Sky News
TV channel|
name= Sky News|
logosize=200px|
logofile=skynews.jpg|
logoalt=Sky News Logo|
launch=
5th February 1989|
share= 0.6% |
share as of= May '06 |
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1]| owner=
BSkyB| web=
www.sky.com/news| terr serv 1=
Freeview|
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sat serv 1=
Sky Digital|
sat chan 1=Channel 501|
sat serv 2=
Sky Italia (
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Cyfra+|
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Astra 1KR|
sat chan 4=11597 V / 22000 / 5/6|
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DStv|
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Sky News is
Europe's first 24-hour
television news channel, originally launched as part of the 4-channel
Sky Television network in February
1989. Its main competitor in the
UK is
BBC News 24 since the
ITV News Channel has ceased broadcasting. It also broadcasts an
Irish version,
Sky News Ireland, which is identical to the British channel except for two daily Irish news bulletins.Elsewhere in Europe, it competes mainly with
BBC World,
Euronews and
CNN International.
Sky News is available via satellite in
Africa (on
DStv) the
Middle East (on Orbit) and parts of
Asia on
Star TV. A similar service,
Sky News Australia, is available in
Australia and
New Zealand.
The station broadcasts from Osterley, West London. Sky News currently employs around 50 on-screen staff: anchors, weather forecasters, correspondents and reporters, and over 500 behind-the-scenes workers. The station has 7 bureaux outside the United Kingdom;
Brussels,
New Delhi,
Johannesburg,
Jerusalem,
Moscow,
Beijing and
Washington, D.C. (although partnerships with other
News Corporation-owned news outlets greatly increase this list)
At 6pm on the 5th of February 1989 Sky News first began broadcasting and since this time it has transmitted over 148,000 hours of continuous live news. The channel originally operated on a shoestring but quickly gained a reputation for journalistic integrity. Although the channel was reportedly run at a loss until 2002 [
2] its award-winning journalism has brought
Sky Television and its successor
British Sky Broadcasting some much-needed prestige. Whilst it is fashionable for many of the newcomers to the news channel market to rapidly hire-and-fire presenters, Sky News is unique in that many of the original presenting team from the 1980s launch remain at the channel. However, one of its longest standing presenters,
Bob Friend MBE, retired in late 2003. In this respect, many other channels have attempted to mimick and emulate Sky's standards and methods with varying degrees of success.
Sky News was the only UK 24 hour news service until the launch of BBC News 24 in November 1997. In August 2000, this was followed by the ITN News Channel (changing to the
ITV News Channel before it closed down in December 2005). In September
1999 the
European Commission ruled against a complaint by Sky News which argued that the publicly funded BBC News 24 was unfair and illegal under
EU law. The EC ruled that the
television licence fee should be considered state aid but that such aid was justified due to the public service remit of the BBC and that it did not exceed actual costs of the channel.
In March 2000 Sky News Active was launched, a 24-hour service providing headlines (and other services which ranged from weather, the top story of the day and showbiz) on demand. It proved popular, and in late 2001/early 2002 it launched an 8-screen video news service, rather than just 4-screen. Sky News Poll, had also proved popular with a new question each day. It is now common for the question to change throughout the day according to news or developments. In March 2004 it was announced that Sky News had won a 5-year contract to supply news bulletins to the British terrestrial channel
Five, taking over from
ITN in January 2005.
On
October 24 2005, Sky News was relaunched from a brand-new studio in a new building at
Osterley,
West London. This replaced the building at
Isleworth which had been in use for almost 17 years since the channel's launch. Music and on screen graphics were heavily revised and for the first time in the channel's history it began broadcasting in
Widescreen (
16:9)
EDTV format (except for Sky News International which remained 4:3) . The new schedule includes more programmes based around news presenters such as
Jeremy Thompson and Julie Etchingham, while still breaking news around the clock. In this, Sky News would be following the example of
CNN and
Fox News in the United States. Former US
State Department Spokesperson
James Rubin was signed with Sky News to present an hour-long evening news show. He is married to CNN's
Christiane Amanpour. The relaunch has not been without difficulties, indeed since October 2005 BBC News 24 has overtaken Sky News marginally. This reason for this has largely been placed with Rubin's 'World News Tonight' which has suffered in the ratings whilst others, such as 'Lunchtime Live with Kay Burley' have flourished.
