How to Watch All Live News Channels on One Screen

Newsrooms have always had one: a wall of screens, every channel on at once, the sound up on whichever one matters right now. Until recently you needed a control room, a rack of TVs and a video wall processor to do the same at home or in an office.

You don't anymore. Most major news channels now run a free, official 24/7 live stream on YouTube. Put several of them next to each other in one browser window and you have a news wall.

This guide shows how to build one, and what we learned from the people who already use ViewGrid this way.

Why people build news walls

When we looked at the grids on ViewGrid that stay open the longest (five hours or more), almost all of them had the same thing in common: they were on a desktop or laptop screen, and they were showing news.

A few examples, with no names attached:

• six Indonesian national news channels side by side, open for a working day
• eight Japanese news channels at once
• a wall of eleven local TV and radio stations from one city in Colombia
• a set of US and UK news channels, next to each other on a single monitor
• twelve Turkish news channels, opened every weekday morning at the same time

None of these are people "watching TV". They are people keeping an eye on the news while they work: in a newsroom, a PR or communications office, a political office, a trading desk, or at home during a big story. The screen stays on, the sound stays off, and when something happens on one channel they turn that one up.

What you need

• A computer with a reasonably large screen. A news wall works on a phone, but it's much better on a laptop, a desktop monitor or a TV connected to a computer.
• A browser. Nothing to install.
• A list of the channels you want. Start with four, and add more once you see how your screen handles them.

Build it in about a minute

1. Open ViewGrid.
2. Add your first channel. Type the channel's name (for example "Sky News" or "DW News") into the search box, or paste the link of its live stream from YouTube.
3. Add the rest the same way. The grid rearranges itself as you add channels. On a desktop you can put up to 20 streams on one screen, on a phone up to 6.
4. Pick the one you want to hear. Every stream starts muted. Click the speaker icon on the channel you want to listen to. Clicking another one moves the sound there.
5. Go full screen when you're ready, so the wall uses the whole monitor.
6. Save it. Sign in and save the grid, and it's one click away tomorrow morning. You can also copy the link from the address bar: it contains every channel in your wall, so you can bookmark it or send it to a colleague.

Which channels stream live, for free

Many international news channels run official 24/7 live streams on their YouTube channels, for example Sky News, Al Jazeera English, DW News and France 24. Most countries have national news channels that do the same. The News Wall preset opens a ready-made set if you don't want to build your own.

A few things worth knowing:

• Only official streams. Use the channel's own live stream. Unofficial re-uploads get taken down mid-broadcast, and they take views away from the people who make the news.
• Not every channel streams everywhere. Some broadcasters limit their live stream by country, and some big US cable channels don't offer a free 24/7 stream at all. If a channel doesn't play in your grid, it usually doesn't play on YouTube in your country either.
• Live stream links can change. Channels sometimes end a live stream and start a new one, which gives it a new link. If a square in your wall goes quiet, search the channel's name again and swap it in.

Tips from people who keep a wall open all day

• Four to six channels is the sweet spot on one monitor. Beyond that the pictures get small. If you want more, use a bigger screen rather than a smaller grid.
• Mix sources on purpose. A wall with a public broadcaster, a commercial channel and an international channel shows you the same story told three different ways. That comparison is often the most useful thing on the screen.
• Keep one "anchor" channel with sound. Leave your main channel audible and scan the others with your eyes. Move the sound only when something breaks.
• Plug in the laptop. Several live video streams at once use more power than one. For an all-day wall, keep the computer on the charger.

Big news days

A news wall is most useful on days when a story is happening in many places at once: election nights, major storms, important court rulings, big international summits. For events like these we also build ready-made grids on our events calendar, with the official channels already in place.

In short

You don't need a control room to watch every channel at once. Open ViewGrid, add the official live streams of the channels you trust, pick one to listen to, and save the wall so it's ready the next time the news breaks.