By Leah Montebello
GB News has secured £60m in investment in a new ownership arrangement, which sees Warner Bros. Discovery dump its stake in the firm.
The US entertainment giant, as well as GB News co-founders Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider, were bought out by Sir Paul Marshall and investment firm The Legatum Group.
Cole and Schneider have also resigned as company directors.
Warner Bros. Discovery said the decision to sell its shareholding was part of continued evaluation of its investments after the merger, a move that brought several wholly owned news assets, including CNN Worldwide, into its portfolio.
GB News Chief Executive Officer Angelos Frangopoulos said the renewed investment from Legatum and Marshall would will give GB News the “financial muscle” to build for the long term in a competitive market.
However, the announcement comes as the news channel, which has around 200 journalists, struggles to crack the mainstream audience.
According to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board, the TV channel reaches around two million people each month, compared to BBC News Channel’s 15.9m and Sky News’ 10.9m.
The right-leaning channel, notably got off to a rocky start last summer. Not only was the launch plagued with technical difficulties, but it also saw the sudden departure of former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil as its star presenter.
Nigel Farage, MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton, and former ITV presenter Alastair Stewart are all regulars on the show.
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