Due to the falling ratings another re-shuffle of the schedule occurred on
July 10,
2006. This saw 17 Sky staff, including presenters, leave the station, and the end of '
World News Tonight' and '
The Sky Report' - both introduced in the October relaunch.
|
James Rubin reporting from Jerusalem about the election in 2006 |
Sunrise
Morning breakfast time show. On weekdays, the show is presented by
Eamonn Holmes and
Lorna Dunkley and runs from 6:00am to 9:00am. On weekends, the show runs from 6:00am to 10:00am and is presented by
Steve Dixon and
Emma Crosby.
Sky News Today
Main article: Sky News Today
Sky News Today runs throughout the day in two 'shifts'.
The first portion runs from 9:00am to 12:00noon and is fronted by
Chris Roberts and
Anna Jones with live breaking news as it develops and 'daily debate' at 9:30am.
The second portion runs from 2:00pm (after
Lunchtime Live) to 5:00pm, fronted by
Mark Longhurst and
Julie Etchingham (currently on maternity leave). Again Sky News Today covers live breaking news as it develops.
Lunchtime Live
Lunchtime Live with
Kay Burley is a show focused around the day's news with human interest stories. The show runs between 12:00pm and 2:00pm and is usually presented by
Kay Burley.
Live at Five
During the week, Live at Five gives viewers a fast-paced look at the day's top stories with
Jeremy Thompson, joined by
Anna Botting between 6:00pm and 8:00pm. On weekends, the show is presented by
Martin Popplewell and
Lucy Alexander or
Faye Barker.
Sky News with Martin Stanford
Sky News with
Martin Stanford airs on weeknights between 8:00pm and 10:00pm. Presented by
Martin Stanford, the show began on July 10th 2006 and replaces World News Tonight. Viewers are encouraged to contribute to the show using webcams and 3G mobile phones to send in video messages, or join in debates regarding the issues of the day.
Sky News at Ten
Sky News at Ten is a round-up of the day's top stories, with
Martin Stanford and
Gillian Joseph and runs from 10:00pm until 10:30pm. The show was previously hosted by
Chris Roberts.
Sportsline
This is a dedicated sports show regularly presented by
Jon Desborough during the week, with other sports news presenters hosting at weekends, or when Jon is away. This is shown in addition to the regular sports bulletins. The programme airs between 10:30pm and 11:00pm every night.
Sky News Tonight
Sky News Tonight airs between 11:00pm and midnight and is presented by by
Martin Stanford and
Gillian Joseph. At 11:30pm, the presenters show the Press Preview, looking at the following days newspapers, alongside guest analysts.
Sky News On The Hour
From midnight until 4:00am (Monday to Friday mornings, Midnight until 6:00am Saturday and Sunday mornings), Sky News broadcasts overnight news coverage. This is usually presented by new signings and temporary presenters and includes broadcasts of
CBS Evening News at 12:30am and 3:30am (Monday to Friday mornings, 5:30am Saturday and Sunday mornings).
Sky World News
This is a two hour-long program that focus' on global news from sky's network of bureaux across the globe. It also uses pieces from its American sister channel
Fox News and
CBS News. The program is broken down into a number of short segments, including weather, newspapers, business or sport from different regions around the world.
Saturday Live
At 10:00am on Saturdays,
Martin Stanford, mixes news and sport with showbiz and technology in Saturday Live.
|
Martin Stanford explaining the weather during Saturday Live |
Sunday Live with Adam Boulton
Sunday Live with
Adam Boulton takes an in-depth look at world of politics from the heart of
Westminster although since October 2005 it has increasingly focused on a wider range of topics such as sport and the arts. It runs for two hours, from 10:00am until 12:00pm on Sundays.
Additional Shows
In addition to the above regular schedule, in December 2005 and January 2006 Sky News transmitted one-off special reports covering specific issues, with the schedule being altered to allow their inclusion. Most specials lasted 30 minutes, with the regular programme for that hour being shortened to 30 minutes and the special starting at half past the hour. In the case of longer specials lasting close to an hour, a brief news summary is given on the hour, with the special starting a few minutes after.
