The Onion to give Sky a taste of satire

It is the satirical website whose spoof stories are frequently mistaken for real news. Now British viewers will get a weekly slice of The Onion when its spin-off television series is broadcast next month.

Sky Arts has snapped up The Onion News Network, an award-winning series from the creators of headlines such as "Drugs Win Drug War" and "Black guy asks nation for change". The US series, set in a spoof cable news network, will challenge topical rival The Daily Show, now reduced to a weekly edition by More 4.

Launched as a web video series in 2007, it calls itself the "loudest voice in news" and claims to "report first and asks questions later in an ongoing pursuit to marginally respect viewers' intelligence."

It is fronted by glamorous news anchor Brooke Alvarez, who gained an exclusive first interview with Beyoncé's unborn child through a microphone inserted in the singer's womb. Other presenters include the "ruggedly handsome and sometimes shirtless" international reporter O'Brady Shaw.