Veteran broadcaster Adam Boulton is to leave Sky News after 30 years
Adam Boulton to quit Sky News after 33 years: Veteran broadcaster, 62, says Boomers like him, Dermot Murnaghan and Kay Burley ‘have had our day’ in face of TV’s drive for youth and diversity
Adam Boulton, 62, is leaving his role Sky News after more than 30 years thereHe has served as editor-at-large since 2014 after joining the channel in 1989Mr Boulton’s departure from Sky News is said to have been a mutual decision
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Veteran broadcaster Adam Boulton is to leave Sky News after more than 30 years after saying that there is a ‘move against the Baby Boomers’ in the TV world.
Having joined the channel as political editor for its launch in 1989, the 62-year-old public school-educated Oxford graduate has served as editor-at-large since 2014.
Mr Boulton’s departure is said to have been a mutual decision, although he said in an exit interview that television was now ‘very sensitive to the idea of diversity’.
Speaking to The Times feature writer Andrew Billen, who is 63, Mr Boulton told him: ‘I’ve just got to accept to a certain point that you and I, we’re tail-end baby-boomers.
‘And there’s a kind of move against the baby-boomers and the fact that we’ve had less time at the peak is just the way it goes.’
Mr Boulton continued: ‘It looks like the direction which Sky News wants to go over the next few years is not one that’s a particularly good fit for me.
‘There’s always a changing of the guard in television. Television is very sensitive to the idea of diversity.’
Speaking about his fellow veteran Sky broadcasters Dermot Murnaghan, 63, and Kay Burley, 60, Mr Boulton simply added: ‘We’ve had our day.’
The announcement of his departure comes after John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said TV was moving away from the era of the ‘all-powerful anchor’.
Adam Boulton with his wife, ex-New Labour spin doctor Anji Hunter, in London on October 15
Mr Boulton was among those who criticised Sky presenters Kay Burley (left) and Beth Rigby (right) for breaking lockdown rules last year. They are pictured together in London in July 2019
Mr Boulton interviews then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson at the Sky studios in May 2017
Mr Boulton said he did not know if ageism was at play. He said: ‘Jon Snow [of Channel 4 News] is 74 and he’s going.
‘Huw [Edwards] is in his sixties; he’s suggested he may not be very long at the BBC. I think there is a changing of the guard going on, and that may be reasonable.
‘The irony of it is that as far as we can tell the demographic of people watching television is about our age, but I don’t make any complaint about this.
‘My position is I quite understand people want to develop the channel for the next generation, and I will continue to do stuff with Sky, subject to contract as it were.’
Mr Boulton attended three fee-paying schools growing up – Tower House School in London, St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire, and Westminster School.
Mr Boulton attended the fee-paying Tower House School in London as a child (left) and joined Sky News in 1989 from TV-AM before fronting the network’s Election 97 special (right)
Adam Boulton famously loses his temper with Alastair Campbell live on Sky News in May 2010
Mr Boulton swallowed a fly live on air on Sky News in 2014 before coughing and carrying on
He then obtained degrees at Christ Church, Oxford and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and also received an honorary doctorate from Plymouth University in 2013.
Mr Boulton is married to former New Labour spin doctor Anji Hunter, a former aide to Tony Blair. They wed at St James’s Church in London on July 22, 2006.
Mr Boulton, who joined Sky after moving across from TV-AM, famously swallowed a fly live on air in 2014 before coughing and carrying on.
And in 2010, he had a huge on-air row with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell.
Mr Boulton jabbed his finger at Mr Campbell and shouted: ‘I’m fed up with you telling me what I think! Don’t tell me what I think!’
Mr Boulton takes part in the Annual Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race in February 2012
Mr Boulton at his wedding to Anji Hunter at St James’s Church in London in July 2006
Adam Boulton with then-prime minister Tony Blair in April 2005 for a Sky News interview
Mr Boulton previously said he his so keen to stay politically neutral that he has not voted in a general election since 1979.
Mr Boulton was among those who criticised Sky presenters Kay Burley and Beth Rigby for breaking lockdown rules last year.
He warned that their breach raised questions about ‘the credibility of our journalism’.
Since 2014 Mr Boulton has been editor-at-large of Sky News, covering elections and anchoring his own shows such as All Out Politics.
Mr Ryley had previously called Mr Boulton a giant in political journalism.
Mr Boulton’s fellow broadcaster Piers Morgan tweeted today: ‘A titan of political news broadcasting. Congrats on a brilliant innings, Adam Boulton.’
