Sky Ups Investment in Original Content Creation

LONDON: British satellite platform Sky says it is more than doubling its budget to develop news and entertainment content for its portfolio of channels.

The existing seven-figure budget will increase by around 160 percent, for immediate investment in the British indie production sector. In addition to financing entertainment, comedy, drama and factual content, the budget will also go towards expanding Sky’s commission team, which works across Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Movies, Sky News, Sky 3D and Sky Atlantic.

This increased commitment signals our belief in the opportunity to grow our business through the creative talents of British program-makers," said Sophie Turner Laing, Sky’s managing director of entertainment, news and broadcast operations. "It comes at an exciting time for Sky as we continue to put entertainment at the heart of what we do. At Sky, it’s in our DNA to be ambitious and take risks and we look forward to developing programming that reaches and surpasses the high benchmark we’ve set ourselves. Today’s commitment cements Sky’s aim to deliver the best, more original and innovative U.K. shows to our customers.”