Hearst Networks UK Strengthens Partnership With Sky

Hearst Networks UK has further strengthened its partnership with Sky with a long-term, comprehensive extension of its distribution agreement for the UK and Ireland.

Hearst Networks UK's portfolio of factual entertainment channels, including Sky HISTORY®, Sky HISTORY2, Crime+Investigation®, and BLAZE®, will continue to be showcased across Sky and NOW platforms in the UK and Ireland. The deal includes linear channel distribution, video on demand, and an extension of the media sales relationship with Sky Media, Sky's advertising arm. Sky Media will exclusively represent Hearst Networks' advertising sales, including linear, video-on-demand, AdSmart, and sponsorship advertising.

Hearst Networks UK and Sky launched the co-branded channel Sky HISTORY® in 2020. The HISTORY® Channel's name change to Sky HISTORY® strengthened the partnership in the market, making Sky HISTORY one of the UK's most loved factual Pay TV brands with the highest monthly reach of any Pay TV factual channel.

The cooperation with Sky has resulted in the co-production of some highly rated and critically acclaimed Sky HISTORY shows, such as Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors, The Royal Kill List, and Gunpowder Siege. Sky HISTORY has also seen huge success with the US hit show The Curse of Oak Island – currently in its 12th season – as well as several high-profile local commissions including Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain and Royal Autopsy.

Crime+Investigation is the original true crime brand which continues to refresh and lead the genre. Highly rated and iconic shows such as The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Body In The Suitcase, Murders at Little Bridge Farm, and Crimes That Shook Britain, as well as short-form series Cut to the Crime and Unbreakable, have cemented the channel's reputation of being an important voice in the true crime storytelling arena.