The broadcaster has paid substantial sums to attract politicians and on-screen talent including Nigel Farage, Arlene Foster, and Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg
The right-wing British television and radio channel first launched in June 2021 with promises to ‘shake up’ broadcasting, famously opening with Andrew Neil announcing: “We are proud to be British – the clue is in the name”.
Conservative British TV channel GB News has reported losses of £31 million after its first year on the airwaves, reports The Manc.
However, it quickly suffered an advertiser boycott shortly after its debut with brands including Sainsbury’s and Ikea pulling ads from its channel.
Airing with shows from big names like ex-BBC journalist Andrew Neil, ex-UKIP Leader Nigel Farage, Daily Mail columnist Dan Wooton and ex-Sky broadcaster Colin Brazier amongst others, it has spent huge sums to attract on-screen talent and a year on its Companies House accounts for the year to 31 May 2022 report a loss of £30.7m.
The accounts show that GB News Limited reported advertising revenues of £2.97m, digital revenues of £564,000 and sponsorship revenue of £105,664, however, the cost of sales stood at £25.4m and operating expenses at £8.9m.
Yet the business has said that its directors are ‘satisfied’ with the results for the year and expect growth in the future.
Conservative politician Jacob Reese Mogg hosts a regular show on the channel called ‘State of the Nation’. / Image: GB News / Youtube
The reports follow warnings from bosses in February that the channel faced a tough financial environment, as they revealed it is now being financially supported by Brexiteer hedge fund tycoon Sir Paul Marshall and Dubai-based investment company Legatum.
At the start of March, the broadcaster moved its website from gbnews.uk to gbnews.com, which a spokesperson said: “allows us to reach a much larger potential global audience”.
The broadcaster has paid substantial sums to attract politicians and other talents including Nigel Farage, Arlene Foster, and Conservative MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies.
According to PA Media, McVey was paid £58,650 by GB News in 2022 and Davies £46,203.
Press Gazette also found in December that GB News had spent more than any other publisher on payments to MPs, dishing out a total of £82,040 between October 2021 and September 2022.
Since then the company has hired two more sitting Conservative parliamentarians, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson, to host shows on the platform.
GB News said its average monthly reach according to BARB was 2.32 million in the 2021/22 financial year, an average linear audience share of 0.3%. A spokesperson said this figure had risen to 2.84 million by February this year.
IKEA will be launching its own online marketplace full of second-hand furniture.
Just like the ever-popular Facebook Marktplace, the IKEA second-hand marketplace is a dedicated space where pre-loved IKEA products can find a new home.
In bid to make affordable second-hand home furnishings easily accessible, the new online platform will enable customers across the UK to connect with one another directly, so they can buy and sell pre-owned IKEA items locally.
Designed specifically for IKEA products, the marketplace will provide everything shoppers need in one place.
The Swedish retailer is already known and loved for its 'functional' and 'affordable' home furnishings, all produced with care for people and the environment, but the launch of the new IKEA second-hand market place will make it just as easy to pass on an old favourite as it is to find a new one.
IKEA is launching its own online marketplace full of second-hand furniture / Credit: Supplied
"At IKEA, we are always looking for new ways to make life at home even better and help our customers discover products they love," a spokesperson for the retailer said.
"With the launch of IKEA second-hand marketplace in the UK, we’re taking a meaningful step toward creating a destination that simplifies access to pre-owned IKEA furniture.
"Our goal is to make passing on beloved IKEA pieces as seamless as possible.
"We’re creating a trusted and vibrant space to make it quick and easy for our IKEA Family members to trade directly with one another. We want the process for buying and selling pre-owned IKEA products to be simple, accessible and rewarding."
Detailed information regarding the official launch and how customers can get involved will be made available in the coming months.
Featured Image - Supplied
Trending
New TV adaptation of classic Yorkshire-inspired novel Jane Eyre to air on BBC starring Aimee Lou Wood
Emily Sergeant
Manchester actress Aimee Lou Wood is set to lead a new BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, it has been reported.
It was announced earlier this year that Working Title are producing a new TV adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, Jane Eyre - which will be led by The White Lotus and Sex Education star in the titular role - and Deadline has now exclusively revealed that the BBC has joined the production as the broadcaster.
The new TV adaptation has been penned for the screen by Miriam Battye - an award-winning writer best known for her work on HBO's Succession.
Published all the way back in 1847 and set across a number of fictional Northern England settings - mainly inspired by the Brontë sisters' upbringing in Yorkshire - the classic novel explores the moral and emotional development of orphan Jane Eyre as she searches for love, independence, and social equality in the 19th century.
Throughout the novel, Jane overcomes a harsh and unloving childhood and goes on to find work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, before falling in love with her moody master, Mr Rochester, and discovering a dark secret in his attic.
EXCLUSIVE: Deadline hears that 'The White Lotus' and 'Sex Education' star Aimee Lou Wood is attached to star in a new TV adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre.
Emmy nominee Wood will play the indomitable heroine in the buzzy adaptation which we understand is… pic.twitter.com/ETBRaPJanN
The novel is widely considered to be ahead of its time due to how it approaches topics of class, sexuality, religion, and feminism.
Jane Eyre has been the subject of a number of adaptations of the years - most notably the last major TV version being in 2006, also for the BBC, and a 2011 film starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender - but there hasn't been any in 15 years now, and 2027 marks the 180th anniversary for the iconic story.
Aimee Lou Wood is also riding high at the moment after her Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nominations for Season 3 of The White Lotus, and after having also been cast as George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, in Sam Mendes' four Beatles biopic movies, all set to be released in 2028.
As of yet, further information on when and where the new adaptation will be being filmed is yet to be released, and there is no indication of air dates either.
The BBC is expected to reveal more details in due course, so stay tuned.
Sophie Smith -
10th March 2023 
