Sky News head of newsgathering Jonathan Levy has been promoted to managing director and executive editor of Sky News UK.
Former Fox News vice president David Rhodes meanwhile has been hired as executive chairman of Sky News Group, having served since July 2021 as Sky’s group director for international business development.
The appointments come after the news in December that head of Sky News John Ryley was departing the broadcaster in the spring after 17 years at the helm.
Sky News said in a statement the new leadership structure was “approved by the Sky News editorial board and both Rhodes and Levy will be responsible for Sky News’ integrity and editorial independence”.
Levy’s new dual role gives him “primary responsibility for the journalism on all UK platforms including digital, TV and audio”, according to the company, which said he will lead more than 500 journalists globally.
Rhodes will have “overall responsibility for Sky’s news services across EMEA” and “the development of a long-term commercial strategy for both Sky News UK and TG24 in Italy”.
As well as his time at Fox, Rhodes spent eight years as president of CBS News and for over a year led News UK’s efforts to crack video. Levy has served as director of newsgathering and operations at Sky News since 2011, and was previously head of politics.
Sky group chief executive Dana Strong said of the pair: “David has a wealth of commercial experience, strategic insight and digital acumen and Jonathan is a highly experienced news executive with first class judgement and a successful track record of editorial delivery at Sky. Together they will ensure that innovation and dynamism is coupled with rock solid journalism.”
Rhodes said: “It is a great honour to be appointed to lead the Sky News Group. Throughout my career I’ve admired Sky’s commitment to accurate, impartial, high-quality journalism. Together we will bring this important news coverage to audiences around the UK, Europe, and the wider world.”
And Levy said: “It’s the greatest privilege to lead Sky News’ journalism when there’s such an urgent need for impartial and independent reporting and analysis. There is an exceptional team of journalists here with a burning passion for hard-hitting visual storytelling. With investment in our journalism and audiences growing on all our platforms there’s never been a better time for news at Sky.”
Levy recently told Press Gazette Sky News had not experienced news avoidance among consumers in 2022, as stories including the invasion of Ukraine and the death of the Queen bolstered audience sizes. The broadcaster claimed to reach 100 million people globally every month.
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