Sky News (2016-Feb 2025)

And when it comes to major events like elections, etc, people turn to the ABC

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There was a post about this on reddit. I said the same thing on there and they explained that the really high numbers mainly come from the Sky news Aus YT channel. But tbh I would say alot of it is also made up of just people casually browsing Sky news articles. The Sky news viewsers via Foxtel would be alot lower then this if they didn’t be creative in exaggerating the numbers, lol,

I think the key part of the statement that’s being responded to is that it’s allegedly ā€œthe most watched where the household has bothā€
Every household theoretically has the ABC, a large chunk wouldn’t have Sky, so it’s a very specifically slanted position to say where both households have both, as that way it can deliberately ignore the majority of Australia.

That’s the basis of the whole conversation if you bothered to read any of it.

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The name change is a certainty. And while there are some who suggest the new name has baggage, that won’t bother conservatives in the slightest.

https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/2024/07/22/sky-fox-news

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The sports channels collectively as a group get more viewers than Sky - yes. But as a single channel no single channel out rates Sky. In a nation of 27 million - it’s the most watched pay channel.

Linear channel ratings are measured by the standard 6pm-midnight.

That’s the universal measurement. Prime time as that’s when viewership peaks.

In homes with access to both Sky and ABC - Sky is the dominant network. In December it was a 4.7% share to ABC’s 2% share.

Well, when given a choice of both networks - sky is bar far the dominant choice. In households with no access to Sky, yes - people choose ABC News

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The idea of measuring only by a linear news channel is dated.

CNN lags as a linear channel yet their digital presence is dominant

I wouldn’t be surprised if more people accessed ABC News via digital outlets (online, social, YouTube) than linear too.

Sky is no different.

Think that’s very unlikely - Comcast are selling MSNBC (as well as their other cable networks apart from, I believe, Bravo). I actually think a merger with CNN is a possibility down the line, as WBD is supposedly looking at selling off their own cable channels.

If Comcast are indeed looking at making more of Sky News globally (it already broadcasts worldwide and has done for decades) then I don’t think they would want to be associated with Sky Australia, so the latter would have to rebrand. I reckon would be smart to tie it in with The Australian newspaper as @TVHead suggested upthread. Don’t think they’d go with Fox for multiple reasons, one being that I think News Corp like having a separate brand for Australia.

It’s well known Sky’s YouTube audience is entirely American. Stop with your bonkers fan fic from the other side of the world.

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Exactly it’s well known. No need to point it out.

But domestically when the two brands are on equal footing, people choose Sky - well at least on linear that is

Website I would
Imagine ABC dominates Sky,

The problem - as pointed out multiple times - is that neither service is easily comparible.

Sky is an opinion channel that runs news bulletins during the day. The bulk of its news is still shared from Nine’s resources, with limited (albeit some) created in-house. Its news website is mainly video content - hardly a destination for the online news crowd.

The best time to compare the two channels is either during a major rolling news event, or a domestic election. In both cases, the ABC wins out - even in markets where Sky is also available free-to-air.

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That’s all really point points

I’ve actually never seen Sky’s linear ratings in the FTA markets where they air and ABCs linear ratings on an election night to know this - have you?

You could well be right and that would be a strong argument. I’d love to see that data

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Well they got this right, so…

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the point i’m marking is that Brands don’t just come out of nowhere. they need to be cultivated to grow and get brand awareness. If Sky news gets renamed it needs to be a carefully managed process and dione right it can bring the brand awareness it needs.

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Which is why I think if Sky News is rebranded, it’ll be to something aligning with an already existing brand, like The Australian. Maybe Fox Australia but I think that’s much less likely.

I know. I’ve worked in tv branding for 2 decades :sweat_smile:

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I think it should be Sky or Fox.
Not a new brand from scratch.

Branding it ā€œthe Australianā€ would not work for the huge YouTube audience

Nor do I think it’s wise to brand a primarily video news service with the brand of an old school newspaper masthead brand,

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