GB News: A timeline of everything that went wrong in the first days after launch

GB News officially launched on Sunday, June 13 – the first new news channel to premiere in the UK in 30 years – but their first few days have already been fraught with issues during their live broadcasts.

The channel, who Andrew Neil, 72, is chairman and a presenter of, promised to ‘give a voice to those who feel sidelined or silenced’ and to ‘expose cancel culture for the threat to free speech and democracy that it is’.

However, it was already hit with technical difficulties right from Andrew’s opening interview – and there were further production issues to come.

From prank callers using explicit fake names, to actual names being misspelled on screen as well as a man with his bum out on screen, it’s safe to say GB News’s first week on air has been a memorable one.

Here are all the unforgettable fails as they happened.

Whispers and sound issues are heard during Andrew Neil’s first interview, minutes after launch

Andrew’s first interview on the channel was with archaeologist Neil Oliver, but despite making an impassioned point during their conversation, viewers at home could not hear what Neil was saying.

As well as issues with the sound on the guest’s mic, viewers also commented that they could hear whispers from off-stage, with Twitter being flooded with comments about the technical issues.

Spelling errors start creeping in on day two

Viewers began noticing misspellings on screen from the second day after GB News launched, with an image of Boris Johnson delivering a speech being broadcast with the words ‘Fereedom Day’.

The problems were set to continue as viewers continually spotted names of guests and places being spelled wrong, including Laurence Fox being dubbed ‘Lawrence’.

The fails are coming in so thick and fast that viewers create a dedicated Twitter feed to chart them all – @GBNewsFails – which has already racked up over 26,000 followers in just three days.

Website crashes on third day leaving viewers unable to watch live stream

By the third day after launch, viewers were left struggling to watch the live feed of the channel after it cut out during The Great British Breakfast.

Streaming went down on the GB News website and mobile phones with a message about a Google technical issue, happening while reporter Rosie Wright was in the middle of an interview in Newcastle discussing the delayed Freedom Day. 

Brands start pulling their adverts from airing on the channel

Kopparberg and Nivea were among the first brands to pull their adverts from airing in the breaks on GB News on Tuesday, June 15, after customers threatened a boycott.

A number of Twitter accounts listed the brands that advertised on GB News in its first day, including Boots, Cadbury’s, Deliveroo, Facebook, Ikea, Kellogg’s and Nivea, and called for a boycott of the companies.

Some of the brands spoke out on Twitter to claim the adverts were being used on the channel without their consent and suspending them immediately.

Presenter Michelle Dewberry’s outfit choice leads to NSFW optical illusion

Michelle Dewberry chose a sleek jacket for the third day of the channel – but didn’t realise that on camera it made her appear as if she was topless.

The presenter – who took the comments in good humour – had chosen a short-sleeved jacket with two pockets on the front with darker stitching around them and a button on each.

While the outfit was a great look, the outline of the pockets and the buttons combined gave the optical illusion of a pair of breasts on screen instead.

Ofcom complaints about GB News begin just days after channel launches

Four days after the channel launched, complaints had already started rolling in to Ofcom, with 373 viewers complaining about Tonight Live With Dan Wootton.

The nature of these complaints have not yet been confirmed but the presenter had ruffled feathers with his criticism of the government’s use of lockdown earlier in the week.

GB News targeted by prank callers using fake names like ‘Mike Oxlong’

In the most Simpson’s-style prank ever, prank callers started targeting the channel on Wednesday using names which sound explicit when read out by the presenters.

From Mike Hunt to Mike Oxlong, there were so many fake names that presenter Simon McCoy appealed to viewers to stop sending them in.

He said on-air: ‘I’m just going to say something because, if you’ve seen the papers, if you’ve seen Twitter, some people think it’s really funny to send in texts and messages on the basis that if we read them out, we’ve been had.

‘You’re still doing it, and I’m watching them and it doesn’t help anybody.’

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Co-host Alex Phillips interjected: ‘We’re just not going to read surnames from now on.’

‘To the person who has just messaged, grow up,’ Simon suggested. ‘We’re a new company, we’re a new broadcaster. There are systems that we’re putting in place that would stop idiots like you getting through. 

‘They’re getting through at the moment but please? We’ve got other things to worry about.’

Despite their pleas, more ended up slipping through the net, including ‘Cleo Torez’ who got a shoutout for her wedding.

Laurence Fox gets mooned on live TV as nobody notices comedian has his bare bum out

Comedian Adam Pacitti managed to troll Laurence Fox in the most creative way possible, appearing on a video call under the guise of asking a question about people being offended by jokes during a Q&A with viewers.

However, at one point during his time on air, Adam moved the camera slightly, catching a reflection in a mirror behind him, revealing his bare bottom to the nation.

Nobody in the studio appeared to notice the caller mooning at the time, but viewers at home certainly did.

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An exasperated cleaner is seen in the back of a shot

While GB News – like many news broadcasters – wanted to show the bustling newsroom behind a presenter, they managed to catch a cleaner looking frustrated instead.

The woman and another colleague are seen scrubbing a table with Dettol wipes (there is a pandemic going on after all) but it is the pair’s conversation that distracted viewers.

The cleaner is seen gesticulating wildly with her arms, apparently having an impassioned chat with her friend and gesturing across the studio in the background.

The ticker at the bottom of the screen is repeatedly programmed to display the wrong names

From labelling Baroness Claire Fox as ‘Darren Grimes’ to calling a young man Dame Rachel De Souza, the ticker appeared to continually be out of sync with the guest that appeared on screen.

The microphone choices for their reporters leave a lot to be desired

From using audio captured on an iPhone to conducting an interview with a miniscule handheld mic, viewers were quick to comment on the lack of appropriate equipment field reporters seemed to be using during the broadcast.

Paired with the ongoing sound issues the channel has suffered from day one, many suggested an upgrade of the equipment may be overdue.

Drilling noises were caught on a live broadcast

Every office or studio needs the occasional bit of maintenance every now and again, but most schedule their works for out of hours.

Not GB News, however, which let contractors get to work drilling in the same area their live broadcast was coming from – meaning the construction noises were of course picked up by the microphones.

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