Nine Entertainment Co and Australian News Channel's Sky are joining forces to create the country’s first commercial free-to-air 24-hour business channel, in a move that will significantly bolster audience figures for the News Corp subsidiary.

The new show's operations will be based in Sydney and will hire a “number of new people”, sources close to the agreement say, but will also leverage Sky News and Nine’s existing current affairs and news teams. It will also be aired in its entirety on pay-TV platform Foxtel, which currently broadcasts Sky News and Sky Business.

It is understood the companies have plans to make a formal announcement in June, but have yet to decide on a name for the channel, which is considered a new brand for Sky.

There has long been speculation Sky has been attempting to move into free TV. In February, Fairfax Media reported that Sky had approached both Seven West Media and Nine about a broadcast deal to put some of its content on their digital channels.

The deal with Nine will provide Sky with exposure to most households nationally, compared to a third of homes on the Foxtel network.