On the 28th March 2006 sky presenter, James Rubin fronted a special edition of World News Tonight live from Sky News' Jerusalem bureau between 20:00 and 22:00. Emma Herd was live at the Kadima party headquarters as the results of one Israel's tightest elections came through. Tim Marshall, award winning foreign affairs editor, gave coverage and analysis throughout the day.
The Sky Report
The Sky Report aired on Sky News weeknights between 7:00pm to 8:00pm, The Sky Report was a 'hard-hitting' news analysis show. The show was originally presented by
Julie Etchingham but was presented by
Anna Botting whilst Etchingham was on maternity leave. In a change in line-up, the show was cancelled on July 10th 2006.
World News Tonight
James Rubin anchored World News Tonight weeknights between 8:00pm to 9:00pm. The show aimed to take a look at news headlines from an international perspective. This show was also cancelled in the channel line-up change on July 10th 2006.
Today Sky News continues to maintain an impressive standard of journalism in the face of tough competition. It is somewhat different to stablemate
Fox News, the US sister channel with which it sometimes exchanges material. Sky News at the moment relies more on news rather than Fox News' anchor-based commentary, such as that provided by Bill O'Reilly. During
2003, plans to offer Sky News in the US were under consideration, but have since been dropped allegedly due to pressure from Fox News.
|
Mark Longhurst, Steve Dixon and Ginny Buckley presenting Sky News Today |
The station has not been without controversy. In early 1994
Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of
The Sun newspaper, was appointed Managing Director of BSkyB. MacKenzie's proposed changes to Sky News lead to clashes with CEO Sam Chisholm and the head of Sky News, Ian Frykberg, who protested what they saw as an attempt to take its news values downmarket and concentrate on stories that would be more familiar to tabloid newspapers than its rivals at the
BBC and
ITN.
The main problems arose when it became clear that Frykberg, then head of News and Sport at BSkyB, wanted to take Sky News to a wider international audience. Frykberg outlined his intention to open 15 new Sky News bureaux around the world and make the channel a serious alternative to CNN. At the time, he was backed by Rupert Murdoch *[
3]. There was also talk of the US
CBS network acquiring a stake in Sky News, and the two launching a joint international news channel. Mackenzie, in contrast, wanted the channel to focus on more domestic and 'tabloid' stories. The most ferocious battle occurred when Mackenzie wanted Sky News to run an interview with
Lady Bienvenida Buck, exposed by the
News of the World as being the mistress of Chief of Defence staff Sir
Peter Harding. Frykberg refused to air the interview and resigned shortly afterwards. The interview did not air on Sky News, and was instead shifted to
Sky One.
MacKenzie announced his resignation in August 1994.
A 1993 report on public trust in news outlets ranked Sky News far below the more established TV networks and newspapers. However the station has undoubtedly got past this in its news coverage, to the point of being nominated for International Emmy Awards and a 2004 report listed Sky as second only to the BBC in terms of public trust in British news outlets.
Its coverage of the
Louise Woodward trial in
Boston, US, garnered the channel international attention. Capitalising on the live broadcasts from the courtroom, Sky News covered the trial as-it-happened, with constant live coverage, recalling CNN's rolling coverage of the
O.J. Simpson murder case. After days of live courtroom television, Sky attempted to return to a more regular schedule, only to be inundated with complaints by viewers demanding that the trial return to the screens; Sky obliged. They also took the opportunity to rig up a huge television screen in a pub in Woodward's home village of Elton in
Cheshire, with 24/7 coverage of the trial in progress. Villagers rallied round the screen, and Sky recorded their reactions to every detail of the trial. The channel came in for further criticism, with many accusing it of maintaining a pro-Louise Woodward stance, even after she was found guilty.
At the turn of the millennium, Sky began a process of expanding its international coverage, opening more overseas bureaux in Africa, Europe, and the far East. It won awards from the
Royal Television Society, a
BAFTA, and a nomination for an
International Emmy Award for being the only major UK television network to feature live reports during the war in
Kosovo.
Its coverage of the
September 11, 2001 attacks brought more honours, and more recognition from BAFTA and the RTS. During the first week or so of the invasion of
Afghanistan, its US sister station Fox News substituted its late-night repeats of its own programming with a simulcast of Sky News. In 2002/3, its coverage of the
Soham Murders in Cambridgeshire gave the channel yet more awards, and the British Academy award for news coverage. Later that year, its (also award-winning) coverage of the Iraq conflict saw it yet again steal a march on its rivals, with US networks CBS and Fox News carrying much of its coverage.
