BBC News and BBC World to merge

[valley]

I'm not surprised to see the BBC making this decision based on the funding situation they are currently in. It certainly sounds like there will eventually be a significant reduction in staff which will be sad for many, and I hope that they get suitable alternate employment without delay.

One advantage of SkyNews and GBN (yup, I can't believe I'm praising them) is you do not need to be in the UK to watch them.  So if you need UK-focused stories whilst outside, they are available with the full lineup and you do not have to jump hoops to access.  And they're free (no need to feel guilty about licence fee payments for these).  

Then again I question how does Sky and GBN make money by making its news channel FTA (probably covered in the relevant threads).

Sky News makes money through selling advertisements in the UK and Ireland, and through element sponsorship - currently weather by Qatar Airways, sport by Vitality and stocks by Interactive Investor - there are also occasional international ads too for multinational companies like DHL. International broadcasters also pay Sky to carry the channel on their own network - hence why the YouTube live stream is blocked in some regions.