Thursday, 18 August 2022

Bloomberg UK: Warner Bros. Discovery to Sell Stake in GB News

Story from Bloomberg UK:

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. will sell its stake in British television startup GB News as part of a £60 million fundraising round.

Co-founders Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider have resigned as company directors and also agreed to sell their stakes, the company said in a statement on Thursday in response to inquiries from Bloomberg. Hedge fund manager Paul Marshall and investment group Legatum will buy the holdings.

In its first year on air, GB News was hit by a boycott of advertisers opposed to its editorial stance, and then found itself up against media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who founded a rival conservative-leaning channel called Talk TV. GB News currently has more viewers than the News Corp. project, according to the UK’s Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board.

GB News also announced it’s hired Daily Telegraph journalist Camilla Tominey, broadcaster Michael Portillo, Daily Mail political commentator Andrew Pierce as on-air talent. Tominey and Pierce will keep their positions at the Telegraph and Daily Mail.

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