Sky News Australia will launch its new channel on August 1 into regional Australia
Regional TV viewers are about to see a significant shake-up to their news and current affairs offerings which will deliver them extra content.
Regional television viewers are about to see significant changes to their programming, including a new 24/7 news channel.
The new Sky News Regional channel – on channel 53 or 56 depending on the location – will be available to free-to-air viewers across regional markets from August 1 and be accessible through parts of NSW, Victoria, Queensland and SA.
The regional Sky News channel includes deals struck between Sky and Southern Cross Austereo and Sky and the WIN Network, and will have a new three-hour live weekday breakfast program, Sky News Breakfast, led by co-hosts Jaynie Seal and Samantha Chiari from 6am.
Andrew Bolt’s Bolt Report will return live at 7pm Monday to Thursday and both hours of Paul Murray will air Monday to Thursday from 9pm – previously regional viewers could only see the first hour of his program.
Sky News Australia chief executive officer Paul Whittaker said Australians’ appetite for breaking news, information and analysis had continued to flourish particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Australians’ demand for credible, live and accurate information has never been greater and I am pleased we can continue to provide regional viewers with access to our quality news, weather, sport and analysis from Australia’s best commentators on our new channel, Sky News Regional,” he said.
The new channel will be available across 17 of SCA’s regional markets including the Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Cairns, southern NSW and Canberra, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Ballarat and Bendigo.
Additionally it will be available on the WIN Network in northern NSW, Griffith and parts of regional SA.
Many regional locations have already seen an overhaul to their news services this month – WIN axed most of their local news bulletins at the beginning of July and instead now provides statewide news bulletins – this is part of the reignited partnership between WIN and Nine Entertainment.
Nine also finished producing statewide news bulletins in Victoria, Queensland and southern NSW in June.
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