As it continues to look for $3 billion in savings, Warner Bros. Discovery is selling its stake in the U.K. news channel, GB News.
The news channel, launched in June 2021, was backed by Discovery Inc., which invested $72 million in the startup.
Warner Bros. Discovery, in a statement, said that the company has exited its investment and is no longer a GB News shareholder—after evaluating its global and local investment portfolio after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery earlier this year.
The statement added, “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.”
At its launch, GB News was heralded as a conservative counterpart and competitor to BBC News and Sky News. Longtime British news anchor Andrew Neil was its founding chairman and lead anchor.
The news channel, since then, has been beset with a myriad of problems ranging from low ratings, technical issues and personnel turnover – including Neil’s exit from the network.
With GB News no longer part of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company’s remaining news portfolio now consists of CNN Worldwide, TVN Group in Poland and Newshub in New Zealand.