Sky News Radio has become the UK's second-largest radio news provider, after signing contracts with Chrysalis Radio and The Wireless Group and increasing its supply to 30 radio stations. The deal sees the extension of the bespoke news contract for TWG's TalkSport for a further two years, plus a new agreement to supply the company's other 14 radio stations it acquired two years ago. Sky will also supply news bulletins to the Chrysalis network of Heart FM and Galaxy FM stations. The deal marks the ascendance of Sky News Radio as a credible alternative network supplier as it undermines the dominance of ITN's Independent Radio News. Sky News Radio editor Andy Ivy said he was "thrilled" that the broadcaster can now offer that alternative. Sky's new success as a radio supplier comes one week after the Channel 3 consortium, of which it was part, lost out to incumbent ITN in the bid to provide television news to ITV. Both Chrysalis Radio and TWG insisted that ongoing relationships with IRN as the primary news source would continue unchanged, despite the Sky agreement.
"Sky was taken on as an additional resource for journalists and is funded through a barter scheme," a Chrysalis spokesman said.
A spokesman for TWG said the company had renewed its IRN contract on August 1.
"The difference is they can now avail themselves of some of the services with Sky," he said. "Sky is the primary supplier to TalkSport."
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