Sky News

Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.

The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel: Sky News Australia and Sky News New Zealand, and previously operated Sky News Ireland. Sky News is also offered in an international version without the British adverts under the name Sky News International available in Europe and Asia.

Overview
Based at a news centre in London, Sky News started broadcasting on 5 February 1989 as part of the then four-channel Sky Television service. Sky News provides an hourly news radio service to multiple radio networks in the UK and Ireland. The channel currently has seven UK bases each with their own correspondents, and the channel can also call upon a wide range of resources and global bureaux provided by its primary share holder News Corporation such as reporters from Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network (its sister news and business channels).

Sky News has built its schedule around the main anchors with appointment to view broadcasts regularly being supplemented by landmark broadcasts. Although most of its programmes feature one main presenter, when major breaking news reaches the channel it has recently started to revert to the old double-headed style with two presenters anchoring. Sky News is known for its innovations in news broadcasting and regularly wins awards for this and also for its broadcasting in general.

Sky News has started to revamp its graphics almost every year, with the latest revamp unveiled on 6 May 2010.

In late December 2008, Sky News began broadcasting from Studio B at Sky News centre, while work on the main newsroom was being carried out. On 4 February 2009 at 6 am broadcasting resumed from the revamped newsroom. This coincided with the channel's 20th anniversary on 5 February 2009.

From 30 March 2010, Sky News again began broadcasting from Studio B as the final preparations took place for the launch of Sky News HD. Broadcasting returned to the main newsroom at 9 pm on 6 May 2010, for the launch of Sky News HD and the results of the 2010 UK general election.

Although owned by British Sky Broadcasting, Sky News is partially owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which holds a minority stake in BSkyB. Murdoch said of Sky News in March 1992, when he was the full owner:

The station's headquarters are in Osterley, West London, employing well over 50 on-screen staff (anchors, weather forecasters, correspondents and reporters) and over 600 behind-the-scenes staff. The station has eight of its own bureaux outside the United Kingdom and shares many more with other News Corporation stations.

Sky also produces a website (Sky News Online) and has a library sales division. Since 2005 Sky News has produced bulletins for Five News on British TV channel Channel 5, after winning the contract to supply the channel's news bulletins held by ITN since the channel's launch in 1997. Following a change in ownership at Channel 5 however, there is some doubt as to how long the contract will continue, as new owner Richard Desmond seeks to make his mark on the channel's strategy. The contract for producing Channel Five's news has now been given back to ITN.

Spin-off proposal
Jeremy Hunt - the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport - announced on 3 March 2011 that under News Corporation's proposal to take full control of BSkyB, Sky News would be "spun off" into a separate company. As part of a series of undertakings, the company's chairman and a majority of the board of directors would be required to be independent, but News Corp would continue to hold a 39.1 per cent stake in the new company. However, that concession was withdrawn in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking affair, allowing the U.K. government to contest the merger on competition grounds, instead of whether News Corp. would be a "fit and proper" owner for BSkyB. Withdrawing the concession was "probably the (lesser) of the bad options" for News Corp., said Louise Cooper, markets analyst for London-based BGC Partners.

Establishment and early years
On 8 June 1988, Rupert Murdoch announced to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts that he would provide a new television news service. Sky News started broadcasting at 6 pm on 5 February 1989.

In the early days the channel operated on a £40 million budget (plus £10 million share of overheads), which led Sam Chisholm to propose to Murdoch the station be closed, but Rupert was "pleased with its achievements ... there were overriding reasons of prestige and politics for keeping it ... the final hurdle of the Broadcasting Bill had still to be overcome and the case for the acceptability of Sky would collapse if suddenly there was no news channel." - former deputy Prime Minister Viscount Whitelaw said to the House of Lords in 1990 that Sky News had "a very high reputation ... I admire it, as do many other people, it will certainly waken up both the BBC and ITN and ensure that they compete with what is a very important news service". The channel has never been run for a profit, and has considered using ITN to supplement the service.

By March 1992 Sky turned from loss to profit, when Murdoch would say ''Sky News, has quietly, if expensively, become the first building block of what we envision will become the premier worldwide electronic news-gathering network anywhere. Ask anyone in Europe, and particularly the BBC and you will be told that Sky News has added a new and better dimension to television journalism''.

