Identity crisis for Sky News Australia

In this edition of On Background, an identity crisis looms for Sky News Australia, humans win out at ARN, and back to Beijing for Aunty.

Sky’s the limit, just not the name

There’s a wind of change coming towards News Corp’s favourite child, with Sky News Australia set to be stripped of its name next year.

The long-feared day has finally come, with Comcast-owned Sky News deciding next year will be the last it can trade under its name, when its current 10-year licensing deal expires in December 2026, multiple sources tell On Background.

The threat of a name change has been dreaded for both Sky and News Corp, but the approaching deadline should nudge the conservative broadcaster’s chief executive, Paul Whittaker, and his leadership team to spring into action and prepare for life with new branding.

An identity crisis isn’t something most media companies have to contend with. Usually when it happens, it’s by choice, and usually, people don’t like it. Think Twitter and X.

It appears Sky hasn’t yet filed an application to copyright a new name, but word is they may have already settled on one, and Whittaker plans to inform the troops in the coming months. One thing appears sure, it won’t be Fox News Australia, with News Corp figures flagging concerns over how the polarising American brand would fly Down Under.

It’s the most significant development for Sky since it was bought by News Corp in 2016, and for Whittaker, who was installed as CEO two years later after building up trust with the Murdochs over several decades in the publishing business.

And while Sky’s art department works hard to develop an edgy new logo, the network’s move from Foxtel HQ in Sydney’s North Ryde to the News Corp coalface in Surry Hills continues at a snail’s pace.

News Corp had ownership right to the Sky News name when it purchased the UK Sky business and then expanded the Australian arm. But since 2018, when News Corp sold BSKyB to American owned-Comcast, the relationship with UK Sky News has soured. The politically straight-shooting British staff becoming increasingly chagrined by segments like Lefties Losing It, which have proven so successful for its Australian sibling.

Comcast makes it clear online it doesn’t own Sky News Australia, or have any involvement in its editorial or commercial management.

Losing the Sky News Australia brand would be a big deal. The Aussie network touts a healthy YouTube presence, so having to start all over again would sting. But then again, YouTube views have fallen by 30 per cent since the halcyon days of the US election in late last year.

Earlier this year, we also got a sneak peek at the revenue of Sky News, the most secretive part of the entire News Corp business, which totalled around $27 million for the December quarter.

Greener pastures

More moves in the Canberra press gallery; this time the ABC’s former defence correspondent Andrew Greene, who is joining The West Australian as national political editor following his resignation from the national broadcaster on Monday.

Greene had a somewhat tortured exit from Aunty, after taking leave while the network investigated whether he had breached any rules after allegedly taking an undisclosed trip on a defence junket to Germany.

He will also serve as the political editor at The Nightly – a digital newspaper launched by Seven West Media in late 2023. Greene, who had a background in commercial radio and TV before joining ABC News, was seated at the Seven West Media table at Canberra’s Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night.

Human after all

When Substack account The Carpet revealed that ARN’s youth radio network CADA had a show fronted by an AI host, Thy, who didn’t exist, some in the industry wondered whether it was connected to the 240 redundancies the company has made over the past year.

While we don’t quite buy into that theory, several months on, it appears the experiment won’t continue, with ARN chief Ciaran Davis “absolutely” a believer in shows being hosted by real people.

“That human connection, I don’t believe AI will be able to replace it because as human beings, we all crave connection with fellow human beings.”

Until we don’t, I suppose.

Back in Beijing

The ABC is returning to China, appointing Middle East correspondent Allyson Horn to a new post in Beijing after a five-year absence in the country.

In 2020, the ABC’s Bill Birtles and several other reporters were advised by DFAT to flee the country after journalist Cheng Lei was detained by the Chinese government, leaving the broadcaster without a correspondent in China for the first time since 1973.

Aunty says Horn will begin reporting in “coming weeks”.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.