STEPHEN GLOVER: Will the BBC rue the day it drove Andrew Neil into the arms of a rival news channel?
STEPHEN GLOVER: Andrew Neil was mistreated by the BBC to the point of humiliation. Will the Beeb rue the day it drove Neil into the arms of a rival news channel?
Will the BBC rue the day it drove Andrew Neil – by widespread agreement Auntie’s most forensic and best informed political interviewer – into the arms of a fledgling rival news channel?
That is what many will ask following the announcement that Mr Neil is to be chairman of GB News, a new channel that hopes to launch in the first quarter of next year. He will also host its flagship evening programme.
Of course, GB News, which expects to reach almost all British households, would have launched anyway. Its lead investor is Discovery, a multinational media behemoth based in New York and a big player. But with Mr Neil on board it will pack an extra punch.
Why the Beeb chose to mistreat its star interviewer to the point of humiliation remains a mystery. It’s true it has never properly valued him, giving him programmes at odd times of the day and night outside peak time while lesser journalists were cossetted and feted – and offered prime slots.
Will the BBC rue the day it drove Andrew Neil – by widespread agreement Auntie’s most forensic and best informed political interviewer – into the arms of a fledgling rival news channel?
Mr Neil’s ‘crime’ in the eyes of some Corporation executives was not to be of the Left. Indeed, he once worked in a senior capacity for media mogul Rupert Murdoch, a hated figure at the BBC, though the two men are no longer close.
Even so, the axing of his daytime show, not long after his weekly nightly programme had been killed off, was breathtakingly brutal. For weeks, no one at the BBC bothered to tell him what was going on. Incoming director-general Tim Davie recently attempted to mend fences, but Mr Neil had had enough.
The question is whether GB News will represent any threat to the all-powerful BBC, which with its multiple television channels and radio stations is by far the country’s biggest supplier of news.
According to some estimates, Auntie provides over half the news the public receives. She may protest until the cows come home that this news is delivered in a fair and balanced way, but many millions of people believe otherwise, and discern a leftish, metropolitan bias.
I suspect that, as a single channel with limited resources, GB News will be too small to deliver a knock-out blow to the BBC, although it is aiming to produce a significant output of some 18 hours every day.
That is what many will ask following the announcement that Mr Neil (pictured with his wife Susan Nilsson) is to be chairman of GB News, a new channel that hopes to launch in the first quarter of next year
But its impending launch nonetheless marks an upheaval in British broadcasting. Whilst it will have to operate within impartiality rules policed by media regulator Ofcom, GB News will give vent to a wider range of views on the centre-Right than are to be found at the BBC.
The model appears to be radio stations such as LBC and Talk Radio, where opinionated presenters (occasionally on the Left) stimulate lively informed debate and discussion.
This recipe, rather than the rolling news provided by outlets such as Sky, will constitute the bulk of the new channel’s content.
Mr Neil’s enemies on the Left will doubtless accuse him of fronting a British version of Fox News, an American news channel which leans raucously to the Right and makes no pretence of objectivity.
GB News may adopt a similar format but I’d be surprised if its political prejudices were the same as Fox’s – and not only because of the constraints of Ofcom. Though undoubtedly of the Right, Mr Neil is no rabid ideologue. As a BBC interviewer, he was as tough on Tories as on Labour.
More unapologetically Right-wing is the news channel reportedly being contemplated by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, though that too would have to observe Ofcom’s rules. Unless, of course, the Government changes them.
A revolution is underway. Cracks are appearing in the monolithic BBC. Its dominance – and its values – are being challenged. For those who cherish liberty and greater choice, this is both welcome and overdue.
Andrew Neil will lead new rolling news channel to rival BBC and Sky aiming to reach those who feel ‘underserved and unheard’ by the media
Andrew Neil will lead new 24-hour news channel to rival BBC and Sky aiming to reach those who feel ‘underserved and unheard’ by the media.
The broadcaster will be the face and chairman of GB News, signalling the end of his relationship with the BBC, where he has been one of the most respected political interviewers.
Plans are in place for ‘Britain’s news channel’, aimed at those who feel ‘underserved and unheard by their media’, to launch early next year.
The channel could shake up the TV news landscape, currently dominated by Sky News and BBC News.
As well as being appointed chairman, broadcaster and former Sunday Times editor Neil, 71, will host a flagship evening programme in primetime.
This will lead the programming line-up.
He said: ‘GB News is the most exciting thing to happen in British television news for more than 20 years.
‘We will champion robust, balanced debate and a range of perspectives on the issues that affect everyone in the UK, not just those living in the London area.’
Neil, best known for The Andrew Neil Show, as well as This Week and Daily Politics on the BBC, added: ‘We’ve seen a huge gap in the market for a new form of television news.
‘GB News is aimed at the vast number of British people who feel underserved and unheard by their media.’
The BBC confirmed this summer that Neil’s self-titled show would not return to TV screens after it came off air during the pandemic.
It said at the time it was in discussions about a new interview series with Neil.
Political interviewer and publisher Neil recently dismissed speculation that he was in the running to be the next BBC chairman, saying on Twitter that he has ‘no interest in the job’.
At a time when the BBC and commercial media companies are cutting jobs, GB News said it hopes to create at least 120 positions.
They include more than 100 journalists in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with the channel.
Global media and entertainment company Discovery, Inc is the lead investor.
GB News will feature more than 6,500 hours of content a year, made exclusively for the channel, which has secured broadcasting licences from Ofcom.
It has been founded by media executives Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider.
They said: ‘Andrew Neil epitomises what GB News is all about.
‘He’s an exceptional journalist, brilliant interviewer and fearlessly independent.’
They plan for the channel to reach 96% of British television households via Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.
The BBC confirmed this summer that Neil’s self-titled show would not return to TV screens after it came off air during the pandemic
GB News will broadcast seven days a week across the UK and Ireland and will be available globally on GB News digital platforms.
Sky launched a 24-hour news channel in 1989 and the BBC followed, in the UK, in 1997.
Former Sky News executive editor John McAndrew will be director of news and programming and ex-Sky News Australia chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos has been appointed chief executive officer.
GB News said that more announcements will be made in the coming weeks.
The BBC has thanked Andrew Neil for his work at the corporation following the news he will be the face and chairman of GB News.
A statement said: ‘We’d like to give our heartfelt thanks to Andrew for his many years of work for the BBC, during which he’s informed and entertained millions of viewers.
‘We wish Andrew every success in his new role; we’re sorry the US election coverage will be his last BBC presentation work for the foreseeable future but he will always be welcome at the BBC.’