Sky News was the only UK 24-hour news channel (aside from CNN International on Astra 1A, BBC World Service Television started in 1991 but has never been broadcast in the UK) until November 1997 when BBC News launched a new 24-hour channel, BBC News 24, now known simply as BBC News. 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 European Union law. The EC ruled that the television licence fee should be considered state aid (within the meaning of Article 87) and that it was justified due to the public service remit of the BBC and that it did not exceed actual costs of the channel.

Sky News since 2000
In March 2000 Sky News Active was launched, a 24-hour interactive service providing headlines (and other services which ranged from weather, the top story of the day and showbiz) on demand.

In March 2004 it was announced that Sky News had won a 5-year contract to supply news bulletins to Channel 5, taking over from ITN in January 2005.

On 24 October 2005, Sky News moved to new studios in Isleworth, London, and underwent a major on-screen revamp. The new studio was integrated with the newsroom and boasted the biggest video wall in Britain; it was designed by New York architects Janson Design Group. New music was scored by Adelphoi Music and recorded with a full orchestra at Air Studios, Hampstead, and mastered at Metropolis Studios. New on-screen graphics were launched and the channel began broadcasting in Widescreen (16:9) format.

The 2005 relaunch also saw the introduction of a new schedule designed around "appointment to view" programmes rather than continuous rolling news. James Rubin joined to present a new evening programme called World News Tonight, Julie Etchingham presented another new "hard-hitting" evening show called Sky Report, Eamonn Holmes joined to present Sunrise, Kay Burley presented a new programme called Lunchtime Live from 12 to 2 pm, and the daytime show Sky News Today saw the introduction of a three-presenter format. However the relaunched schedule was unsuccessful, and from October 2005 the BBC News channel overtook Sky News in the ratings.

In response to the schedule's unpopularity with viewers, changes took place in July 2006, with the removal of the evening programmes Sky Report and World News Tonight with James Rubin in favour of rolling news and an interactive programme, Sky News with Martin Stanford, and the return to a two-presenter format on Sky News Today. On 25 February 2007 the channel changed its graphics scheme to include the display of breaking news in yellow.

On 1 October 2007 Sky introduced another new schedule, extending Kay Burley's Lunchtime Live programme and renaming it Afternoon Live. They also switched to a Sunrise format for much of the day, with a solo lead presenter and a summary newsreader. Sky News put more emphasis on interactive news with Martin Stanford's new Sky.com News programme. And it introduced an early evening financial news programme presented by Jeff Randall, initially on Mondays only. On 8 January 2008 Dermot Murnaghan joined Sky to present Sky News Today from 9 am to 1 pm.

Further changes were made to the Sky News schedule on 8 September 2008, with Colin Brazier presenting a new show from 1 pm - 2pm, The Live Desk, Martin Stanford's Sky.Com News became SkyNews.com and moved to 7 pm every weeknight, and Sky Midnight News was introduced.

More changes took place during the early part of 2009. These changes involved major changes to the layout of the newsroom/studio, the introduction of a morning edition of The Live Desk and the extension of the financial news programme Jeff Randall Live to run for 4 nights each week, Monday to Thursday.

From sunrise to midnight on 8 March 2010, Sky News was presented and produced exclusively by women to mark International Women's Day.

In preparation for the start of high-definition broadcasting, Sky News moved to its second studio (Studio B) on the morning of the 30 March 2010. Broadcasting from Studio B continued until 9 pm on 6 May, when they moved back to the main newsroom and launched Sky News HD in time for the 2010 General Election results. Sky News received a graphics refresh to coincide with the launch of the new HD channel - this was trialed during the soft launch for Sky News HD on 22 April; Sky News' distinctive orchestral theme music, in use since 2005, was also replaced on 6 May 2010. The new logo for both the SD and HD versions of the channel was released before launch - the main change being adopting a new logo to go with the modified Sky logo.

The new title music, composed by David Arnold, was recorded with a 60-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Angel Studios, London and uses more than 132 audio channels for 18 second of audio.

Virgin Media dispute
On 1 March 2007, the contract for Virgin Media to provide Sky's basic channels (including Sky News) on their cable TV service expired after a dispute between Virgin Media and BSkyB. At Midnight, Sky News was removed, the electronic programming guide changed to "Sky Snooze Try BBC" untilSir Richard Branson demanded the message be removed saying ''I have asked them to take it down. We do not mean any disrespect to Sky News. I think it is a very good news channel''.