Sky News is facing increasing competition from
BBC News 24, however the BBC Head of News, Peter Horrocks, admitted in November 2005 in a leaked email that it was Sky News that was the first port of call for 'key opinion formers', not the BBC.[
4]
Sky News is free-to-air on the satellites carrying the
Sky Digital platform. It is also available on
Freeview.
An international version - the UK feed, minus advertisements, the clock, the scrolling headlines banner and cropped to 4:3 - is free-to-air on
Astra 1KR at 19.2E. It is also carried encrypted on a number of satellites for international reception - including but not limited to
Hot Bird,
Nilesat,
Amos 1 and
Intelsat 10-02. It is also usually carried on cable systems in Europe, particularly (but not only) in Northern Europe.
In late July, 2006, US-based satellite broadcaster
DirecTV added several channels to their online guide that are apparently not available to viewers, including Sky News. It is not known presently whether or not Sky News will actually be made available to American viewers.
The station, like CNN, has a very recognisable line, which is read every hour.
In the past, it was "Sky News, with (presenter(s))"
In 2005 revamp, identification changed to "Live from the Sky News Centre, this is (programme name) with (presenter(s))"
As well as the original UK version, there are a growing number of other "Sky News" channels, and additional
News Corporation news channels. They share content and expertise, but differ in focus and presentation.
Sky News Australia
The first Sky News derivative was
Sky News Australia, launched on February 19 1996 as a joint venture between BSkyB,
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and the
Seven Network. This channel makes use of Seven Network and Nine Network material, regular slots from Sky News UK (the international version) and increasing amounts of original material.
Sky News New Zealand
New Zealand's
Sky News New Zealand launched in 2001. Initially, only local news bulletins differentiated it from Sky News Australia, but its level of local programming has now increased. Some of this programming is also broadcast on Sky News Australia.
Sky News Ireland
Sky News Ireland began in May 2004. This differs from Sky News UK only in that it includes two local halfhour weekdaily programmes at 6:30pm and 10pm. It initially featured a weekly summary programme, although this has been discontinued.
The standard UK Sky News channel is also available in a number of other countries; it is occasionally shown in hotels and is offered by some cable systems as part of their English-language line-up. The key differences between this overseas version and the UK version are the omission of the current time on the screen (reflecting that the channel may be shown outside of its normal GMT/BST time zone), and the absence of advertisements. In the space of the advertisement breaks are written summaries of news, business & sports headlines, accompanied by different mixes of the normal Sky News theme music.
Fox News Channel
Sky News' sister channel in the United States is
Fox News Channel, launched on October 7, 1996. Fox and Sky use each others correspondents, studios and footage but there is a gulf in editorial stances of the two channels. Following Sky News' successful coverage of the
2003 Iraq War, some of which was broadcast on Fox News, there was a proposal to launch a Sky News US. This never happened, possibly due to sharp increases in ratings for FOX News.
STAR News
Hindi news channel
STAR News was launched in 1998 on Asia's
STAR TV platform. It is another
News Corp channel that owes much in terms of style and presentation to Sky News.
Sky TG24
Sky TG24, known to some English speakers as "Sky News Italia" launched on August 23 2003. However this Italian language channel has little in common with Sky News UK. Although it is run by
Sky Italia, owned by
News Corporation.
Granada Talk TV
Granada Talk TV launched on October 1 1996 as part of the
Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture between BSkyB and
Granada. It was a partial-day UK opinion focused current affairs channel. It ceased transmission in August 1997.
*Sky News has been featured in many feature films;
**
Behind Enemy Lines**
The Day After Tomorrow**
Independence Day**
Mission: Impossible**
Shaun of the Dead::
* Film by
20th Century Fox, another
News Corporation asset.
*
Sky News Homepage*
Sky Press Office for Sky News*
Sky News official "Behind-the-scenes" site*
five.tv - News*
Digital Spy -
Sky News revamp set for October 24*
Five to take Sky News bulletins at
BBC News Online*
TV Newsroom
