The BBC's 24-hour rolling news channel in the UK, available free-to-air to cable, digital satellite and digital terrestrial viewes.

Launched on November 9, 1997, News 24 was supposed to be in direct competition with Sky News - and managed to replace it in many cable TV packages, since operators didn't have to pay so much to carry it.

Initially, it was dogged with problems (wrong VTs being shown, incorrect captions, presenters not being ready, and so on), and a bit of controversy surrounded the informalness - the presenters didn't wear jackets!

Things worked a bit better over time, and a minor relaunch in 1999 to match the new BBC News corporate identity made things look more professional.

The schedule normally revolves around main headlines every fifteen minutes, weather at 27 and 57 minutes past the hour, and business news at about 18 minutes past the hour. Features are occasionally shown at half past the hour, such as sports roundups, World Business Report, Asia Today, etc.

Overnight (from about 0200 until 0600, when Breakfast starts), most news output is shared with BBC World. World News is shown for the first half hour, followed by a summary of world and domestic news, and then a feature is often shown.

News 24 can be found on Sky Digital channel 507 and On Digital channel 11. Cable operators vary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcnews24