Sky News and IRN sign broad distribution deal to continue to provide news content to millions across the UK

Sky News has agreed a new multi-year deal with IRN (Independent Radio News) to continue distributing news, business, sports and entertainment audio content to commercial radio stations across the UK, reaching over 24 million listeners*.

The renewal means IRN subscribers including Heart, Magic, talkSPORT, LBC, and Radio Clyde, will continue to have access to Sky News’ award-winning non-stop 24-hour news reporting, as well as unrivalled sports coverage. This new deal builds on the long-standing relationship between Sky and IRN, which started in 2009.

John Ryley, Head of Sky News, said: “We’re delighted to renew our distribution agreement with IRN to continue to provide millions of radio listeners across the UK with trusted, impartial news. In these uncertain times, it’s imperative that we offer audiences clarity with fact led, eyewitness reporting and expert analysis.”

Tim Molloy, Managing Director of IRN, said: “We are very happy to have renewed our long-standing deal with Sky News particularly at this unpredictable and volatile time. Our subscribers value the high-quality content Sky News provides as it gives peace of mind to commercial radio news editors that the big stories at home and abroad will always be there in the IRN feed when they need it, ensuring their listeners always receive the highest standards of news coverage.”

Through the distribution deal, Sky News will provide live and pre-recorded news bulletins, scripts, audio and video clips, digital content, including entertainment, political, business and sports coverage to IRN’s clients, who are then able to use the content to build bulletins to suit their audiences.

With more than 500 journalists covering the regions of the UK and around the world, Sky News offers local knowledge and eyewitness reporting on global stories. Its specialist teams in UK politics, international news, business and economics, science and technology, climate and data and forensics bring audiences a comprehensive range of stories told with expert analysis, getting listeners and viewers to the heart of the story.

IRN clients also gain access to unrivalled sports news, including expansive coverage of the English Premier League and Scottish Premiership, as well as non-stop updates and exclusive news and interviews from Sky Sports News.

A dedicated team of radio journalists based at Sky HQ in London write, report, produce and read the news and sport 24-hours a day. The copy and audio are sent directly to radio newsrooms, and stations can choose to opt into the hourly bulletin.

The radio team, who regularly report on location covering major events such as Royal Weddings and elections, also has a high-spec studio facility at Sky News' Millbank operation in Westminster for producing live and recorded interviews, bulletins and reports.

Sky News invests continuously in its newsgathering and audio offering, with a dedicated podcast team, greater on-demand content and smart speaker accessibility.

Its flagship podcast, Sky News Daily, offers listeners in-depth context and analysis of the big stories at home and abroad. StoryCast is the multi-award-winning long-form storytelling podcast that has included The Hunt for the Brink’s-Mat Gold, What Happened to Annie, Polonium and the Piano Player, and StoryCast ‘21.

Highlighting Sky News’ commitment to report on climate change, the weekly ClimateCast examines the issues and solutions to this global crisis. Backstage goes behind the scenes to offer listeners showbiz interviews, TV recommendations and the latest movie reviews and Divided States offers expert perspectives from the US. Shows including Sophy Ridge on Sunday, The Ian King Business Podcast and Beth Rigby Interviews... are also available to listen to as part of Sky News’ audio offering.

Listen to and follow Sky News podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and on the Sky News App and website. And ask your smart speaker for ‘Sky News’ to hear the latest news bulletin and audio clips from the top stories of the day.

*Figures based on impacts at IRN’s Newslink spot times

For further information, please contact:
Sian Parry, Head of PR, Sky News
sian.parry@sky.uk

About IRN

IRN provides news services to commercial radio in the UK and English speaking stations globally. In addition to a ready to air hourly bulletin 24/7 the service also includes regular audio and scripts on entertainment news, finance, technology and sport, including match reporting rights on the Premier League. Whatever a station’s format the IRN service enables local radio journalists to create a bulletin that suits their audience and gives them peace of mind that if a major story breaks they can, if they choose, rely on the IRN bulletin to be there every hour.

About Sky News

Sky News is a world-class news service, with a spirit of innovation that keeps it ahead of its rivals and a spirit of independence that allows it to challenge the status quo. It is one of the most trusted places for news, made by people who dare to challenge and made for people who want clarity in an uncertain world. It has earned a reputation for being first with breaking news.

Sky News topped Ofcom’s 2021 News Consumption Survey for being high quality, accurate and having a depth of analysis and content not available elsewhere.

The channel has won six Baftas and more than 40 Royal Television Society Awards for its journalism. Last year, Sky News won the 2021 BAFTA for Best News Coverage and a 2021 International Emmy for News. Sky News was the winner of the 2022 Royal Television Award for News Channel of the Year – a record 16th win in the category, fifth in successive years.

Sky News is available to all free of charge via Sky TV channel 501, Freeview 132, and the live international streaming service on Sky News mobile and website as well as 24-hour breaking news coverage and analysis across our social channels. 

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. Across six countries, Sky connects 23 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content. 

Following the launch of Sky Glass, we now offer customers our strongest ever line-up of products and services. As well as the new streaming TV with Sky inside and everything integrated, customers can enjoy the award-winning Sky Q with all your favourite channels and apps in one place, and with Sky Go you can now access an even better experience on your devices. Sky TV has new channels, new shows and new deals with Peacock, Paramount+ and more. Sky Mobile was voted Best Pay Monthly and Best Value Pay Monthly network by Uswitch, and with Sky Broadband we’re offering our fastest speeds yet.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Sky Cinema is the home of Sky Original films with brand new films launching every month alongside an unrivalled range of the latest cinema releases and on demand library.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity, and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation.  We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over the next three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.