sky news australia Live

sky news australia Live is an Australian conservative news channel owned by Australian News Channel Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.

Originally launched on 19 February 1996 as Australia's first domestic news channel, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs featuring conservative commentators.

sky news australia is distributed on pay television in Australia and New Zealand, while a free-to-air version of the service, Sky News Regional (which features programming from sky news australia and Fox Sports News) is distributed on digital terrestrial television by Southern Cross Austereo and selected WIN Television stations. The channel also operates two spin-off services, Sky News Weather Channel, and public affairs service Sky News Extra (formerly A-PAC).

The channel was originally a joint venture between British broadcaster Sky (thus making it a spin-off of the British Sky News channel), Seven Media Group, and Nine Entertainment Co.

It was acquired by News Corp Australia in 2016;[5] with the subsequent sale of Murdoch's remaining shares in Sky UK to Comcast,[6] sky news australia has no relation to the British Sky News.

Especially since the acquisition of the channel by News Corp Australia, sky news australia has faced scrutiny from the press over its increased focus on opinion programming, with comparisons drawn to Rupert Murdoch's American news channel Fox News (which carries a similar format), and accusations that the channel's opinion programming has promoted right-wing misinformation and conspiracy theories,[7][8] and provided a platform for far-right figures.

History

Sky News Channel's parent company, Australian News Channel (ANC), was owned equally by British Sky Broadcasting (now Sky Limited; which is now a division of Comcast), Seven Media Group and Nine Entertainment Co, each with a 33% stake in the company from its founding until December 2016, when it was acquired by News Corp Australia.

In 2004, Sky News began broadcasting Sky News Active, its on-demand interactive TV news service.[1] In 2008, Sky News launched the Sky News Business Channel, and on 20 January 2009, Sky News launched Australian Public Affairs Channel (A-PAC).

It began widescreen broadcasting on 17 May 2009.

sky news australia began broadcasting in high definition on 1 December 2015.

A fourth spin-off channel, Sky News Election Channel, was launched on 1 May 2016.

In 2013, sky news australia was granted A$20 million in funding from its parent company to be used over three years.

In mid-2019, the channel began expanding its digital operations.

This included a content partnership with YouTube, Microsoft News, Facebook and Taboola.

That led to new, opinion-focused videos being uploaded more frequently and across News Corp platforms, after having previously not uploaded any videos from February 2017 to April 2019.

In February 2018, sky news australia launched a digital-first brand and content platform called 2600.

The online political newsletter is sent out daily with breaking news from Canberra.

Programming

Sky News programming consists of a mix of live news bulletins, live broadcasts from events (such as Parliament Question Time and selected press conferences), original commentary panel programs and simulcasts of international sister station Sky News UK.

Sky News has broadcast every sitting of Question time from the House of Representatives since its launch in 1996.

sky news australia increased its primetime programming offerings, particularly its political-themed shows, significantly in 2013, when it made more obvious its right-leaning ideology, ahead of the 2013 federal election, cancelling almost entirely the slot's rolling news block News Night.

It would then regain most of its runtime in 2014.

sky news australia rebranded on 19 January 2015 as "Sky News Live", dropping the "Sky News National" branding.

On weekdays, throughout most of the day, rolling news coverage is presented from one of sky news australia's studios.

From 5 pm (AEST/AEDT), commentary programs begin, and continue through primetime until 11 pm AEST/AEDT.

Most of these programs are presented by conservative commentators discussing the news of the day, often with a panel of other commentators, and feature a news update at the beginning of the program (and sometimes further updates during the program).

Rolling news continues from 11 pm AEST/AEDT before coverage switches to an overnight simulcast of Sky News UK at 1 am AEST/AEDT.

In 2007, Sky News aired local breakaway programming for New Zealand viewers in primetime, filmed at Prime NZ's Auckland studios.

One of these programs, Prime News – First at 5:30, was also simulcast to Australian viewers.

The debut of Sky News NZ Evening News was watched by just 1,500 viewers and panned by critics.

As of 2015, no local New Zealand programs are produced or broadcast following the loss of a production contract with Prime NZ.

See sky news australia