Broadcast Prism One story, split by channel. See the full spectrum.

Compare how UK TV news channels cover the same stories

Every day we transcribe the main UK TV news broadcasts and compare them, revealing which stories every channel agreed mattered, and which only one chose to run.

8 channels analysed · 95 days archived · 672h transcribed · generated Thu 1 October 2026, 09:04 BST

Findings from Yesterday

Same story, two framings

BBC News and Sky News framed “Israel calls Dubai-Tel Aviv flight cockpit attack a jihadist terror attack” differently.

Sky News frames the incident as an attempted jihadist terrorist attack, whereas BBC NEWS frames it as a fight between the pilot and the co-pilot.

there was a fight between the pilot and the co-pilot

BBC News

this was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack

Sky News

8 channels ran this story · both quotes aired within hours of each other

See the full breakdown →

The widest gap on one story

BBC News gave 31m to “South Africa police investigate 10 women's murders near Johannesburg as Ramaphosa pledges action” since 17 September. Four channels gave it none.

BBC News 31m
BBC One 7m
Channel 4 5m
Sky News 2m

No coverage Channel 5 · BBC Two · GB News · ITV

Total airtime per channel, 17 Sept to 30 Sept 2026

See the full breakdown →

Room for the lighter stuff

Channel 5 gave 32% of its airtime to light stories over the last 30 days. No other channel gave more than 23%.

Channel 5 32%
ITV 23%
BBC One 20%
BBC News 15%
GB News 14%
Sky News 13%
Channel 4 9%
BBC Two 4%

Share of airtime over 30 days, by what each channel chose to run

See the full breakdown →

Today — Thursday 1 October 2026

What's new: today's coverage as it comes together, and how far the analysis has got.

Analysis progress2 of 24 broadcasts analysed · 2 of 8 channels analysed
Updated 2 minutes ago
BBC News
analysed 1/5 broadcasts
BBC One
scheduled · 13:00 0/4 broadcasts
BBC Two
scheduled · 12:15 0/2 broadcasts
Channel 4
scheduled · 12:05 0/2 broadcasts
Channel 5
scheduled · 12:45 0/2 broadcasts
GB News
scheduled · 19:00 0/2 broadcasts
ITV
scheduled · 13:30 0/3 broadcasts
Sky News
analysed 1/4 broadcasts

Newly detected in the last 48 hours

New

Emerging

Etihad Airways may take legal action against Premier League over Man City ruling

Etihad Airways is reportedly considering legal action against the Premier League after Manchester City were found guilty of financial rule breaches.

1 channel
Manchester City

New

Emerging

New York Film Festival showcases AI, Gaza and family films

The New York Film Festival is showcasing films about artificial intelligence, Gaza and family drama, according to BBC News.

1 channel
Film Festival

New

Emerging

Lavrov denies hybrid war charge, saying Europe is waging war on Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Russia is waging a hybrid war against Europe, as President Vladimir Putin prepared to give a speech at the Valdai forum.

1 channel
Russia-Ukraine War

New

Emerging

Dame Esther Rantzen dies aged 86 as tributes pour in

Broadcaster and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has died at the age of 86, prompting tributes.

7 channels
Esther Rantzen
View today's full breakdown →

Yesterday — Wednesday 30 September 2026

What converged: the most recent finished day's cross-channel summary — where channels agreed and where they differed.

The editorial agenda was dominated by Esther Rantzen, Brexit, and Andy Burnham. GB News showed a distinctive focus, giving RAF Fairford 2.9x the average airtime share of the 6 channels that covered it. Notable coverage gaps occurred where Brexit was omitted by Sky News; and Esther Rantzen was omitted by Sky News.

4 channels led with “Dubai-Tel Aviv flight makes Saudi emergency landing after pilot fight”; BBC News and BBC Two led with “Burnham pledges care service and opens door to EU referendum in conference speech”; Channel 5 and Sky News led with “Major incident near RAF Fairford after explosives arrests”. See every channel’s lead →

Most contested topics

The topics drawing the most flagged language over the last 14 days, weighted so recent days count for more. Quotes shown in context on each topic page.

