Darroch: ‘Sky News no longer vital’

Jeremy Darroch, CEO of Sky, has cast further doubt on the future of Sky News, saying the service is no longer vital to the platform.

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) earlier this week provisionally ruled against the Fox takeover of Sky on the grounds of (news) media plurality.

Darroch told analysts on a results call that the loss-making Sky News was not as important as it was when the company launched in the 1990s and was no longer a “critical” part of the pay-TV broadcaster’s business.

“Sky News is a great service. It’s very highly valued. It was more important in the overall mix of the company when we were launching, in the early days. It had a lot of brand presence. It was an area we could build in. I wouldn’t describe Sky News as critical to the business today. Indeed, I wouldn’t really pick any part of our business as critical,” he said.