The Sky News Thread

Completely agree; Millbank is the best looking studio out of the 3 (although, I'm not so sure about the yellow backdrop on Kay's show). Of course, the design doesn't fit in with Sky's new look, so a face-lift was inevitable, but I do hope they don't ruin it completely.

In my head, I can only imagine them doing something slightly akin to the early-mid noughties set, pre-Sky News Centre.
Turning the back wall of the newsroom into a video wall, allowing for plenty of variation between the three daily shows that come from Millbank.

And then perhaps for the set itself, they could almost reconstruct the old Ian King Live studio from the News Building, which must be in storage somewhere? Perhaps flip it, so a bank of screens is on the right, where the single monitor with the KB@B logo on it sits currently, and then a monitor kept to the left where it sits for All Out Politics? That would allow for the window into the gallery to be maintained.
To be honest, I can't really imagine them doing anything drastically different from that?

The back wall of screens is something CNN have carried over to their new New York studios.

I wonder if they'll keep the gallery at Millbank? I know they'll be the argument that its good to retain as a back-up but it never appears to be used these days aside from 1 crew member who looks to be controlling cameras - Sky News Raw showed how Millbank programme producers / editors output from the Osterley galleries.

Plus, am I the only one whose always found the gallery backdrop highly distracting since there is so little depth between it and the guests?

If it was removed, it could hopefully provide more studio space to create a new set that felt less like a cramped shoebox.

I suspect they will keep the gallery for disaster recovery reasons, so Millbank can work on a standalone basis if Osterley is unavailable for any reason, but retain the ability to also be operated remotely.

Am I right that the light boxes in the corridor outside the glass box cannot change color by themselves and someone has to change the cover of them for the Sarah Jane Mee show when they glow blue instead of the usual red?

Watching NBA on Sky Sports, and the KB@B promo is airing at pretty much every ad break. It seems like quite a big push. Has anyone else noticed whether it's getting a rather intense showing anywhere else?

They just showed the promo during the Press Preview (not in the ad break).

Cameras are done from Osterley, unless there’s a prerecord to be done. There’s a technical supervisor (lighting and racking cameras) in Millbank, and a sound supervisor too (you don’t see the SCR in the back of shot, just the main gallery).

Fairly sure the gallery won’t be going anywhere - it’s a standby gallery - and is also used for prerecords for Sky News Tonight amongst other things.

Just listened to Kay on Radio 4's The Media Show. She says the breakfast slot viewing figures have "increased dramatically" since the move to Westminster. (Not that she would ever admit if they went down or stayed level)

I think ratings always come up right at the start of a new programme as people are curious about how it'll differ from what went before. If they're still significantly higher this time next year, then it's worth noting.

I have faith with KB@B because it's an alternative to the other two morning shows. I know that most days I struggle to watch GMB for obvious reasons, and every time BBC Breakfast cuts to Carol Kirkwood speaking to a zookeeper in Doncaster I have to turn over.

Sky are providing a proper alternative to the other two, which is something you couldn't *really* say about Sunrise in it's final incarnation, as it was all just a bit meh.

I just hope they don't ruin Millbank and design it like the hideously dull new 'Ian King Live' set. The bland grey is an immediate turn off. The best they can do is actually make Studio 6 and the Glass Box more like the current Millbank set. I know it is the old style but it is still far superior imo.

Could it be that the powers that be realise this anyway and that is why they now have more of the output including the flagship breakfast show coming from there??