Entertainment
GB News: When was the last time a news channel was launched?
The already-controversial GB News, run by chairman Andrew Neil, is launching today at 8pm.
GB News plans to broadcast individual programmes instead of being a rolling news channel, like its counterparts at Sky and The BBC.
Some have criticised the channel for being too ‘right-leaning’ when it comes to its political stance, and suggest it will be closer to the American Fox News than other UK channels.
So, what year did the last news channel launch in the UK?
When was the last time a news channel was launched in the UK?
The last time a news channel was launched in the UK was in 2000, when the ITV News Channel first broadcast.
Lasting just over five years, the channel was originally called ITN News, and was available on Sky, Freeview between 6am and 6pm, and on its analogue channel.
Presenters included John Suchet, Kirsty Lang and Rachel McTavish.
In 2005, the channel shut down, and was instead used for the launch of children’s channel CITV.
Sky News was the first specific channel for news broadcasting in the UK, beginning in 1989.
The Rupert Murdoch-backed venture comprises business, money and world news, and has seen multiple relaunches since it started.
Most recent changes to the format have included the Kay Burley morning show change its name to Sky News Breakfast, after Burley stepped back from presenting the show for six months, as a result of breaching London’s tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.
In April of this year, Sky News announced a weekday environmental news programme called The Daily Climate Show.
BBC News – formerly BBC News 24 – launched on 9 November 1997, two days after the BBC website launched. Around the clock coverage was available on cable, whilst analogue viewers could see it overnight while BBC One was not on air.
In 2006, the channel won ‘News Channel of the Year’ at the Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards for the first time in its history.
A rebrand two years later saw the channel drop the ’24’ from its name, and stylistic changes to the graphics and studio.
Alongside breaking and regular news bulletins, the channel also shows programmes like Prime Ministers Questions, Panorama, and the recently cancelled Victoria Derbyshire show.
MORE : Andrew Neil: ‘Piers Morgan has a different idea of what he’s worth to GB News’
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