About Sky News Extra

Sky News Extra

Sky News Extra — rebranded as News24 World on 27 July 2026 — is the Australian News Channel's public affairs and international news service: the News Corp Australia-owned channel broadcasting press conferences, parliamentary proceedings, international news and extended interviews. Launched on 20 January 2009 as A-PAC (the Australian Public Affairs Channel), modelled on America's C-SPAN, it was a not-for-profit service funded by Austar and Foxtel and produced by Sky News — a channel with no advertisements and no commentary, just the raw feed of public life. Rebranded Sky News Extra in May 2018, temporarily renamed Sky News COVID-19 during the pandemic (March 2020 to June 2021), it became News24 World on 27 July 2026, broadcasting on Foxtel channel 603. Wikipedia lists skynews.com.au as its former network website; the network's current site is news24.com.au. From A-PAC to News24 World: Australia's public affairs channel, since 2009 — seventeen years of unedited democracy, still on air.

Overview

Sky News Extra was an Australian 24-hour public affairs and international news channel owned by Australian News Channel, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia. Launched on 20 January 2009 as A-PAC (the Australian Public Affairs Channel), it was modelled on the American C-SPAN: a not-for-profit channel carrying parliamentary proceedings, press conferences and public affairs programming, funded by the pay television industry. The C-SPAN model was the point: no editing, no commentary, no punditry — just the event, live and in full. In May 2018 it was rebranded Sky News Extra and moved to channel 604 (later 603); during the COVID-19 pandemic it temporarily became Sky News COVID-19 (March 2020 to June 2021) — a dedicated channel for the biggest story of the century. On 27 July 2026, as part of the network-wide News24 rebrand, the channel became News24 World — a public affairs and international news service on Foxtel channel 603, produced by the News24 network from Sydney. The channel's history is the history of Australian public affairs television: from industry-funded experiment to network mainstay.

History

In December 2008, Sky News announced the launch of a new Australian public affairs channel, to be named A-SPAN — modelled on the American public affairs network C-SPAN — covering federal parliament, state and territory parliaments when legislation was before them, political press conferences, and live broadcast feeds from the United States, including NASA. It launched on 20 January 2009 as A-PAC (Australian Public Affairs Channel): a not-for-profit channel funded by the pay TV industry, produced by Sky News, with federal, state and territory political coverage, plus content from the United Nations and the parliaments of New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The launch date was no accident: 20 January 2009 was the day of Barack Obama's first inauguration — the channel's first live feed, a fitting debut for a public affairs service. From day one, the channel was where Australian political history could be watched as it happened.

A-PAC's philosophy was C-SPAN's: unedited, uninterrupted coverage of public life — the cameras on, the politicians talking, no commentary. It was the channel for the politically engaged: question time, press conferences, inquiries, speeches, National Press Club addresses. The model was deliberate: where the main Sky News channel packaged politics into bulletins and analysis, A-PAC showed the whole thing — the full press conference, not the grab; the full speech, not the quote. On 17 May 2009, a dispute over the A-SPAN name saw it renamed A-PAC — the Australian Public Affairs Channel in full. The name changed; the mission did not: democracy, live and unedited. For the channel's viewers — the staffers, the journalists, the engaged citizens — A-PAC was indispensable: the only place to watch the whole of question time, the whole of the press conference, the whole of the inquiry.

In May 2018, the channel was rebranded Sky News Extra and moved to channel 604, broadening its remit to international news and public affairs — the public affairs mission retained, but with a wider lens. In March 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was temporarily renamed Sky News COVID-19 — a dedicated channel for pandemic coverage, carrying press conferences, health briefings and rolling updates at a time when Australians were hungry for authoritative information — reverting to Sky News Extra in June 2021. The temporary rebrand showed the channel's flexibility: the same infrastructure that carried question time could carry a national emergency. On 27 July 2026, it became News24 World as part of the network-wide News24 rebrand, on Foxtel channel 603: the network's public affairs and international news service. Three names in seventeen years — A-PAC, Sky News Extra, News24 World — one continuous service.

Programming and Content

News24 World broadcasts public affairs programming and international news: press conferences, parliamentary proceedings, political interviews and international news coverage. As A-PAC, its signature was unedited coverage — federal parliament's question time, state and territory parliaments when legislation was before them, political press conferences, and live feeds from the United States (including NASA), the United Nations and the parliaments of New Zealand and the United Kingdom. As Sky News Extra and now News24 World, the channel carries international news alongside public affairs — the network's window on the world, and the world's window on Australian public life. Where News24 carries the rolling news and News24 Weather carries the forecasts, News24 World carries the raw material of democracy: the speeches, the inquiries, the press conferences, the votes — live, unedited, in full. It is the least glamorous and most essential of the network's channels: the one that shows what happened, all of it, without telling you what to think.

Coverage and Audience

News24 World broadcasts nationally on Foxtel channel 603 (and Foxtel streaming), in 1080i high definition. Its audience is the politically engaged: the lobbyists, staffers, journalists and citizens who watch question time, the press conferences and the inquiries — and, in its international news role, Australians following world events. As a public affairs channel, it serves a niche but influential audience: the people who make and report the news, watching the raw feed. It is the channel Canberra watches when Canberra is the story — and the channel the rest of Australia watches when it wants to see democracy happen live. Public affairs channels are never ratings juggernauts; their value is civic. A-PAC was founded on the belief that Australians deserved unmediated access to their parliament — and seventeen years later, as News24 World, that belief still shapes the channel.

Ownership

The channel is owned by Australian News Channel, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, and operated as part of the News24 network under CEO Paul Whittaker. Its sister channels are News24 and News24 Weather. Founded as a not-for-profit service funded by Austar and Foxtel, it is now part of the News24 network's commercial operation — the public affairs mission surviving the journey from industry-funded not-for-profit to network-integrated service. Few channels survive three rebrands and a pandemic pivot; News24 World has survived all of them, still carrying the raw feed.

Digital Presence

The network's digital home is News24.com.au (Wikipedia previously listed skynews.com.au as the network website). News24 World: from A-PAC (2009) to Sky News Extra (2018) to News24 World (2026) — Australia's public affairs channel, on Foxtel 603. The cameras on, the politicians talking, no commentary: public life, unedited — since 20 January 2009. Seventeen years, three names, one mission.