BSkyB is to remove its Sky Sports News channel from Freeview later this year in a bid to boost the service it offers pay-TV subscribers.
Sky Sports News, which launched in 1998 and moved onto Freeview eight years ago, will be replaced by Sky3+1, a time-shifted version of the existing Freeview channel, Sky3.
The move will coincide with the introduction of Sky Sports News HD, making it the fifth HD channel in the Sky Sports stable.
From that point, Sky Sports News will only be available to Sky, Virgin Media and Talk Talk TV customers, as well as online and on mobile.
The move of the channel into its pay-TV offering will see significant editorial investment, Sky said today, which will allow it to benefit from continued growth in subscription revenues.
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky Sports News has been a great success over the last 12 years and we have big ambitions to make it even better.
“As part of a subscription service, customers can look forward to expanded coverage and the launch of Europe’s first HD sports news service.”
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