Sky News Australia’s digital strategy, aimed at growing its footprint by delivering content to an increasingly ultraconservative, US-based audience, has sparked a divide between the conservative broadcaster’s news and digital teams.

The shift in digital strategy at Sky, bought by News Corp Australia in 2016, has meant a greater emphasis on chopping up hours of content daily with a focus on US President Joe Biden, culture war issues and the royal family, resulting in a growing global audience.

However, the move has irked many of the broadcaster’s local news teams who feel their work is being ignored.

Joe Biden is popular with Sky News Australia’s online audience.Credit: SMH/The Age

Recent directives from Sky News management have drawn the battle lines between the newsroom and the company’s increasingly powerful digital desk, which is responsible for publishing more than 3500 videos a month to Sky’s 3.57 million YouTube subscribers.

Hosts and producers at Sky News have recently been ordered not to contact the digital team, a directive one senior member of the newsroom not authorised to comment publicly called a “shared frustration” among its ranks.

“The digital guys think they’re the stars,” the senior staffer told this masthead. The staffer added there was a “massive divide” growing internally due to the profits delivered on the back of a digital strategy that predominantly caters to a foreign audience, a peculiarity for an Australian broadcaster.

Sky’s digital editor, Jack Houghton, and head of digital Tim Love are the key figures behind the success, which has included the recruitment of controversial international talent Megyn Kelly, Nigel Farage, Douglas Murray and Piers Morgan as digital commentators in the past 18 months.

The preference and protections afforded to the digital heads come with the endorsement of CEO Paul Whittaker, this masthead was told.