Nine years after national broadcaster the ABC abandoned the monicker, the Murdochs’ Sky News Australia has been rebranded as News24, this time using the fractured script of the corporate logo, based on the patriarch’s handwriting.

The launch announcement talks of “a new era of news”, and it’s clear that – despite the absence of a national free-to-air-platform – News is up for it, grasping the opportunity of right-leaning sentiment as Australia’s Labor federal government exceeds its mandate and the country readies for the next elections.

There’s some mixed messaging here: Announcements talk of 30 years “helping shape the news landscape” and even images of a younger shirtsleeved Rupert Murdoch have crept in. It’s actually 40 years since Murdoch gained control of the Herald & Weekly Times business his father had run, leading to the merger with his already-growing News Limited interests.

No, News24 doesn’t have a national TV channel – largely because Lachlan and James Packer “dropped the ball” when the broken Ten network went instead to Paramount… but that matters now less than it ever did.

Digital does however, enable country-specific products including US and UK editions, richer video and audio, and continuing access on Foxtel, Binge, regional free-to-air TV, FAST channels on connected TVs, on Facebook or YouTube, as well as podcasts and on DAB+ Radio.

It appears News Corp Australia needed to drop the “Sky News Australia” label – under which it had been launched as a joint venture with the UK’s BSkyB – in any case, with ownership ties ended and a branding licence from Comcast expiring.

The new brand is anchored on an “entirely rebuilt” digital ecosystem which includes the News24.com.au, new mobile and tablet apps and enhanced Smart TV applications. News quotes the “extraordinary growth” of its digital audience, now “one of Australia’s most-accessed” and ranked fifth in Reuters Digital News Report.

Importantly, News has built up a strong team of like-minded journalists and commentators, which it is able to share across outlets such as national daily The Australian and its regional tabloids.

Conspicuous among these are Peta Credlin (pictured), Andrew Bolt, Sharri Markson, Paul Murray, Peter Stefanovic, Ross Greenwood and Chris Kenny – all of whom have regular slots – plus a growing number of strong and opinionated newcomers.

It’s likely that News24’s “distinctly Australian perspective” will resonate with an increasingly dissatisfied electorate, as indicated by the resurgence of One Nation’s Pauline Hanson. Credlin’s direct connection here, as former chief of staff to Liberal president (and former prime minister) Tony Abbott is just one example.

And let’s not ignore (as publicists certainly haven’t) the heritage that goes with its “our ambition and vision for the future”. News24 is, we are told, “who we were born to be”, its name reflecting “the proud editorial credentials of… a company that began with The News, a small newspaper in Adelaide, and grew into a global media powerhouse”.

Peter Coleman