The Newsroom

Eamonn Holmes to leave Sky News

(September 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
RO
rob Founding member
Just confirmed via his Facebook page...

Quote:
Anchoring my own breakfast show for 11 years has been for me the stuff of boyhood dreams. It was the job I hoped to do as a young Belfast lad - and because of Sky News I got there!
Forty five years plus on I have other dreams, and to achieve them I realise that unfortunately I need to step away from the daily studio commitment for a while. There is an addiction to a live breaking news studio environment. However, after more than 3,000 hours of programming it is a habit I have to suppress. Increasingly in life I have found myself in the fortunate position of having so much to do but little time to do it. This seems an opportune moment to change that. Going forward, I will now produce and present a number of documentary projects which I have been stalling for some time, as well as continuing my work with ITV and Channel 5. There is so much going on and I realised it was now or never...

Sky's Head of News, John Ryley, has been very understanding and sympathetic of my decision. I would like to publicly thank him and the wider Sky family for all their support throughout my time at Osterley. John’s counsel and guidance in helping me to reach this decision has been invaluable.

Finally, I cannot stress how hard it is saying goodbye to such a programme and the friends and colleagues who I have met over the years because of it - but nothing stays the same - nor should it. New studios mean a wonderful chance for new ideas and a new approach with new presenters. I hope they enjoy and respect the privilege of hosting Sunrise and waking up Britain and the world as much as I have. To those who have worked or woken up with me on Sky News over the years - thank you. I hope you appreciated that I tried to do it differently.
LJ
Live at five with Jeremy
Another huge loss for Sky News. I can only imagine how low morale is there at the moment with the loss of another iconic presenter for Sky News.
:-(
A former member
Let the speculation on his replacement begin!

I would guess they'll get the chequebook out and look elsewhere - other than Dermot Murnaghan or Kay Burley, I don't really think they've got anyone big enough take it on.
NG
noggin Founding member
A former member posted:
Let the speculation on his replacement begin!

I would guess they'll get the chequebook out and look elsewhere - other than Dermot Murnaghan or Kay Burley, I don't really think they've got anyone big enough take it on.


Given the cost cutting at Sky News at the moment - I wonder if that is as likely as it once was... Sure they may well recruit from outside Sky - but whether it will be a 'star signing' in the same way - I'm not so sure.
HO
House
Who did they use to cover his period of leave earlier this year - wasn't Sarah Jane Mee one of them? Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Sky opted for someone with a lower profile who's familiar to Sky News audiences (like Mee, or Stephen Dixon). Isabel Webster would be another obvious possibility.

I'm not doubting Eammon's skill or reputation, but considering his likely large salary how many viewers did he likely add to the programme/channel? If Sky News is in cost-cutting mode, it wouldn't surprise me if they'd calculate his cost as outweighing the value he brought to the channel?
GI
gillw72
I'm glad he's going to be honest. Never really saw him as a credible journalist, he's a TV presenter so didn't really fit for me. Hope they give the job to Stephen Dixon.
BA
bazinga
Another blow for SKY, imo.
Quite a few high profile presenters have left the channel in a matter of months. Shame for ITV though, as I'm sure a year or two they'd have jumped at the chance to sign Eamonn for GMB.
JR
JRY
Eamonn talks about new studios being a good time to move on - so can we assume he's leaving at he end of this month?

I'm quite surprised by this, given just two years ago there was much speculation about him moving to ITV's new breakfast programme and he completely shunned that by releasing a press release/message on Twitter and Facebook. However, its 2016 now.

In terms of Sky News Sunrise going forward, I'm not quite sure which way they'll go. With all the cost cutting, it would be odd if they suddenly poached a big anchor who would obviously cost more. You've also got to remember that Sky currently have a good pool of presenters who could fit very well into the breakfast schedule - Stephen Dixon has a good rapor with the weekend viewers, however he also has a really good partnership with Gillian Joseph, so to disrupt that could be detrimental to the weekend Sunrise. Dermot Murnaghan also has a good chance, given his many years on Breakfast, but would they want to disrupt their Sunday programme? Very interesting times ahead...
II
IrelandIsle
When there was talk of Sky News being an independent spun off channel as part of the takeover by News Corp, I ithought that it could be really bad news for the channel because it being spun off and not being allowed to be part of the overall group like it is now would be the death of the channel.

It looks like Sky News is going to be a far more basic channel going ahead and honestly the constant cutbacks, departures and cost savings are going further and further to the point of where it's going to be a shadow of it's former self so not surprised some people are leaving, morale must be at an all time low and I find I watch less and less of it recently, I don't think the BBC is any great shakes or got much better, it's just Sky News is now a shadow of it's former self and appears run to a price.

Gary Honeyford, Political News Editor is also taking retirement I heard today. Would be surprised if he is the only one.

Quote:
John’s counsel and guidance in helping me to reach this decision


Quite a strange comment?
DE
derek500
Thursday, October 13 is Eamonn's last day, according to the Guardian.

New studios from Monday, October 17?
CA
Cando
IsleOfIreland posted:


Quote:
John’s counsel and guidance in helping me to reach this decision


Quite a strange comment?


According to the Guardian, his contract wasn't up until 2018 and both parties have "amicably" agreed to end it early..... with all the cost cutting I suspect a pay cut was put on the table.
SK
Skygeek
derek500 posted:
Thursday, October 13 is Eamonn's last day, according to the Guardian.

New studios from Monday, October 17?

Not even close on that second point, I'm afraid.


I'm happy for Eamonn that - for once in his life - he won't have to endure super-early starts every day.

Though it was only for a year, having worked with and learnt from one of the masters of the craft of live current affairs broadcasting will remain a true career privilege.

I'm minded to share one particular anecdote about our time together. I was about six weeks into my job at Sky and Eamonn was trying to squeeze the recording of some promos into an ad break for me.

He did two takes and turned to me, saying: "I thought that was a bit crap. Do you want me to do that again?"

I felt his delivery had been perfectly fine, but here was the doyen of breakfast TV asking a relative newbie if he could do his job better to give said newbie a better product.

I muttered something about him being the best judge of that, but he insisted that as the producer, it was my call. For the record, I didn't ask him to do it again, but that tiny incident was emblematic of Eamonn's devotion to doing right by Sunrise and its team. I know they'll miss him, and so will I.
Last edited by Skygeek on 1 September 2016 1:53pm

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