[1] After 20 years with the BBC, Friend returned to the United Kingdom to work on the start-up Sky News.
Friend became the best recognised face of Sky News, and as a result of being spotted by Tom Cruise while he watched Sky News on a short visit to London,[1] Friend had cameos in a number of 1990s films, including Independence Day and Mission Impossible.
[citation needed] In June 2003, Friend was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting in the Queen's Birthday Honours List,[2] shortly before his retirement presenting alongside Creegor on 23 October, nearly 15 years after his first appearance.
[1] Chairman and CEO of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch paid personal tribute to Friend:[1] Bob was a distinguished journalist and an admired broadcaster.
The annual scholarship of 2013 was presented to Georgia Fry by Neil Dunwoodie, Executive Producer Sky News, at the 2013 Bob Friend Memorial Lecture (by Stephanie Flanders BBC Economics editor ) at the Pilkington Lecture Theatre at the University of Kent's Medway Campus in Chatham.