Sky News: Presentation Discussion

As someone once said not all change is for the better. Sky News' old logo worked well and looked good. This one looks ridiculous, appalling and quite frankly like a 'The Gallery' style Sky News logo update. Just because Sky News is better off than it's BBC Equivalent doesn't mean that they have to do a Graphics relaunch every month. I don't usually watch Sky News but every time I've turned it on recently something has been different and this current set of relaunches has been making things worse to say the least. Particularly the new Sports Graphics which are far too distracting - The Side Bar is unnecessary and does it need a massive wipe effect every time it rotates. Also the Sports Presenter Name Tag looks poorly aligned when it's on it's own.

IMO Sky News is a perfect example of what 'The Day Today' was trying to say and is a perfect example of not learning from that. (I.e. Over-exaggerated Title Sequence, Over the top Graphics which fill the screen, Unnecessary Wipes/Stings, Set which is large and most of it is unused, Loud overly dramatic orchestral music) Other Broadcasters are also guilty of a few points but none as much as Sky News, in fact The Day Today would probably be vexed by the over use of Wipes and Whooses.

Over-exaggerated title sequence? Loud dramatic orchestra music? Over the top graphics? Did I miss something?

Have you seen The Day Today?

No.

Trouble is nowadays, it looks tame compared to what is real nowadays, especially on channels such as Sky News, CNN and Fox News.

Back in 1994, it was so far over the top it was unbelieveable. The impact it had back then has been has been diluted by the passage of time and the reality of news broadcasting today.

I disagree.

That is hideous. The transparency effect on the Sky part looks ridiculous, and the NEWS part is way bigger than the rest and it just looks un-neat and not as professional. The logo has also grown in size and way too much in your face, I really really don't like it.

The old logo oozed class and professionalism and had a serious look to it, this logo doesn't do that. It look even worse in the SD version than the HD version. The colour of the SKY part of the logo clashes with the background blue, it's just too similar and makes the whole thing look totally washed out.

Please bring back the white, or make the white part far less transparent, it just looks crazy now, and nowhere near as professional as the old one. The red is awful too, the much more serious red they used before was much better, it's a news channel, not a photoshop contest.

This is a graphics change for graphics change sake, I hope that the people who on here were moaning about them being the same for too long are happy now, because for me, this is exactly the kind of thing I didn't want a change to happen for. Sky News logo is now a little tacky.

It seems the problem is that after the (pretty much) disastrous 2005 re-launch, Nick Pollard was replaced by John Ryley who was clearly brought in to steady the ship and bring the channel back to basics with a focus on journalism.

That has happened, and it was needed as that focus on journalism was lost - people want news at the end of the day, not Kay Burley walking down some stairs asking people to get in touch with their views every 10 mins. The issue is that Sky News has never really innovated since - at least not in the way we were used to a decade ago. So we're now stuck with a stagnant channel which - journalism aside - is looking tired and dull, especially when you compare it to BBC News.

The Beeb have shown that you don't need to be wandering around with whizzy graphics to have engaging content. Sky seems to have largely forgotten this.

I'm hoping that in the long run up to the 2015 election, we'll see them pull something out of the bag. I'm not holding my breath though.

Apologies for the double post, but have a look at this:

AJ, your comment about Kay Burley asking every 10 minutes for viewers to get in touch, reminds me of this promo currently airing on Dave.


I think you've summed it up really well. As much as I and many anoraks thought the 2005 relaunch was visually cutting edge - I totally get why the viewers would switch over (perhaps it was 10 years too early?). Having said that, I didn't understand the point of Sky News Today with 3 presenters, especially when we're subjected to single headed presentation for most of the day now (bar Bolton & Co and Sunrise).

I think the BBC News channel has come on leaps and bounds since NBH - and they prove you can have a news channel which boasts great journalism and make good use of the set, a variety of stood and sat down presentation and utilising graphics as they should be used, to paint pictures and inform. As much as I'd get shot down for saying that stood Top of the hours should be brought back on the news channel, in fact stood up presentation in any capacity - it's helped bring back a variety of light and shade which news channels, in this day and age need.

Kay Burley wandering around the set for the hell of it... No. Kay Burley at the news wall explaining a story and using graphics to convey what's being said... Yes. Sky News need to find a balance or middle ground - not lurch one way and have presenters prancing round the studio and then 2 years along the line, lurch the other and desk-bound them. Find the correct balance - and for lord sake stick with it.

10 years ago, anyone saying that BBC News' style would ever be more dynamic and varied than Sky News would have been laughed at.

Regarding the new logo, it would be good if they used the Sky News Arabia-style logos as they're more on brand with the main Sky channels. That new DOG is hideous and the logo on the titles is not distinctive enough.

It didn't work out for them but Sky News had the almost perfect revamp in 2005 and every change since has been a change for the worse, probably with the exception of the changed layout for HD. The strongest show in the schedule is the one that is probably the least changes since 2005 - Sunrise.

Nice TOTH camera pan then
http://i42.tinypic.com/ng39sz.jpg