Broadcast news splinters and paywalls in last ditch bid to save “high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources”
For most broadcasters, TV news is a loss-leading operation. But in today’s climate liberal news channels are suffering more than their right-leaning rivals. Sweeping changes are afoot in the broadcast journalism landscape on both sides of the pond, although this is hardly headline news.
Cost-cutting combined with transition to streaming and attempts to diversify business models are part of an ongoing response by news organizations, traditional print and TV, to irreversible shifts in the way audiences everywhere consume news.
The objective is a simple one: to shift the gravity of traditional TV news distribution towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, attempt to secure the future not just of any particular organization, but--as certain news brands would have it--to save the future of sane political judgement.
That’s the background to a number of incremental and sweeping changes reshaping broadcast news. Among them is the pending shake-up at European broadcaster Sky News which includes plans to create a paid model for some content and services.
Sky News 2030
The "Sky News 2030" strategy will have a digital focus over the next five years to attract new audiences willing to pay for news, reported the Financial Times. Sky News executive chair David Rhodes told staff this week that news revenues were “largely stagnant” given a reliance on advertising and sponsorship.
The new model seems centered on subject hubs that will offer paid products from podcasts to events and live shows. This is expected to include some subscription-based services where premium content is held back for paying customers. While its traditional 24-hour linear TV channel will continue, Rhodes said priorities and resources would be shifted to these premium content tiers.
Rhodes warned that this would mean spending less time and fewer resources on making “breaking and live” TV news in a reorganisation of the newsroom, and cuts to duplicative processes by using AI. Rumours about the future of Sky News have been circling. “With viewership dwindling and financial woes mounting, the channel slashed its freelance budget [in August 2024],” observed media commentator Guido Fawkes last fall.
Figures from UK regulator Ofcom last September revealed what Fawkes called “a troubling trend”: the percentage of people who say they watch Sky News dropped from 21% in 2023 to just 19% in 2024. Fawkes claimed Sky News’ annual budget exceeds £100 million ($120m) but “racks up losses in the tens of millions” concluding that Sky News “is far from a money maker” despite making 1,000 staff redundant last year.
One reason the plans are being kicked into gear now is because Comcast’s funding commitments to Sky News--made as part of its $39bn takeover of Sky in 2018--end in 2028. At the time Comcast said it would safeguard the editorial independence of Sky News for the ten-year period.
Felicity Hurley, writing at The Financial Analyst, said the plan represents “a bold gamble that could reshape the UK media landscape”. Her reasoning was that investors would appreciate the potential for stable revenue streams and brand loyalty, but the risks associated with consumer acceptance – particularly older demos not used to paying for news - and market volatility cannot be overlooked.
Lean times for linear TV news
She also suggested the outcomes of this strategic overhaul will be closely watched, not just for Sky News, but for the broader implications on the UK media economy. Nearly all major news networks in Europe and North America are dealing with drops in viewership and revenue as they face increasing headwinds from an audience moving to other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.
Talking to the Financial Times, Rhodes said, “Linear TV audiences and linear monetization are in a structural decline. We are not the first to recognise that premium experiences, where engaged audiences are willing to pay, are where we need to be,” he said. “Premium is about things that people will pay for. It’s about putting engagement over reach.”
Comcast’s divesture of its cable networks into a division called SpinCo permanently divorces news channels CNBC and MSNBC from NBC News which stays within Comcast alongside Peacock. NBC News itself is shedding around 50 jobs while CNN is slashing around 200 or 6% of its workforce as parent Warner Bros. Discovery readies a new news streaming service (alongside CNN Max), a redesigned digital footprint and new subscriber services for CNN as well as a new show line up. WBD is investing $70 million into CNN’s digital plans, CNN chief Mark Thompson said.
Last summer, CNN cut 100 people, about 3% of its workforce, as it reorganized its newsgathering operation. CNN since launched a paid subscription service at $3.99 per month, for which readers are asked to pay after they consume a certain number of free articles, and select stories are placed behind a paywall. Thompson announced there will be further subscriber products, including CNN’s first lifestyle-oriented digital product.
The BBC’s international news service BBC World Service has also announced around 130 job losses to cut costs. Changes include reshaping some World Service Language teams to enhance the focus on digital output. That followed 155 front line job cuts at BBC News last year as part of £24m cost saving, at the same time as BBC director general Tim Davie warned the UK is struggling to counter a rise in “pure propaganda” from countries like Russia and China because of cuts to the service.
As former BBC Director General now CNN CEO Mark Thompson put it when prefacing a digital future based on fewer journalists last week, “America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever. This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”
New look Sky NOW
In related news Sky’s streaming platform NOW has begun to migrate on to NBCU’s Global Streaming Platform technology platform. The phased update will begin in the UK next month then rollout to Sky NOW subscribers in Italy and Sky WOW members in Germany. NBCU’s Streaming Platform powers Peacock and already supports SkyShowtime the European JV between Comcast and Paramount Global covering markets where Sky does not operate satellite and cable services.
The principal change is to the UI, explained Carli Kerr, Managing Director of NOW & Sky Content, “Migrating to NBCU Global Streaming Platform means NOW members will benefit from the ongoing delivery of customer features that enhance the viewing experience and leverage the latest technologies and innovations across the platform.” Arriving with the new look will be new rails, including top 10s and “smoother search options." Sports streams will be refined, with Sky Sports+ programming to be available in curated collections.
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