Sky News returned to Virgin Media Network along with all the other "Sky Basics" channels that were removed in March 2007. This deal between BSkyB and Virgin Media was confirmed on 4 November 2008. Sky News reappeared on Virgin Media on 13 November.

Programmes
The following are current Sky News programmes:


 * Afternoon Live
 * Boulton & Co
 * CBS Evening News (same-day tape delay; airs at 12:30 am & 2:30 am)
 * Jeff Randall Live
 * Murnaghan
 * News, Sport & Weather
 * 20/20
 * Saturday Live
 * Sky News at Eleven
 * Sky News at Five
 * Sky News at Nine


 * Sky News at Seven
 * Sky News at Six
 * Sky News at Ten
 * Sky News
 * Sky News Sunrise
 * Sky News Today
 * Sky World News
 * Sportsline
 * The Live Desk
 * Weekend Lunchtime

Reception
Sky News is free-to-air on the Astra 28.2°E satellites carrying Sky. It is also available on Freeview and analogue and digital cable. In 2007 BSKyB announced its intention to cease broadcasting Sky News as well as other BSkyB channels over Freeview pending Ofcom approval.

Sky News International
Sky News is also shown internationally, sometimes under the name Sky News International, and can often be seen in hotels as well as being offered by some cable and satellite providers as part of their English-language line-up. While the UK feed is broadcast in 16:9, the international version was until Mid-August 2010, still in 4:3 with portions of the picture being cut out.

The international version is shown as free-to-air on Astra 1L at 19.2° east. 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 especially in the Scandinavian countries.

Most of Europe, the Middle East and Asia receive the same version of Sky News as the Astra 28.2°E transmission, though with localised advertising. These feeds are sometimes known collectively as "Sky News International" and carry a break filler, the same as that of BBC World News, which is used on the UK and Ireland feed of its sister channel Fox News Channel.

From mid-August 2010 Sky News International is broadcast in 16:9.

Regional variations
Sky News Australia and Sky News New Zealand are different channels that carry variable amounts Sky News UK programming, and share some of its style, but also have local programming and advertising. In Australia, a Sky News UK feed is also available at all times, on Sky News Active. From 2004 to 2006 Sky News Ireland similarly carried local programming. This was then discontinued, the Irish feed reverting to a local advertising only service. Sky News weather also give forecasts for The Republic of Ireland as well as the UK. In 2012 Sky News Arabia ( Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE ) became the latest edition to the regional affiliates of Sky News covering Arab world audience in the Middle East.

Sky News HD
Sky released the high definition version of Sky News on 6 May 2010 to coincide with the 2010 election results. In the build-up to this launch, they have been upgrading their studios and several bureax both in the UK and around the world to be able to broadcast in HD.

Since early 2008, Sky News has been using cameras in the field which can shoot in HD. Some one-off programmes have been made available in high definition to Sky+ HD viewers through the On Demand feature, under the branding Sky News HD. These programmes have included Technofile, Diana: The Final Word, Canoe Man: Rise and Fall of John Darwin and Pathfinders: Into The Heart Of Afghanistan.

At 5pm (GMT) on 20 January 2009, Sky News' live coverage of the Inauguration of Barack Obama was carried in high definition on Sky Arts HD. This was the first ever live broadcast of Sky News in HD. Jeremy Thompson fronted the coverage from Washington DC. Michael Jackson's memorial service was also presented in HD, with Kay Burley presenting.

Sky News moved operations to a chroma-key "green screen" set in Studio B from 30 March 2010 so that final preparations could take place in the main newsroom.

Sky News HD launched on Sky Channel 517 for the channel's election debate which was held on 22 April 2010. For the 10 days leading up to the debate, channel 517 displayed a countdown clock to launch. The Debate coverage was hosted in HD by Kay Burley and Adam Boulton. Following the end of the coverage for the evening, channel 517 moved to show a looping preview tape. This tape included the shows that were mentioned above as being available on Sky Anytime. This continued until Sky News HD was launched in full on the evening of 6 May 2010, to coincide with the coverage of the results for the 2010 General Election hosted by Adam Boulton.

On 26 July 2010, Sky News HD launched on the Orbit Showtime Network, broadcasting to the Middle East and Africa.

