GB News loses £60,000,000 backing of Warner Bros Discovery after just a year on air-Charlotte Manning-Entertainment – Metro

The channel has had a turbulent year-and-a-bit on air (Picture: Getty / Wikipedia)

GB News has lost the backing of Warner Bros. Discovery after a very turbulent year for the broadcaster. 

Since launching in May 2021, the TV channel has already seen some of its biggest names leave, such as original chairman Andrew Neil and former BBC presenter Simon McCoy. 

Neil has since gone on to host his own Channel 4 show and labelled his former employer a ‘disaster’ that brought him ‘close to a breakdown’.

Now, it’s been revealed the broadcaster has lost the backing of Warner Bros. Discovery after Discovery, who invested in the channel, merged with Warner Bros. 

A statement released earlier today revealed the media conglomerate was no longer a GB News shareholder after the company ‘evaluated our global and local investment portfolio’. 

It added: ‘Discovery was one of the first organisations to invest in GB News, doing so prior to the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Eamonn Holmes on GB News with Isabel Webster (Picture: GB News)

‘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.’

The shareholders have now been bought out by Legatum Ventures Limited and Sir Paul Marshall, which secures them the investment amount.

GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos thanked Warner Bros. Discovery for ‘seeing the importance of a new voice in British news broadcasting.’

Dan Wootton has one of the more popular shows on GB News (Picture: GB News)

The announcement was met with the confirmation of three new presenting appointments. 

The Telegraph’s Associate Editor Camilla Tominey, former politician Michael Portillo and broadcaster Andrew Pierce will join.

Pierce and Portillo will both front programmes on the channel.

Michael Portillo used to appear on This Week with Andrew Neil with Michael Portillo (Picture: BBC)

There are also plans to increase coverage from within England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

GB News has been hit with criticism on various segments, and stances offered up by some of its more controversial presenters. 

Most recently, a clip of GB News anchor Bev Turner accusing weatherman and meteorologist John Hammond of ‘scaremongering’ over the heatwave went viral and was met with backlash from social media users. 

Many compared it to the film Don’t Look Up which saw stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two scientists trying to warn the world about a meteor approaching the Earth without much luck.

Hammond warned of ‘excess deaths’ as the UK approached temperatures of 40 degrees, telling the host: ‘This will be potentially lethal weather for a couple of days. It will be brief but it will be brutal.’ 

Turner tried to laugh off the heatwave sweeping the UK, by interrupting him and suggesting meteorologists have become ‘fatalistic and harbingers of doom’.

More: Trending

Later this week, GB News will be the latest to host a two-hour hustings event ahead of the leadership vote results next month. 

Broadcast veteran Alastair Stewart interviewing Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in Manchester on Friday.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : University Challenge question writer slams appointment of Amol Rajan: ‘It undoes so much work’

MORE : Strictly Come Dancing star Tyler West taken to hospital just weeks before launch

Entertainment – MetroRead More