The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Monday October 31 2005
In the article below we said, correctly, that Sky News was the first rolling news channel in Europe when it was launched 16 years ago, in that it is based in London. However, CNN has been broadcasting 24-hour news into Europe by satellite from the US since 1995 and has had a London office since 1980.
Sky News yesterday unveiled a new multimillion-pound studio and a wholesale revamp of its schedule, promising to break more exclusive stories and challenge the traditional evening news bulletins of ITV and the BBC.
The 24-hour news channel will unveil its purpose-built studios on Monday, when new signings including former GMTV host Eamonn Holmes and James Rubin, the former chief US foreign affairs spokesman, will also make their debuts in a new-look schedule.
The broadcaster became the first rolling news channel in Europe when it launched 16 years ago. Since then it has confounded critics who feared it was merely a public service figleaf for Rupert Murdoch's European broadcasting ambitions by establishing a strong reputation for breaking news and winning a string of awards.
Nick Pollard, the head of Sky News, said he hoped to build on that success by getting viewers to watch for longer and tune into specific "appointment to view" news and current affairs programmes. Other than big breaking news stories, most viewers only tune in for between 10 and 15 minutes, he revealed.
"If you can hook them for another five or 10 minutes you put a big extra layer on your viewing figures," said Mr Pollard.
The channel is roughly neck and neck with BBC News 24 in ratings terms. It has spent millions of pounds on the new studio, which has the biggest "video wall" in Britain and is twice the size of the existing one. It has an open-plan feel with 70 journalists and production staff, of the 400 employed by Sky, arranged around a central desk. Designed by New York architects Janson Design Group, it also houses Sky's production of Five's news operation.
Holmes, along with Lorna Dunkley, will present the breakfast show Sunrise, while a new daily 7pm show, The Sky Report, with Julie Etchingham will be the broadcaster's first attempt to provide a home for regular exclusive stories and big-name guests. Pollard said Sky News had poached production talent from Channel 4 News, BBC2's Newsnight and ITV's Tonight to put the show together.
Kay Burley and Jeremy Thompson will also host daily shows, while another new twice-nightly show will examine issues around the sports world.
Rubin will front a world news programme at 8pm every evening, beginning with an interview with the prime minister on Monday. The show would have a "transatlantic perspective", he said. The former aide to Bill Clinton added that the dynamism of the UK news market contrasted sharply with the lack of interest in world affairs in the US. "When I go home, I'm troubled," he said. "There's a lot more tabloid TV on the 24-hour news channels and the network news is sometimes down to one bureau abroad."