Sky News Radio
Sky News Radio is a provider of news bulletins for radio stations in the United Kingdom.

In March 2007, BSkyB and Chrysalis Group announced a joint partnership to launch a dedicated Sky News Radio station on the proposed bid by Channel 4's 4 Digital Group for the second DAB multiplex in the United Kingdom. However, two months later Chrysalis sold its radio stations to Global Radio, and in October 2007 following a business review Global's chief executive announced that they would be withdrawing from the joint venture. Sky have announced plans to find a partner elsewhere.

The Sky News Radio feed is available FTA on the Astra 2A satellite at 28.2 East by manually tuning it in: 12207.00 V, 27500, 2/3 (Label: SNR).

Regular presenters
When elections, either national or international, take place, Sky edits its schedule to focus on them. Recent examples have been the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the 2006 Israeli legislative election, the 2008 United States Presidential Election and the 2008 United Kingdom local elections. Sky also often shows long interviews; for example, Anna Botting's exclusive half-hour interview with Carla Bruni in early 2010. At the end of each year, in December and January of the new year, a series of special 'Year in Review' shows are shown which look back at memorable news stories from the past year.

In-depth Series
The channel regularly focusses on specific areas of society and current affairs, which allows for further indepth analysis and debate. In the past examples of these series have included Inside Iraq, Green Britain and Crime Uncovered.

Pakistan: On Terrors Frontline was shown throughout the week beginning Monday 23 March 2009. The Sky News press release stated;

The series of reports has since won the 2009 RTS Award for Foreign News Coverage.

Identification and stings
Bruce Hammal has long been the voice of Sky News' identification announcements. Since October 2005 he has been heard at the top of each hour introducing programmes by announcing, "Live from the Sky News Centre, this is Programme name with presenters" or "This is programme name with presenter/s".

Several years earlier, after the merger between Sky Television plc & British Satellite Broadcasting, Hammel's introduction was "This is Sky News a part of the British Sky Broadcasting Network"; in 1993 the introduction was "From the Sky satellite network this is Sky News"; and by 1995 "This is Sky News, part of the Sky Television Network" - or just "This is Sky News".

Criticism and perception
Sky News operates under the requirements of United Kingdom broadcasting regulations that require neutrality although there are occasional claims that Sky News may be inherently biased due to the fact that it is a News Corporation company; most of News Corporation's news outlets have an openly conservative or right-wing outlook. Ofcom received complaints regarding the network's lack of neutrality ahead of the 2010 General Election.

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 down market. The most ferocious battle occurred when Mackenzie wanted Sky News to run an interview with Lady Bienvenida Buck. Frykberg refused to air the interview and resigned shortly afterwards - the interview was put on Sky One. MacKenzie announced his resignation in August 1994, but not until Sky News had transmitted live pictures of the freeway chase of OJ Simpson white bronco on 17 June 1994 bringing US helicopter journalism to the UK.

Sky News covered the trial in Boston US trial of Louise Woodward with live coverage. When Sky returned to a regular schedule, viewers demanded the trial coverage. From Woodward's home in Elton, Cheshire Sky broadcast locals reactions, but this brought criticism of maintaining a pro-Louise Woodward stance, as she was found guilty but sentenced to time served.

In November 2005 the then head of BBC News, Peter Horrocks acknowledged that Sky News remained the first choice for "key opinion formers".

Ofcom received 652 complaints regarding the network's neutrality after it hosted the second Leaders' debate in the 2010 General Election.

On Saturday, 8 May 2010, Sky News presenter Kay Burley was heckled by a few protestors during an interview on College Green, one of whom demanded Burley be sacked. The channel cut the interview to go to a commercial break. Ofcom received 832 complaints about the incident.

Ofcom received 696 complaints over Sky News journalist Adam Boulton's conduct during an interview with Alistair Campbell.

Legal cases

 * November 2008, BSkyB paid substantial undisclosed libel damages to Robert Murat in relation to their reporting of the abduction of Madeleine McCann. Sky news had falsely suggested that Murat, who was assisting in the search of McCann, had acted liked child murder Ian Huntley following McCann's disappearance. Sky News also falsely accused Murat of misleading journalists into thinking he was working for the police. An apology was also placed on the Sky News website, the libellous material removed, and Murat's costs were paid.