AviationManchester CityLabourRAF FairfordOpenAIEsther Rantzen

Top Stories Covered

17 broadcasts

Emerging

Israel calls Dubai-Tel Aviv flight cockpit attack a jihadist terror attack

A Dubai to Tel Aviv flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after reports of a fight between pilots and a hijacking alert. Israel described the incident as a potential terrorist attack.

8 channels
AviationAviation SecurityFlydubaiIsrael Aviation +1 more

15 broadcasts

Fading

PM says Iran played part in RAF Fairford plot as five suspects are bailed

A major incident has been declared near RAF Fairford after several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences. Bomb disposal teams are examining vehicles at the scene.

7 channels
RAF FairfordCounter-TerrorismIranTerrorism

14 broadcasts

Fading

Burnham pledges care service and opens door to EU referendum in conference speech

In his first Labour conference speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham said Brexit has caused more harm than good, responded to energy price rises and opened the door to closer EU ties.

8 channels
LabourAndy BurnhamBrexitEuropean Union +6 more

10 broadcasts

Emerging

UK energy bills rise 4% as January forecast points to 16% jump

Forecasts indicate UK household energy bills will rise by 4% and then by 16% in January, according to BBC News.

6 channels
Energy BillsCost of LivingEnergyEnergy Prices
View the full Wednesday 30 September 2026 breakdown →

Recent days

What got the airtime: the most-covered stories of the last few days, how that agenda split by category, and the week just completed.

Across the last 7 days, Death Penalty, Esther Rantzen and Aviation Security emerged as new topics, while coverage of Manchester City, RAF Fairford and Labour faded. BBC One stood out, giving Fuel Prices 3.2x the average airtime share of the 5 channels that covered it.

49 broadcasts · aired in the last day

Fading

PM says Iran played part in RAF Fairford plot as five suspects are bailed

A major incident has been declared near RAF Fairford after several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences. Bomb disposal teams are examining vehicles at the scene.

7 channels
RAF FairfordCounter-TerrorismIranTerrorism

38 broadcasts · aired in the last day

Fading

Burnham pledges care service and opens door to EU referendum in conference speech

In his first Labour conference speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham said Brexit has caused more harm than good, responded to energy price rises and opened the door to closer EU ties.

8 channels
LabourAndy BurnhamBrexitEuropean Union +6 more

19 broadcasts · aired in the last day

Emerging

Israel calls Dubai-Tel Aviv flight cockpit attack a jihadist terror attack

A Dubai to Tel Aviv flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after reports of a fight between pilots and a hijacking alert. Israel described the incident as a potential terrorist attack.

8 channels
AviationAviation SecurityFlydubaiIsrael Aviation +1 more

19 broadcasts · aired in the last day

Fading

Premier League confirms Manchester City guilty on all financial charges

Manchester City says the inquiry into 115 financial breach charges remains ongoing amid reports the club has been found guilty of almost all charges.

7 channels
Manchester City

The week in review

Week 39 · 21–27 September 2026

BBC Two never covered “Manchester City” all week — 188 min across 7 channels.

Read the week’s superlatives →

Browse all 2221 stories

Across the whole archive

Zoom out: patterns over every day we've ever analysed — and where to go next.

Broadcaster Alignment Map

Channels move closer together when they cover similar stories, and farther apart when their agendas differ.

Most Covered Topics (All-Time)

Topics that received the most TV news coverage across all dates.

01

Andy Burnham

politics
29h 16m 8 channels
02

Immigration

immigration
27h 43m 8 channels
03

Labour

politics
23h 33m 8 channels
04

US-Iran

international
19h 23m 8 channels
05

Reform UK

politics
18h 34m 8 channels

News Agenda by Category

Project-wide share of news coverage devoted to each topic category.

politics 22.5%
international 13.5%
crime 9.8%
environment 8.6%
media 7.1%
sport 6.6%
health 5.9%
immigration 5.2%
Stories — all 2221 → Broadcasts — 672h transcribed → Channels — compare all 8 →