David Rhodes, executive chairman of Sky News, is pursuing a strategy focused on subscriptions and a new defence news application as the channel aims to strengthen its commercial position amid intensified competition. Rhodes, who joined Sky five years ago and assumed his current role three years back, is guiding the broadcaster through a challenging media landscape marked by shifting viewer habits and rivals like GB News.

Since Comcast’s acquisition of Sky in 2018, the corporation committed to maintaining Sky News’s budget, reportedly around £100 million annually, for a decade despite ongoing financial losses. While industry speculation suggests Sky News may need to prioritize profitability once this period ends, Rhodes indicated that no specific profit targets or deadlines have been imposed. “Does Sky News, on a standalone basis, make a profit for our parent company? No,” he acknowledged. He emphasized his focus on long-term editorial and commercial resilience rather than immediate financial returns.

As part of the “Sky News 2030” initiative, Rhodes plans to diversify revenue through digital offerings, beginning with ad-free subscription podcasts such as Trump 100 and Electoral Dysfunction, which will include bonus content, newsletters, and priority access to live shows. Additionally, a new defence-focused app is slated for launch this summer, providing subscribers with exclusive video, expert analysis, and opportunities for direct interaction with specialists including defence correspondent Deborah Haynes.

These moves come amidst discussions of a potential acquisition by Sky of ITV’s television and streaming segments, a development that has raised questions about the future of both Sky News and ITV News staff. Rhodes declined to comment on these talks.

In the UK’s traditional linear television market, Sky News faces growing competition from channels like GB News, which has recently reported higher average viewer numbers. For March, GB News drew an average audience of 94,780 compared with Sky News’s 92,357. Rhodes acknowledged these figures but placed them in context, noting that such ratings reflect a narrow measurement focused solely on linear TV viewing, which he described as “just not the world we’re living in today.” He reaffirmed Sky News’s commitment to impartial journalism and counterposed its approach to opinion-driven competitors, stating, “If you want to sit in an echo chamber, that’s not who we are. If you want to understand what’s really going on, that’s where our people come in.”

Rhodes’s approach highlights a strategic pivot melding traditional broadcast values with innovative digital revenue streams, aiming to sustain Sky News’s relevance and financial viability into the next decade.