MUMBAI: Sky News' head Nick Pollard who ran the network for a decade is set to quit in September. He will be succeeded by the current executive editor John Ryley as the head of the network.

The announcement of Pollard's opting to leave the organisation comes eight months after the channel's expensive re-launch last October, inform media reports.

In January Pollard admitted that recent months had been "the toughest time in Sky News history" after viewers reacted negatively to the relaunch, which failed to attract new viewers.

Under his leadership, Sky News was recognised for its live reporting from the field of events such as the Asian tsunami, the Iraq War and the Kosovo crisis when the channel was the first to provide live pictures from inside Kosovo on liberation day.

Since the October relaunch, Sky has featured less rolling news and more distinct programmes plus the introduction of new presenters such as Eamon Holmes and James Rubin.

Before joining Sky as head of news in 1996, Pollard spent 13 years at ITN where he was executive producer of News at Ten. He began his career as a local newspaper journalist in 1968, before moving to the BBC where he remained until 1980.