Sporting News (Sky Sports News)

Member Name: Trish70

Product:	Sky Sports News
Date:	13/01/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 24 Sporting News

Disadvantages: Occasionally news stories are repeated

Sky Sports

Fourteen years ago, I moved in with my then boyfriend (now husband) and within 6 months, we got all Sky. Not only did we get the entertainment package but movies, documentary and sports channels. It was only when Sky Sports News was launched on 1 October 1998 (his birthday) and I realized then how addicted to sports the other half is and how my life will never be the same again.

So a bit of background about Sky Sports News

Initially named the Sports Channel within the British Satellite Broadcasting service, a merger with Sky Television in the later end of 1990 saw the re-branding of the Sports Channel to Sky Sports.

This encrypted channel requires a subscription, through Sky.com (see below) initially provided minimal sports' events such as good old ruggers and golf.

With the growth in viewers (and subscription costs) it was not long before Sky Sports not only picked up other sporting events e.g. FA Premier League - now the Premiership -, boxing, cricket, golf, fencing, NFL, ahh so many sports events to name!

Realizing the changing customer demands and customer wants for upto date sports information Sky Sports News was launched on 1 October 1998.

Programming style

The smartly dressed presenters have a relaxed style of presenting the sporting news whilst demonstrating their sense of humour; they are willing to have a laugh at themselves when they make a mistake. This makes for a friendly presentation and lacks the stuffy and rigid presentations sometimes given by other channels.

The actual news programmes tend to focus around Football... (ok for the hubby) during the football season lacks the same details in other sports news such as rugby (go Bath!), various motor racing, horse racing to name a few events.

Although this can be frustrating for the non-football fan viewer the other five sports channels, Sky Sports 1 - 3 and Sky Sports Extra, provide a varied showing of premiership, league, foreign, international and classic football matches, national and international rugby, cricket and motorsports.

Viewing Sky Sports News initially can be a bit of a shock to the eyes, due to the amount of information shown at once. The screen is separated into four sections.

Section one Main screen - this is where you see the presenters
Section two Right side - provides date and time also providing written information providing information on team league positions and team news. This information changes regularly to reflect a variety of sports

Section three bottom level 1 - ticker tape one updating again depending on the sport, shown in tabbed formation the information again provided team news, player updates/injuries

Section four bottom level 2, red ticker tape with white type - providing information on sporting events and what sports channel they can be seen this ticker tape also provides latest sports information and how to contact sky sports news with your comments.

An example of the programming shown for a Wednesday on Sky Sports News is.....

0630 Good Morning Sports Fans - news, reviews and previews in the sports world
1000 The Morning Report - Analytical discussions of major sporting current events
1200 Football Today - News, reviews of the football world other sporting events
1500 Afternoon Report - Update on breaking news and analytical discussions of sporting stories
1700 Evening Update - Comprehensive update on football headlines and other sporting news
1900 Football Tonight - Update on sporting news with live analytical discussion and interviews
2200 Sky Sports News at Ten - Update on sporting news with analytical discussion and interviews
2300 - 0600 - Through the night - comprehensive review of the football news and other sporting events.

Just from the programming example above we can see the regular programming is very football focused..... maybe the channel should be renamed Sky Football News and have a secondary news station for other sports?

This sporting news channel does provide regular live updates during sporting events when teams score goals and interviews held with sporting personalities are comprehensive carried out in an informal nature. The informal questioning technique the interviewers obtain good information from the interviewee.

With the hubby assuming is usual position of stretched out on the sofa in the evenings and weekends I have become accustomed to having Sky Sports News on and have found this type of presenting and the use of two presenters helps prevent the viewer from becoming bored with listening to one voice!

However, I must admit I do prefer Saturdays when hubby puts sky sports 1 Soccer Saturday Jeff Stelling, he is witty, has a wonderful rapport with the other presenters, thinks nothing of showing his enthusiasm for the game and again some of the outtakes they show at the end of the football season are hysterical. Oh dear I have gone off track a bit here.

Just like any other news channel Sky Sports News is dependant on the changing nature of the sporting business. This can lead to sporting news being repeated several times over the hour. One way that this can be improved is having sport shorts, which provide and investigative reviews on a particular story e.g. conspiracy theories on what happened to the racehorse Shergar, or perhaps possible impact of changing political/economic trends on sporting events..... Remember if you see this on TV it was my idea!


Sports Experts

Sky has gained the expertise and knowledge of variety of sporting stars in the presentation of their programmes, some of the experts that can be found on Sky Sports are:

Football
Andy Gray, of Wolves, Aston Villa,
Chris Kamara (of Kamara Cam fame) who played for Leeds, Stoke, Bradford
Phil Thompson, aka Pinocchio.. The best ever team... Liverpool, England

Cricket
Sir Ian Botham, Somerset, England
David Gower, Lecistershire, England
Nasser Hussain, Essex, England
Mike Atherton, Lancaster, England
David Lloyd, aka bumble.......need I say any more

Darts
Sid Waddell - the master of one liners

Rugby League
Phil Carke

There are many many more sporting personalities who give their expertise on their chosen field and if you wish to see a list of the experts it can be found at skysports.com

Skysports.com

Linking in with Sky Sports News, skysport.com also provides news information about the sporting world. Presented in a similar format to the TV channel the website is presented in a tabbed format which makes the selection of the appropriate sport easy to do. Ticker tape information of the latest sporting headlines is provides the reader with immediate information, and the option for sky subscribers to watch programmes on line as well. The website provides more varied information than the television channel and is definitely worth browsing however; given the comprehensive information, it is worth making sure you have plenty of time!


Where to find it?

Sky Channel 405

Prices

Prices for Sky vary depending on the package so it is best to either call or check out their website at http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/skyproducts/ skytv/pricesandpackages to find the best package for you.

And finally...

Overall sky sports news presents comprehensive sporting news, and I have found myself watching it when hubby is not home to check on the latest cricket or rugby news. Although, we have discussed cutting back on our sky channels due to the credit crunch this is one channel we will keep.

This review can be seen on both Dooyoo at dooyoo .co.uk and Ciao at ciao.co.uk

Summary: Comprehensive sporting news coverage