Sky has announced plans to develop its successful Sky Sports News channel through increased editorial investment and the launch of Europe’s first high definition sports news service.
The increase in investment will build on the existing success of Sky Sports News, which pioneered the concept of a dedicated sports news channel in the UK and is watched in millions of homes every week. The changes are designed to bring customers even richer and broader coverage of sports news, as well as faster reaction to breaking stories wherever they happen. The editorial enhancements will bring benefits for viewers of the existing standard definition channel as well as Sky Sports News HD, which will become the fifth HD channel in the Sky Sports stable when it goes live later this year. Further details about the HD channel and other enhancements will be announced in the weeks ahead.
The investment plans will be supported by a move later this year for Sky Sports News to become exclusively a pay-TV channel, allowing it to benefit from continued growth in subscription revenues. From that point, Sky Sports News will be available to Sky, Virgin Media and Talk Talk TV customers, as well as online and on mobile. Sky Sports News will be replaced on Freeview by Sky3+1, a time-shifted version of the existing Freeview channel, Sky3.
Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky Sports News has been a great success over the last 12 years and we have big ambitions to make it even better. As part of a subscription service, customers can look forward to expanded coverage and the launch of Europe’s first HD sports news service.”
