Sky News

Tessa was with Granada News as a newsreader/reporter for a good while.

From what I hear there will be no HD launch on March 22nd or Budget day.

Confirmation here that Dermot will once again present the Budget coverage,

http://data.skyprogrammeinformation.co.uk/wtv.php?week=342&chan=NEWB#

He called our PM a one-eyed Scottish idiot on a news broadcast. That's not acceptable at all, and yes of course Chris was right to pull him up on it.

If Chris has an issue with Kelvin it is probably because he spouts utter nonsense half the time and oversteps the mark frequently.

He didn't!!

Kelvin called Brown 'a one eyed Scot'. Chris then made reference to Jeremy Clarkson (who had called Brown 'a one eyed Scottish idiot') and Kelvin replied "I didn't call him an idiot,". He then pointed out that Brown is Scottish and has one eye.

do you think this rules out any further schedule changes when HD launches?

http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/SkyNews/Resources/showarticle.asp?id=2939

I don't think it does personally, delighted for Lukwesa though. A smart move by Sky to target the Middle Eastern audience which could offer lucrative advertising revenue in the long run, but at this stage a 3 hour world news certainly is quite a commitment.

I think maybe if there are schedule changes they may not take effect until after the general election.

Thanks for that.

Sky certainly continue to be very vague about it, today confirming the launch of 3 new HD channels all with specific launch dates but only saying of Sky News HD;

Bit late but as promised:
Sky News International Women's Day Openings
Jeff Randall Live with Dharshini David

Afternoon Live used the standard opening shot, as did Sky News at Ten.

I think its fair to say a launch slightly before or during the election campaign is a certainty but as I said apparently the Budget (March 24th) will come too early. They don't want to announce a date and then have to go back on it, launching SNHD is much more complex than launching Sky Sports HD4 or Hallmark Channel HD.

Good to see Anna Jones presenting Afternoon Live.

This extended World News programme was first announced over a year ago alongside the announcement of the Dubai bureau
http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/SkyNews/Resources/showarticle.asp?id=2655&year=2009

Wonder what took them so long to get it ready for the schedule?

Overall I guess it's attempt to get Middle Eastern (and African) advertising revenue - Middle Eastern businesses, often state owned ones seem quite prepared to advertise on news channels, CNNI being a prime example

Not playing for me?

I've often wondered why Sky News doesn't pursue the Continental European market more aggressively. Yes, big countries such as France, Italy, Germany, and Spain have their own 24-hour news channels in their own language, but smaller countries either have none at all or some bare-bones service with limited resources.

And while most large countries tend to resist the notion of English as the continent's lingua franca , educated residents of smaller countries, from Sweden to Slovenia, tend to be very comfortable with English. They represent a perfect market for a pan-European news channel covering news from around an increasingly connected and integrated Europe -- with more flair than EuroNews, which tends to be dull, dull, dull.

I don't understand why Sky News doesn't go after this market in its own backyard.