GB News has been plagued with issues since its launch (Picture: GB News)
GB News officially launched on Sunday, June 13 – the first new news channel to premiere in the UK in 30 years – but their first few days have already been fraught with issues during their live broadcasts.
The channel, who Andrew Neil, 72, is chairman and a presenter of, promised to ‘give a voice to those who feel sidelined or silenced’ and to ‘expose cancel culture for the threat to free speech and democracy that it is’.
However, it was already hit with technical difficulties right from Andrew’s opening interview – and there were further production issues to come.
From prank callers using explicit fake names, to actual names being misspelled on screen as well as a man with his bum out on screen, it’s safe to say GB News’s first week on air has been a memorable one.
Here are all the unforgettable fails as they happened.
Whispers and sound issues are heard during Andrew Neil’s first interview, minutes after launch
Andrew’s first interview on the channel was with archaeologist Neil Oliver, but despite making an impassioned point during their conversation, viewers at home could not hear what Neil was saying.
As well as issues with the sound on the guest’s mic, viewers also commented that they could hear whispers from off-stage, with Twitter being flooded with comments about the technical issues.
Spelling errors start creeping in on day two
Laurence fox’s name was spelled wrong during his appearance on GB News (Picture: GB News/Twitter)
Viewers began noticing misspellings on screen from the second day after GB News launched, with an image of Boris Johnson delivering a speech being broadcast with the words ‘Fereedom Day’.
The problems were set to continue as viewers continually spotted names of guests and places being spelled wrong, including Laurence Fox being dubbed ‘Lawrence’.
The fails are coming in so thick and fast that viewers create a dedicated Twitter feed to chart them all – @GBNewsFails – which has already racked up over 26,000 followers in just three days.
Someone did not check the spelling of ‘pension’ before this went out on air… (Picture: Twitter)
Website crashes on third day leaving viewers unable to watch live stream
By the third day after launch, viewers were left struggling to watch the live feed of the channel after it cut out during The Great British Breakfast.
Streaming went down on the GB News website and mobile phones with a message about a Google technical issue, happening while reporter Rosie Wright was in the middle of an interview in Newcastle discussing the delayed Freedom Day.
Brands start pulling their adverts from airing on the channel
Kopparberg and Nivea were among the first brands to pull their adverts from airing in the breaks on GB News on Tuesday, June 15, after customers threatened a boycott.
A number of Twitter accounts listed the brands that advertised on GB News in its first day, including Boots, Cadbury’s, Deliveroo, Facebook, Ikea, Kellogg’s and Nivea, and called for a boycott of the companies.
Some of the brands spoke out on Twitter to claim the adverts were being used on the channel without their consent and suspending them immediately.
Presenter Michelle Dewberry’s outfit choice leads to NSFW optical illusion
Michelle Dewberry chose a sleek jacket for the third day of the channel – but didn’t realise that on camera it made her appear as if she was topless.
The presenter – who took the comments in good humour – had chosen a short-sleeved jacket with two pockets on the front with darker stitching around them and a button on each.
While the outfit was a great look, the outline of the pockets and the buttons combined gave the optical illusion of a pair of breasts on screen instead.
Ofcom complaints about GB News begin just days after channel launches
Four days after the channel launched, complaints had already started rolling in to Ofcom, with 373 viewers complaining about Tonight Live With Dan Wootton.
The nature of these complaints have not yet been confirmed but the presenter had ruffled feathers with his criticism of the government’s use of lockdown earlier in the week.
GB News targeted by prank callers using fake names like ‘Mike Oxlong’
In the most Simpson’s-style prank ever, prank callers started targeting the channel on Wednesday using names which sound explicit when read out by the presenters.
From Mike Hunt to Mike Oxlong, there were so many fake names that presenter Simon McCoy appealed to viewers to stop sending them in.
He said on-air: ‘I’m just going to say something because, if you’ve seen the papers, if you’ve seen Twitter, some people think it’s really funny to send in texts and messages on the basis that if we read them out, we’ve been had.
‘You’re still doing it, and I’m watching them and it doesn’t help anybody.’