Sky News sets up new digs in a ‘photo-free zone’

2 hours ago 3

Opinion

November 21, 2025 — 6.00am

New digs

There’s a disruptive force rumbling toward Surry Hills as Sky News’ upstart crew prepare to start broadcasting from their plush new studios at News Corp HQ on Holt Street at the start of December.

There was a grand opening this week, with several flavours of cupcakes to celebrate. Sadly, those cupcakes had the News Corp logo on them, probably because Sky is waiting until the new year to let staff in on its new name, with a looming forced rebrand.

Everything seems to be under lock and key, with a strict rule banning any pictures of the new digs being taken thanks to a North Korea-style directive sent out to staff this week informing them the Sky News Australia tenancy within the News Corp Australia premises is “a photo-free zone”.

“Employees should not photograph or record any content of our Sky News spaces (the newsroom, sets, studios, control rooms and technical spaces, green room, hair, make-up and wardrobe) for external distribution, as has always been our policy across all our studios and newsrooms nationwide” the note to staff said.

Always our policy? If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem to have been enforced very well. Does this mean no more nightly selfies behind the desk before that evening’s programming for the socials?

The rule certainly didn’t apply to one particular bacon-laden guest in September!

But the move, far from their studios at Macquarie Park, marks a new era for Sky. It’s a return to the centre of the News Corp universe for Sky’s “Supreme Leader” Paul Whittaker and his troop of young digital producers and After Dark stars.

Paul Whittaker and his Sky troops are moving house.

It will certainly be a culture shock, but Sky is taking several steps to ensure the network doesn’t become just another cog in the machine.

The Sky zone at Holt St is protected by an internal security system, meaning Whittaker and his foot soldiers are gated off from the rest of the plebs across the five floors of the building. They even have their own Sky security passes to get into the building instead of regular News Corp ones.

Sky’s fit-out is across two levels. With eight studios in total, most are on the ground floor alongside control rooms, while they have also taken over the first level for its editing suites, newsroom and other corporate functions.

Sky is one floor beneath Whittaker’s old crew at The Australian, with The Daily Telegraph and news.com.au on three, the sales teams on four and the high paid executives of mahogany row on five (also gated off).

The new studios have been brought to life by Jago Design, the company behind the ABC’s new fit-out in Parramatta, as well as the BBC’s mega-national news studio in London. Finally, something in common with those pesky publicly funded broadcasters!

With well-known, lofty ambitions, News Corp folk are wondering whether the move back to HQ will help facilitate Whittaker’s long-awaited rise or hinder it. For now, Michael Miller is protected by three floors of concrete and the support of the all-important proprietor, Lachlan Murdoch.

Michael Miller at the Melbourne Press Club last month.

While the rest of the commercial television networks continue to ail financially, with Nine and Seven making cuts and more on the way at Ten, the only insight there has been publicly into Sky’s finances is the $27 million in revenue it reported in the final three months of 2024.

And with parking spots in shorter supply than invites to Lachlan’s Christmas do, On Background hears there has been plenty of argy-bargy over who from the incoming crew gets one.

Ex-tennis star’s big payday

In the unlikely event a cartoonish detective armed with a magnifying glass was reading Tuesday’s print edition of The Herald Sun, they may have missed the page two apology to Victorian Liberal MP and former tennis star Sam Groth and wife, Brittany, part of a settlement agreement.

The Herald Sun’s page two apology to Victorian Liberal MP and former tennis star Sam Groth and wife, Brittany, as part of a settlement agreement.

The apology ran on Tuesday, apparently because it’s the lowest day of print circulation of the week.

Though the Groths were unperturbed, On Background hears the apology was paired with a payout running into the several hundreds of thousands after the News Corp paper splashed its front page with an exclusive in July (and subsequent articles) suggesting Brittany had been underage when the pair first met and became a couple. The stories were removed.

Safe as houses

Speaking of tennis, the Australian Open has secured a new deal, adding News Corp’s property portal realestate.com.au (REA) as a new sponsor ahead of the event in January, On Background can reveal.

The value of the deal is unknown at this stage, though the Open has ramped up its sponsorship game in the past few years, counting more than 50 brands for the 2025 tournament.

ASX-listed REA’s headquarters in Richmond are a stone’s throw away from Melbourne Park, but the real intrigue is the timing, with the tournament’s broadcast partner, Nine, having sold competitor Domain Group to US firm CoStar in August, who are known for their marketing prowess. No more playing favourites.

REA Group confirmed the deal, saying it is proud to partner with the Open.

PVL’s shopping list

Peter V’Landys is a man on a mission to grow the game of rugby league. He’s been on a cross-continental scouting mission this year as he ramps up the NRL’s broadcast rights bidding process, which feels like it’s been weeks away for years.

But the one meeting he can’t land, it seems, is that with local reps for the global streamers, as he tries to flog a documentary on the NRL to the likes of Netflix’s new creative head Amanda Duthie after they turned their nose up at the broadcast rights.

With Drive to Survive helping turn Formula 1 sport into a global juggernaut, and with PVL’s lofty ambitions, he told On Background it would be negligent of all sports not to consider a similar concept.

Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

Top spinner returns to the gallery

Anthony Albanese’s former spinner is returning to the press gallery.

No, we’re not talking about Katharine Murphy… Capital Brief has hired Matthew Franklin as its chief political correspondent based in Canberra to replace its foundational federal reporter Anthony Galloway, who recently joined The Australian as Victorian state editor.

It’s part of an endless shuffling of the decks in Parliament House following the election, and while he has been out of journalism for a dozen years, Franklin is a well-known entity in Canberra. He spent three decades at News Corp, including as chief political correspondent at The Australian, followed by a brief period working behind the counter at the Hog’s Breath Cafe, before stints as a media spinner for both Kevin Rudd and Albanese (while in opposition).

“We’re delighted to be bringing someone with Matthew’s experience, skill set and news-breaking ability back to journalism,” editor-in-chief John McDuling told On Background, confirming the appointment.

Benne-long time

Spotted: Disgraced former shock jock Alan Jones was back dining in one of his favourite haunts, the Sydney Opera Houses’ Bennelong this week, hours after he was papped returning from a cheesecake party with socialite Ann Peacock and Sky News talking head Peta Credlin in Melbourne.

His dinner guest on Tuesday at the Opera House, one of the locations of which he is accused of committing a sexual offence, was Annette Alison, another blast from the past, known as a popular TV personality in the 1980s and a mid-ranking socialite, now a public affairs manager for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.