Sky News | General Discussion

A few years ago Kay was using #SkyPM on Twitter so I didn't know whether this might have been a brand which we might have seen coming for the afternoon slot. I'd have probably preferred something like that over 'The Kay Burley Show', which I'm not sure works for what is more or less a rolling news block with a few extras. 'The xx Show' doesn't seem newsy enough. Even 'Kay Burley Live' or something similar would sit better with me.

I wonder whether we'll see TKBS branding when Kay is off, or whether it will just revert to regular a Sky News slot.

VO: "This is the Kay Burley show with Kay Burley".
Presenter: I'm Tom/Sarah/Gamal/Fred, Kay is on assignment/off/insert reason here.

When does this new schedule start?

24th September

That's a much stronger daytime line-up that has been in the past.

This also means changes at D.C, who will become the senior US Correspondent now Austin has moved back to London?

Not sure if this is more suited to the rota thread but think they've still got plenty of cover in America - Cordelia Lynch, Hannah Thomas Peter and Greg Milam are all over there and you'd presume Amanda Walker will be back at some stage.

In other reporting news (which was mentioned in the press release and may well be on here too but may as well do them all in one post):

-Rowland Manthorpe (Wired) is the New Technology Correspondent
-Kate McCann (Telegraph) joins the politics team.
-Jason Farrell becomes the Home Editor
-Martha Kelner (Guardian) is the new sports correspondent
-Deborah Haynes (The Times) is the new foreign affairs editor
-Nick Martin is moving to a new politics role which covers the impact of politics outside the Westminster bubble.
-Beth Rigby becomes the Deputy Political Editor.

Great news. Would have liked the Live at Five name to come back for obvious reasons but Jeremy has finally been replaced.

I presume the 6pm show will be a half hour programme with Ian King continuing at 6:30pm? It doesn’t make this clear in the press release.

Hopefully we will get to see Mark on location more now as well and take the lead on-location presenter role.

Apart from breakfast time I think Sky have a very formidable schedule now.

I'm so pleased with these changes to the schedule. I think, particularly after BBC News' recent move into branding programmes and appointment-to-view, Sky have rightly decided to jump back on board.

I think it's about time they branded Kay's programme differently - she brings something truly unique to her slot, and love her or loathe her, she's noticed. I don't really like 'The Kay Burley Show' though - feels a bit too light. I'd prefer 'Kay Burley' on its own or 'The Kay Burley Programme' etc.

It's also great that Mark is going back to presenting - the current schedule of Kay in the 3-5 slot has always felt a little strange to me, and I think this new 5pm programme will really put Sky News back on the map for a flagship teatime news bulletin. Like others have said, I wish they'd just brought back the 'Live at 5' name, but these changes to the schedule are really great.

I think someone like Beth Rigby would be better on 'All Out Politics', as Adam is truly a terrible presenter. I also think there's something really lacking on 'Sunrise'. I'm not sure if it's Sarah-Jane having next to zero chemistry with Jonathan, or that awfully bland studio, but it's certainly one of the weaker programmes of the day now.

Sunrise needs a complete revamp, from presenters to the studio. 4 hours of what they have in the moment is beyond dire.

I think the issue is with weekday Sunrise more than weekend Sunrise. Weekend Sunrise I actually find pretty good - it's an informative but still enjoyable look through the headlines and Stephen and Gillian work well (whether together or with other anchors).

Weekday Sunrise for whatever reason feels very sterile and there's no obvious reason to watch the show and it hasn't really carved its the niche in the way that for all its (many) faults GMB has. It's not exactly a 'hard news' alternative to the BBC and ITV shows and the morning paper reviews are impressively inane and extended. It'd be hard to justify why you'd watch it over the other offerings available at that time of day.

I think with Sunrise it might be worth going for a more politics/business focus, making it a more hard news alternative to Breakfast and GMB, who are usually busy interviewing zookeepers or discussing Love Island almost two months after the final.

Maybe ditch the 20 minute paper review and swap it with a Morning Joe-style news discussion, perhaps with Sky correspondents or political analysts. A dedicated business presenter providing bulletins throughout the show also might be an idea.

The studio is also terribly suited to the slot. The cold and clinical feel that the uninspired background gives is just dull more than anything. The show just feels like its broadcasting from a very poor local news studio. I know the studio space isn't huge but as we've seen today with the BBC's Westminster studio, it's more than possible to build a good set in a small studio. One design that comes to mind is NBC's 'Studio N5' in Washington.


Seen in use for Today, the desk is able to be lit in different colours, something similar could really add some colour to Sunrise which is needed at the moment. The wood effect on the desk also adds some character, unlike the clinical grey square we have at the minute. The glass box also features wood effect flooring so it wouldn't be terribly off-brand for Sky.

I've added some other pictures of the NBC set in the spoiler below

Good to see Sky News moving in the right direction and dare I say target a younger audience.

5-10 years ago I said the changes to BBC News and Sky News that have happened would happen, and I wasn't wrong (although some on here said I was).

This is the way news channels need to go unless they want to die like the US rail roads.