Warner Bros. Discovery has exited its £60m ($72m) stake in British news channel GB News, after it was bought by existing backers Legatum Ventures Limited and Sir Paul Marshall.
A statement in the final minutes from David Zaslav’s conglomerate said that, following the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery, the company had “assessed our global and local investment portfolio” and was no longer a shareholder in GB News.
Warner Bros. Discovery already owns CNN Worldwide, Poland’s TVN Group and New Zealand’s Newshub.
The statement added: “Discovery was one of the first organizations to invest in GB News, doing so before the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery. GB News has built a growing and loyal audience in its first year, bringing another voice in British news broadcasting, and we wish management and shareholders the best in their future endeavours.”
The participation of Warner Bros. Discovery has been bought by Marshall and Legatum, which Legatum chairman Alan McCormick said is “a testament to our confidence in the momentum and trajectory of GB News after a very strong first year”.
GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos thanked Warner Bros. Discovery “see the importance of a new voice in British news broadcasting”.
It introduced a trio of presenters: The Telegraph’s associate editor Camilla Tominey, former politician turned PhD presenter Michael Portillo and broadcaster Andrew Pierce, the latter two of whom will launch their own shows.
GB News was launched last year as the brainchild of British broadcasting heavyweight Andrew Neil, but Neil had left within weeks, citing irreconcilable differences with the channel’s other executives. Neil, who has since launched a show on Channel 4, described GB News last November as a “UKIP tribute band” that could “fall into irrelevance and obscurity”.
Although it has improved recently for Nigel Farage’s flagship late-night show, ratings for GB News have been generally low, well shy of rivals BBC News and Sky News. A new competitor, Rupert Murdoch’s Talk TV, has also recently launched to up the ante.