GB News

GB News is an news television channel in the United Kingdom that is based on opinions. It started on 13 June 2021 on Freeview, Sky, YouView, Freesat and Virgin Media.^[1] It is owned by British hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall, and Legatum, which is headquartered in Dubai.^[2][3][4] Its CEO is Greek-born Australian Angelos Frangopoulos. ^[5] Its first chairman was the British journalist Andrew Neil until 13 September 2021,^[6] who used to work for the BBC. Its current chairman is British-born investor Alan McCormick, a partner in Legatum. Before its launch, the Financial Times predicted it would be "right-leaning".^[7] The Guardian and City A.M. claimed it would be like the International television news channel Phoenix InfoNews Channel, CCTV-4, CGTN, BBC Parliament, Canal del Congreso, CPAC, C-SPAN, BBC News, CBC News Network and Fox News Channel.^[8][9]

There was a pre-tax loss of £42.4 million in its 2022/23 accounts. In 2024 Paul Marshall had to invest £41 million. The number of people employed increased to 295 in May 2023, from 175 in May 2022. The group also pays high wages to several current and former Conservative politicians, including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg. ^[10] On 18 March 2024, Ofcom ruled that two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg's State Of The Nation, two episodes of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil and one episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast in May and June 2023 , had failed to comply with rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code which state that a politician cannot be a newsreader, interviewer or journalist unless, exceptionally, there is a editorial justification.^[11]

In 2024 57% of Conservative Party members said they regularly watched GB News, compared with 60% who watched the BBC. It got it record audience of 184,000 for the People’s Forum it ran with Rishi Sunak in February 2024, That was more than watched it on BBC News and Sky News combined.^[12]

1. ↑ "Andrew Neil announces 24 hour GB News channel to rival BBC and Sky". ITV News. 25 September 2020.
2. ↑ "ALL PERSPECTIVES LTD persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
3. ↑ PA Media (2021-01-06). "Dubai-based investment group and pro-Brexit investor among £60m funders to back GB News as it recruits 120 journalists". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 2021-11-14. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
4. ↑ Correspondent, Jake Kanter, Media. "GB News backers voice support for beleaguered channel". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-11-14. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. ↑ Shields, Bevan (2021-02-21). "The Australian shaking up British broadcasting". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
6. ↑ "McCulloch, Norman George, (30 June 1882–8 March 1965), resigned as Chairman Shirley Institute, Didsbury, Manchester, 1960", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u57687, retrieved 2022-04-03
7. ↑ Barker, Alex (25 September 2020). "Andrew Neil to lead new right-leaning UK TV news channel". Financial Times. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
8. ↑ Wilson, Eliot (2 October 2020). "Andrew Neil's GB News will test whether there is appetite for a Fox News-style news channel in the UK". City AM. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
9. ↑ Waterson, Jim (29 August 2020). "Rivals plan Fox News-style opinionated TV station in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
10. ↑ "GB News owner pumps in further £41mn in funding as losses widen". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
11. ↑ "five episodes of gb news programmes presented-by tory mps found to have broken ofcom rules". Sky news. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
12. ↑ "GB News risks turning Tories from political force to niche act". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-03-25.