returned since.
  • On September 23, the weekday episodes of Sky News @ Breakfast were renamed Kay Burley.
  • On December 10, Sky News Breakfast replaced Kay Burley. This happened after Kay Burley stepped back from presenting the show for six months because she broke London's coronavirus rules.
• 2021
  • On April 7, Sky News launched a weekday program about climate news called The Daily Climate Show.
  • On June 3, Sky News updated its top-of-the-hour sequence, music, and on-screen graphics. A source from Sky News said this change was not related to the launch of GB News.
  • On June 7, the Kay Burley branding returned after Kay Burley came back to the channel.
• 2023
  • On May 24, Sky News launched an audio-only version, making it available on the TuneIn service.
  • On July 3, Sky News made big changes to its weekday schedule. Sky News Today now airs from 10 AM until 4:30 PM. Ian King Live was renamed Business Live and broadcasts in two half-hour slots at 11:30 AM and 4:30 PM.
  • On July 16, Sophy Ridge on Sunday was broadcast for the final time.
  • In September, a new weeknight show called Politics Hub was launched, airing on weeknights at 7 PM and presented by Sophy Ridge. Trevor Phillips took over the Sunday morning show.

See also

• Timeline of the BBC News Channel
• Timeline of ITN