13 March 2006
Kelly Swanson-Roe Joins Line Up For Prime News – First At 5:30
SKY Television today announced that Kelly Swanson-Roe will join anchors Eric Young and Suzy Clarkson as sports presenter
for Prime News – First at 5:30. Swanson-Roe will present the sports news four days per week including weekends. The new
look Prime News – First at 5:30 bulletin will screen from Monday 3 April 2006.
SKY Television, CEO, John Fellet says "We are thrilled to have Kelly onboard. Kelly knows the sports world and will be a
great asset to the new line-up news team.”
The weekday news bulletin will be anchored by Eric Young, a journalist with over 25 years experience in news, sport and
entertainment reporting. Weekend news will be anchored and co-produced by Suzy Clarkson who will also read and produce
sports news during the week. Prime News parliamentary reporter, Barry Soper, will bring a fresh view to the coverage on
New Zealand politics with a dedicated Wellington based team.
Supported by SKY Television and SKY NEWS’ 24 hour news service, Prime News will continue to offer viewers a concise
roundup of national and international news and sport with immediate access to breaking news and events.
The half hour broadcast will continue to be produced by SKY NEWS but now fronted from Prime’s Albany studios in
Auckland. - ends - About Kelly Swanson-Roe Originally from a marketing background, Kelly Swanson-Roe studied film and
television at South Seas Film and Television School, and later journalism at Massey University. She has established
herself as a key television sports and lifestyle presenter, working on a number of shows including 3News, Sportzah, NPC,
Fight for Life, The Great NZ Driving Show, Super 12, Sports Tonight, ING Golf and horse racing on The Big Race Series.
In addition she was the Breakfast Show Host on Wellington’s number one radio station, The Breeze and news reader on
Radio Live.
About SKY Television SKY Television (SKY), broadcasting via both UHF and DTH is New Zealand’s pre-eminent Pay TV
operator, offering a wide range of sports, movies, music, on-demand and general content across more than 85 channels.
SKY’s channel line-up includes 6 sports channels, 5 movie channels, 5 general entertainment channels, 4 documentary
channels, 3 news channels, 4 children’s channels, as well as other niche channels. (At 16 February 2006, SKY had
640,521subscribers.)
SKY launched as a three-channel UHF service in 1990, with two further channels added four years later. SKY’s UHF signal
reaches more than 83% of the country’s 1.5 million households. In December 1998 it launched a digital satellite service,
extending its reach to the whole country. SKY also offers pay-per-view movies, live events and interactive services
including Skybet, the Weather Channel, and games channel Playin’ TV.
With the establishment of an online DVD rental service and in December 2005, the launch of MY SKY, a new set top box
incorporating a personal video recorder, SKY offers New Zealand viewers even more entertainment options.
On 8 February 2006, SKY completed the purchase of the New Zealand television business of Prime Television Ltd. The
acquisition of a free-to-air channel gives SKY the opportunity to showcase its channels and programmes whilst ensuring
that New Zealand consumers can view delayed free-to-air sports programmes such as rugby, rugby league and cricket in
primetime.
For further information, please visit SKY’s web site at www.skytv.co.nz
ENDS