Skype Doubles Down on News Content With New Channels Feature

Skype is getting serious about becoming your new news destination. After adding a “Today” tab featuring the same news seen on MSN.com and the Windows 11 widgets board, Skype is now adding a Channels feature allowing users to follow news from publications available on this same news platform, which is called Microsoft Start.

The new Channels feature in Skype appears in a dedicated tab on the Chats page. There, you can find thematic channels like Technology, AI and Gaming powered by Microsoft Start, with curated news from different sources. You can also also channels for the biggest news sources, which are also powered by Microsoft Start.

When you join a Channel, it will appear in your list of chats, and you’ll see the latest news from this channel when you open the chat conversation. All Channels are muted by default, so you won’t receive any push notifications when new articles are automatically published.

#SkypeChannels is a new way to get your information in this overcrowded world.
Dive deeper into any topic, publisher or just the interest you've been wanting to dig deeper into. All our articles are for free so you can relax and get the latest news in an instant! #skype pic.twitter.com/B064JJKpRW

— Skype (@Skype) March 12, 2024

Skype Channels are quite different from WhatsApp Channels and Instagram Broadcast Channels, which are a one-way broadcast tool allowing companies to send messages to their followers. Skype Channels appear to be completely automated and just another way for Microsoft to show its news content from Microsoft Start to more eyeballs.

Recently, Microsoft also added a “Channels” tab to its Outlook mobile app, which is used to… you guessed it, showing the same Microsoft Start news feed to Outlook users. I’m sure most people would like the option to hide this news content completely, but Microsoft apparently believes that you want to read news right from your email client.