Sky News rebrands as News24
Sky News Australia has announced that it will become News24 later this year after losing the rights to its current name.
The News Corp platform has been forced to rebrand as it loses the rights to the name Sky News in December when a 10-year deal with UK Sky News expires. The company had been waiting for regulatory approval after requesting trademarks on six different brand names.
On Friday, the day after the station’s 30th anniversary of operations, the rebrand was revealed in a statement from its chief executive, Paul Whittaker. Whittaker said:
Forged from decades of journalistic excellence, News24 is not simply a new name — it is a statement of intent for the future of trusted, fearless storytelling. …
By adopting the “News” script, News24 creates a visible connection to a century of journalistic excellence established by Sir Keith and Rupert Murdoch … While our name is changing, our brand of news isn’t.
Whittaker said the network had also unveiled its new “state-of-the-art” broadcast headquarters at News Corp Australia’s Sydney HQ, at a launch attended by Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns.
The broadcaster would later this year launch a “refreshed” on-air look and a new website and app, titled News24.com.au, Whittaker said.
Whittaker’s statement did not mention that ABC News, the public broadcaster’s 24-hour channel and Sky’s main competitor, was launched as News 24. He also did not address the more esoteric online outlet 24 News Australia, which a few months ago began covering Australian news in Malayalam, the language spoken in the south Indian state Kerala.
Sky was careful to prevent the rebrand from leaking, as you can read here:
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What we learned, Friday 20 February
Thanks for staying with our live coverage of today’s breaking news. We’ll wrap the blog there. Have a good weekend. Here were the day’s top stories:
Barnaby Joyce said he was not aware that the Australian federal police had “received reports of a crime” relating to Pauline Hanson’s comments about Muslims.
Sky News Australia announced it would rebrand as News24.
The former republican movement head, Craig Foster, said the former prince Andrew’s arrest should “spark a national conversation” about the monarchy.
Angus Taylor said he did not agree with Pauline Hanson’s remarks about Muslims this week. He also said Australia needed to “get that net zero ideology out of our system”.
Fast food company Guzman y Gomez has halved in value in the last year, with shares falling further today.
Police said “hope is fading” in their search for Chris Baghsarian but they “won’t give up trying to find him alive”.
Four people have been charged after the former NRL star Matt Utai was shot outside his Sydney home.
New South Wales will introduce a minimum age to ride an ebike.
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