Sky to cut 1,000 jobs as TV viewers ditch satellite dishes

Sky UK boss Stephen van Rooyen has announced his departure after two decades in the business. Photo: Matt Crossick/PA

This is the latest news The media sector will see a round of job cuts as companies respond to both the recent economic downturn and long-term structural changes.

Channel 4 this week confirmed plans to cut its workforce by 18%, or 240 positions, as it grapples with a slump in advertising and a shift to streaming. The plan represents the deepest cuts in its history.

Meanwhile, mobile giant Vodafone is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide and BT will cut 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. BT said around a fifth of these cuts would be in artificial intelligence, although most were due to reduced demand for engineers as the rollout of full-fiber broadband was completed.

The cuts at Sky came a week after that. The group has announced the departure of UK chief executive Steven van Rooyen after nearly two decades in the business.

Mr van Rooyen, who oversaw Sky's expansion into new areas such as mobile and broadband, recently struck a deal to the largest ever package of broadcast rights in the Premier League.

Sky, which was bought by US media giant Comcast in 2018 for $39bn (£30.7bn), has tried to position itself as an aggregator that brings together various streaming services such as Netflix and Disney on one platform.

The company has also increased investment in original programming following the success of TV shows such as Chernobyl.

Sky In the past A huge new film and television studio opened in Elstree in Hertfordshire. The company is still hiring for the site and plans to create 2,000 new jobs in the first three years.