Sky to launch new crime and comedy channels

Sky has announced plans to launch two new channel brands.

Sky Crime will launch in October 2019 and Sky Comedy in February 2020, with both available free to Sky customers. Both channels will also launch on NOW TV, available as part of the NOW TV Entertainment pass.

Sky Crime will be the home of US true crime from Oxygen and HBO and first run content from Jupiter and Woodcut. Key programming will include I Love You, Now Die and The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, Kemper on Kemper and Britain’s Most Evil Killers and the In Defense Of series.

Sky Comedy, launching in February 2020, will be the home of scripted US comedy from HBO, NBC and Showtime, including new comedies like Mrs Fletcher, starring Kathryn Hahn, Righteous Gemstones, starring John Goodman, Adam DeVine and Danny McBride, A.P. Bio and Sunnyside. Sky Comedy will also air all new series of returning hit US shows like Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ballers starring Dwayne Johnson. US talk shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will also be featured, as well as Saturday Night Live and Will & Grace and Parks and Recreation.

Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky, said: “Sky Crime and Sky Comedy are fantastic additions to our entertainment portfolio, providing our customers with two new destinations for their favourite shows. Sky Crime, the home of premium true crime, will complement Sky Witness perfectly, while Sky Comedy is an exciting new proposition for Sky customers, offering them a daily dose of the best US comedy which will sit alongside our expanding slate of Sky Original comedy on Sky One. By investing in the best of the US as well as doubling our investment in original drama and comedy, we are making Sky an unbeatable destination for the best range of premium TV.”

The introduction of the two new channels follows on from Sky’s recent launch of Sky Studios, a new Europe-wide development and production capability which will see Sky’s investment in original content more than double over the next five years.