Sky News to take control of Fox Sports News channel

Fox Sports Australia has announced a new deal with Australian News Channel (ANC) today that will see ANC takeover production and editorial control of the Fox Sports News channel.

The move comes after News Corp Australia, owner of Fox Sports, recently took ownership of ANC.

Fox Sports News will join the stable of brands including Sky News Live, Sky News Business, Sky News Weather and Australia’s Public Affairs Channel, A-PAC, which are all produced by ANC.

Production of the Fox Sports News Channel will move from Fox Sports’ Artarmon headquarters to ANC’s Macquarie Park facility which will now be part of a new national video hub that will serve News Corp across multiple platforms.

The process will begin this week with the move expected to be completed within the next three months.

Fox Sports News staff will have the opportunity to move to Australian News Channel to produce Fox Sports News from the new location with a small number of redundancies expected as a result.

At this stage it’s unclear how the changes will affect programming on Fox Sports News. A spokesperson for Fox Sports telling DeciderTV:

“Bill and Boz is continuing and will be produced by ANC along with AFL Tonight and NRL Tonight this season. We are working through the detail of the others.”

Foxtel subscribers will continue to access Fox Sports News on Channel 500 and through Foxtel Play, Fox Sports pubs and clubs and www.foxsports.com.au.

The Fox Sports News brand will be retained and its content will now be broadcast across more channels, including the full suite of Sky News channels and through their arrangement to provide content to the Qantas In-Flight Entertainment service.

The branded sports news content will also extend across the Sky News international service Australia Channel. Fox Sports News will continue to be the main provider for the News Corp mastheads including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and The Courier Mail, www.news.com.au and www.foxsports.com.au.

Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany said: “Fox Sports News is Australia’s only 24/7 sports news channel, powering News Corp’s national websites and the number one online destination news.com.au.

“ANC’s extensive news gathering capabilities and state of the art production facilities will enable it to deliver more up-to-the-minute live breaking news to sports fans than ever before.

“The strengthened Fox Sports News Channel will continue to provide video content for Fox Sports’ website, the Fox Sports App and social channels with both teams working closely together.”

Australian News Channel CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said: “Australian News Channel delivers more news and public affairs programming than 7, 9, 10, ABC and SBS combined. The addition of Fox Sports News to our operations will create a centralised national video hub which will service a range of 24 hour news channels across all platforms.

“Today’s announcement will see a further investment by ANC in live Australian content. We are a business built on quality journalism and we welcome Fox Sports News into the fold.”

Fox Sports Australia and Australian News Channel are 100% owned by News Corp.

News Corp Australia CEO Michael Miller said: “News and sport are the two sides of journalism most Australians care passionately about and today’s announcement brings together the two teams with acknowledged excellence in live and breaking coverage in these core areas.

“This new operation reflects News Corp Australia’s determination to constantly improve the service it provides and excel in an ever more competitive media environment.

“In doing so, it increases the quality and quantity of video available that reaches the greatest number of Australians across our various brands and platforms.”