GB News gears up for TV debut as it unveils launch date
GB News today took another step forward in its bid to shake up the UK broadcasting landscape as it unveiled plans to launch next month.
The new TV channel, spearheaded by former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, said it will launch on Sunday 13 June.
It will begin broadcasting at 8pm with a special programme titled Welcome to GB News.
The launch is set to mark the biggest shake-up in TV news for three decades, with the nascent channel promising a “boldly different” approach.
The venture has announced a string of high-profile hires in recent months, including ITV veteran Alastair Stewart, Sky’s Colin Brazier and BBC newsreader Simon McCoy.
It has also ramped up its activity on social media, posting backstage clips from rehearsals at its new Paddington studios. The channel already has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter.
GB News has secured £60m in funding for its launch, £20m of which came from US media giant Discovery. The remainder is from Dubai-based investment firm Legatum and hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall.
It has already generated significant controversy, with critics warning of the “Foxification” of British TV through a channel with over right-wing bias.
But both Neil and chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos have rubbished these claims, insisting the channel would be “committed to impartial journalism”.
The ad-funded channel said it expects to reach 96 per cent of the British TV audience through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, Youview and Freesat.
Its channel number for Freeview and Youview will be 236, while on Freesat it will take 216.
It will also launch a range of streaming, video on-demand and audio services that can be accessed online.
GB News was given a boost last month after Rupert Murdoch’s media empire shelved plans to launch a rival news channel.
News UK said the project was “not commercially viable”, but said it will focus on producing live and on-demand content to be delivered via streaming platforms.