After its funding guarantee ends less than four years from now, Sky News is looking at new subscription options.
- Content could be reserved for paying users.
- Less resource for live and breaking news content.
David Rhodes, Executive chair at Sky News, revealed to staff this week a new strategy for the news broadcaster.
It plans to reshape its online services in the next five years to attract new audiences willing to pay for news.
The proposals are understood to include new “subject hubs” that offer paywalled services from podcasts and newsletters to events and live shows. Some Sky News content would be held back for subscribers.
The annoucement comes less than four years before guaranteed funding for Sky News ends.
As part of the deal to buy Sky in 2018, Comcast promised to protect the editorial independence of Sky News and to continue funding it for a decade after acquiring the UK-based satellite broadcaster. Beyond this point, Comcast is no longer required to cover the cost of the loss-making business.
Despite the potential new subscription services, at the present time there’s no indication that the main Sky News channel will be subject to a subscription.
However, Sky is expected to reduce resources from making “live and breaking news” in favour of more durable premium reporting and analysis.
The funding dilemma
News channels are typically loss-making businesses. Their running costs are typically covered by larger broadcasters who offset news losses with profits elsewhere in the business. A number of international news channels receive funding from their respective Governments. BBC News, both home and abroad, is funded by the licence fee. Adverts on international broadcasts and online services offset some of the burden on the licence fee payer.
In recent years, wealthy businessmen have supported a growing number of rightwing news channels and online news platforms. Those services are more likely to be offered free to end users to boost reach.
How did we get here?
Younger viewers are less likely to flock to a linear news channel. They get their news from streaming platforms, including podcasts.
Sky News has actively widened the reach of its linear channel online, with a live stream on YouTube. It can be streamed on Samsung Galaxy smartphones through the TV Plus app.
But audiences are still not necessarily wanting to just watch rolling news. Sky thinks it can develop other ways of storytelling on digital media platforms. Importantly, content that has a longer shelf life than a live breaking news broadcast and one that offers insight that people might want to pay for.
However, competition in the news sector is fierce. Other news providers are also eyeing up ways to encourage more users to pay for content.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Sky