No sooner had Rupert Murdoch rambled on about charging for all online content does Sky start streaming its news channel for free 24 hours a day / 7 days a week on its website.
There is no log in and no need to have a Sky account, with just one click and anyone in the UK/Republic of Ireland can watch Sky News live from the websites home page. The player also offers a wider choice of clips and previous shows if you’re not interested in the live stream.
The site claims 8.5m unique, monthly visitors as well as millions of travelers at British railway stations which run the stream on billboards and half a million iPhone users who have downloaded the Sky News application.
Murdoch told a conference in New York he ultimately expects readers to consume more news on mobile phones and other portable devices, such as Amazon’s Kindle, than on the printed page. “These are very complex times, and news is more valuable to people than it has ever been,” he said. As a consequence, a charge for accessing the News Corp owned Wall Street Journal via Blackberries and iPhones will soon be implemented.
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