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04th Sep 2021

Andrew Neil reportedly ready to quit GB News

Kieran Galpin

The captain is set to abandon a sinking ship

Just three months after he launched ‘anti-woke’ media outlet GB News, founder Andrew Neil is expected to leave his freshly birthed right-wing channel. Neil is reportedly having difficulty with the channel’s board and senior management, so much so that his return to the channel on Monday has been cancelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5CZCFeQc6o

TV veteran Andrew Neil announced he was leaving the BBC back in September of 2020. His new pet project, GB News, centred around a withdrawal from the metropolitan left. Though their website reads ‘We are balanced and fair in our coverage’, the channel has been criticised for its overtly right-wing approach that seems to cash in on the UK’s ‘obsession’ with the cultural divide.

Despite its employment of outspoken right-wing commentators like Dan Wootton, Michelle Dewberry, and of course Nigel Farage, GB News has struggled to gain an audience similar to its competitors.

Neil stepped back on leave just two weeks after the channel’s shaky launch, which saw pranks, technical difficulties, and plummeting numbers.

Neil’s departure to France was reportedly due to a difference in opinion between Neil and the CEO, Angelos Frangopoulos. The two had a difference of opinion over the direction of the show, with Frangopoulos wanting to shift the fledgling to match that of FOX News.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQGsiZB4dQ

Senior executive producer Gill Penlington and John McAndrew, both of whom have worked closely with Neil, have also left the channel.

Sources told the Telegraph last month that Neil had grown saddened over repeated technical issues at the channel to such an extent that he looked “close to tears.”

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