MSNBC and Sky News Ink Multi-Year Deal to Bring Award-Winning International Coverage to U.S. Viewers

MSNBC, one of the nation’s most influential news organizations, has signed a multi-year deal with Sky News, one of the world’s leading international newsgathering operations, to bring its renowned global reporting to MSNBC’s U.S. audiences, beginning Oct. 1. 

The new distribution deal will bring Sky News’ best-in-class international reporting and extensive roster of renowned journalists to the MSNBC community across all of its platforms, bolstering the network’s growing newsroom. As MSNBC begins to separate from NBC’s news operations, it continues to build a new, modern, and independent news operation under VERSANT, a leading soon-to-be publicly traded media company, in preparation for the planned spin-off of VERSANT from Comcast Corporation.

With 11 international bureaus, including Beijing, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, and Moscow, and a world-renowned team of more than 500 journalists, Sky News delivers clarity and depth on the biggest global stories. Through the partnership, MSNBC will be able to draw on Sky News’ deep bench of experts and correspondents to deliver trusted, independent coverage of international breaking news as it unfolds.

“In this moment of consequential and historic news events happening around the world that are rapidly reshaping our collective future, we are honored to bring Sky News’ premium, on-the-ground reporting and roster of top journalists to the MSNBC community,” said MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler. “This partnership marks a new chapter for us at MSNBC and emphasizes a key element of the network’s new brand promise as MS NOW, My Source for News, Opinion, and the World, bringing global reporting to our audiences.”     

“Sky News journalists across the globe deliver award-winning journalism every day. This partnership with VERSANT will put that eyewitness reporting in front of even greater audiences in the U.S. and around the world. We’re delighted to get to work with their creative and entrepreneurial team.” said Sky News Group Executive Chairman David Rhodes.

MSNBC is a premier destination for breaking news and best-in-class opinion journalism, reaching diverse audiences across cable, online, social, and audio. It is the #2 cable news network on all of television, averaging 1.2 million primetime viewers year to date, and is an essential part of millions of Americans’ daily lives. The news brand commands one of the most engaged audiences across all of television, with the average viewer watching for more than eight hours each week. The network has seen rapid and continued success on TikTok and YouTube, with more than 6.2 billion combined views so far this year, topping nearly every major news organization.

The deal aligns with Sky News 2030, a five-year transformation project that will reshape the newsroom to broaden out from its TV channel to a premium, video-first operation built for digital platforms. This includes shifting beyond an ad-sponsored business model, embracing multiple revenue streams, including pay, partnerships, and premium content distribution deals such as this one with MSNBC.

MSNBC has tapped veteran journalist Ian Sherwood to serve as the network’s Director of International Newsgathering. Most recently, Sherwood spent ten years in leadership roles with NBC News international newsgathering and reporting teams, including as Executive Editor of the Richard Engel Unit. A veteran of BBC News and Sky News, Sherwood’s work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, Edward R. Murrow Awards, National Headliner Awards, New York Press Club Awards, and more. Sherwood will work closely with Sky’s existing Head of International News, Tim Singleton, and with the VERSANT news standards team.

Sherwood joins MSNBC’s growing roster of Pulitzer, Emmy, Murrow, and Peabody award-winning journalists who have joined the network in recent months as it establishes an independent newsroom after nearly three decades tied to NBC News. New journalists to the organization include The Washington Post’s Carol Leoning, Catherine Rampell and Jackie Alemany, Politico’s Eugene Daniels, NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff, Vaughn Hillyard, Brandy Zadrozny, and Antonia Hylton, ABC News’ Erielle Reshef, Bloomberg’s Akayla Gardner, and many more. The network has also announced a series of highly regarded executive appointments to prepare MSNBC for the future, including key hires to lead its Washington Bureau and launch a direct-to-consumer vertical.

About Sky

Sky connects and entertains millions of people across Europe. At the heart of everything we do, is a belief that people deserve better. For decades, we’ve shaken up every category we entered to give people what they love, to make life a little easier and to provide great value. That’s how we bring millions of customers the joy of a better experience in TV, broadband and mobile. 

In TV, we offer the best sports coverage, unmissable TV and the smartest ways to stream and aggregate the TV you love. In broadband, we power homes and businesses, with a fast, reliable connection. In mobile, we bring people closer, with plans at unbeatable value. And now, you can even keep your home connected and protected, through our smart insurance. We design our products to fit seamlessly into your life, with service whenever and however you need it. 

That’s how we do better for customers. And we believe in better for society too. We power the cultural economy in the UK and beyond, making award-winning news, original sport, and entertainment. We contribute billions to UK GDP, creating and sustaining thousands of jobs and sharing both our journalism and our coverage of the arts, free of charge. We are cutting emissions and making recyclable, energy-efficient products, and we give back, through free internet access and digital skills for under-served communities and young people. 

Sky is owned by Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company.