 * November 2010, the UK attorney general has was given the right to launch contempt of court proceedings against Sky News over the broadcaster's alleged breach of a media injunction. It was relation overed reporting of the story of Paul and Rachel Chandler, the Kent couple who were held captive by Somali pirates for 13 months. The media was blocked from publishing details of the couple's "health and welfare" prior to them being freed on 14 November 2010. Sky claims that it "scrupulously observed the terms of the injunction", but also admitted that it "followed the spirit, if not the letter" of the order. At the time, lawyers representing the Chandlers obtained the court order over fears that their lives could be put in danger by the media reporting their capture. Sky News is alleged to have breached the injunction on the day of their release around from Somalia, leading attorney general Dominic Grieve QC to seek permission at the High Court to bring contempt proceedings.

Awards
From 2000 onwards, Sky News expanded its international coverage, opening bureaux in Africa, Europe, and the far East. It won awards from the Royal Television Society., the latest being 'News Channel of the Year' in 2011.

Sky News has won BAFTA awards for coverage of the 11 September 2001 attacks and the 2003 Soham Murders.

Coverage of the 7 July 2005 London bombings won the 2006 International Emmy Breaking News award commending the "fast and accurate" reporting.

In June 2007 Sky News was named the "Best News Channel" at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards. It beat several other national and international broadcasters including Al Jazeera English and the BBC but failed to beat them every other year.

Bureaux
Sky News bureau locations: some are independent, others are shared with News Corporation networks or other international affiliates.

United Kingdom

 * Birmingham, England
 * Bristol, England
 * Glasgow, Scotland
 * Manchester, England
 * Osterley, London (Headquarters), England
 * 30 St Mary Axe, City of London (Business news), England
 * Westminster, London, England

Worldwide

 * Beijing, People's Republic of China
 * Brussels, Belgium
 * Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 * Dublin, Ireland
 * Jerusalem, Israel
 * Johannesburg, South Africa
 * Moscow, Russia (with NTV Russia)
 * New Delhi, India
 * New York City, US (with Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network)
 * Sydney Australia (with Sky News Australia)
 * Washington, D.C., US (with Fox News Channel)

Additional Live Studios

 * Auckland, New Zealand (with Sky News New Zealand)
 * Brisbane, Australia (with Sky News Australia)
 * Chicago, IL, US (with CBS News)
 * Los Angeles, CA, US (with Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network)
 * Melbourne, Australia (with Nine Network)
 * Milan, Italy (with Italian Sky TG24)
 * Rome, Italy (with Italian Sky TG24)

Online
Skynews.com is the channel's main website. It provides news, sport, weather, showbiz, and business stories with help from other divisions such as Sky Sports.

In 2009 the website underwent a largely cosmetic change to bring it in line with the on-screen look of Sky News TV. The site makes use of flash video encoding to match the visual style of the TV channel with pictures and breaking news. The site underwent a further refresh in 2012, with both the look of the pages and the content management system being updated.

Interactivity: Blogs and Forums
Since 2005, with the relaunch of the TV channel, a greater emphasis has been placed upon interactivity. With a growing selection of news blogs written by staff and guests, Sky News now has a tailored selection targeted towards each demographic of its audience. A recent addition to Sky News Online has been messageboards or forums. The 2012 site revamp removed the blogs in favor of greater emphasis on analysis and comment.

Sky Tyne and Wear
On 15 February 2012, Sky News announced a dedicated website for the Tyne and Wear area covering local news sport and events, the pilot service employs a team of locally based video journalists.

In popular culture

 * Sky News has been featured in many feature films;
 * Behind Enemy Lines*
 * Independence Day*
 * In the Loop
 * Johnny English
 * Mission: Impossible
 * Shaun of the Dead
 * Stealth
 * ''St Trinians
 * ''The Bourne Ultimatum
 * The Day After Tomorrow*
 * The Ghost Writer
 * Volcano*
 * Why We Fight
 * Television Shows
 * Crisis Command
 * Spooks
 * The Thick of It
 * Dead Set
 * The Day Britain Stopped
 * Chris Ryan's Strike Back
 * Hollyoaks

* Film by 20th Century Fox, a News Corporation asset.

Other Websites

 * TV Newsroom
 * SES guide to receiving Astra satellites
 * SES guide to channels broadcasting on Astra satellites