Warner Bros. Discovery to Divest in Right-Leaning U.K. TV Startup GB News One Year After Launch
Warner Bros. Discovery is set to sell its stake in GB News, the U.K. news channel that launched in June 2021 as a right-leaning alternative to the likes of the BBC and ITV News.
Discovery was one of the early investors in GB News, which was hit by a string of issues and embarrassing ratings in its opening weeks, eventually losing its chairman Andrew Neil following a very public fallout.
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“Following the merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia earlier this year, our portfolio now includes several wholly owned news brands including CNN Worldwide, TVN Group in Poland and Newshub in New Zealand. In light of this, and our continued evaluation of our global and local investment portfolio, we have exited our investment in GB News and are no longer shareholders,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement.
“Discovery was one of the first organisations to invest in GB News, doing so prior to the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery. GB News has built a growing and loyal audience in its first year, bringing another voice to British news broadcasting, and we wish the management and shareholders the very best in their future endeavours.”
After he left GB News, Neil told the BBC he felt like “a minority of one” at the network.
“More and more differences emerged between myself and the other senior managers and the board,” he said, adding that he quit the channel because he didn’t want to be part of a “British Fox News.”
