GB News title screen in January 2026 proclaiming the broadcaster is ‘Britain’s number one’
GB News says it has beaten both the BBC News Channel and Sky News on average viewership for six months in a row.
This means that the channel is likely to have more live TV viewers watching at any time than its more established rivals.
BARB figures quoted by the channel put GB News ahead for average viewers between 6am and 2am every month from July to December.
GB News continues to have a lower total weekly reach than the BBC News Channel and Sky News. But its higher average viewership suggests it is watched consistently by a smaller but more loyal audience.
In an average week between July and December, more than twice as many people watched the BBC News Channel as GB News.
And across 2025 Sky News reached 4.1 million people versus 2.1 million on GB News.
GB News average viewership
In 2024 GB News reached an average of 860,000 people per day, according to the broadcaster. In 2025 this rose 19% to 1.02 million.
GB News said it had 87,700 average viewers between 6am and 2am in December, ahead of the BBC News Channel on 74,500 and Sky News on 58,300.
The GB News show with the highest average viewership in December was The Camilla Tominey Show which airs between 9.30am and 11am on Sunday mornings, averaging 147,500 viewership compared to rival shows on the BBC News Channel (132,100) and Sky News (125,000). However, Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg is simulcast across BBC One and the BBC News Channel between 9am and 10am, meaning many people watch it on the bigger channel.
GB News Breakfast on weekdays averaged 103,000 viewers, with Sky News on 54,500 and the BBC News Channel on 29,700 (at a time when BBC One airs BBC Breakfast).
Figures for other GB News shows shared by the broadcaster include:
- Britain’s Newsroom, 9.30am-12pm, 117,200
- Dewbs & Co, 6pm-7pm, 124,800
- Patrick Christys Tonight, 9pm-11pm, 84,900
Average viewership is a metric that tends to interest advertisers, who want to know how many people are watching at certain times to measure the potential effectiveness of ad slots.
GB News, which launched in June 2021, has set a target to become the biggest news channel in the UK by 2028. It first said it had beaten its rival channels for average viewership in several key slots in July.
GB News said in December it had become the UK’s biggest commercial news channel with monthly average viewing figures of 80,000 across 2025, overtaking Sky News on 74,000.
It said just before Christmas it had outperformed Sky News on 223 out of 350 days, or 64% of the year to date.
GB News head of programming Ben Briscoe said: “To secure six months as number one is another phenomenal milestone in the story of GB News.
“As we move into 2026, we’re looking forward to welcoming even more people into the GB News family.
“Our journalism is providing an important voice to people across all parts of Britain, and it has never been more important.
“We will continue to deliver the bold and fearless coverage our viewers love and rightly expect, with lots of great programming throughout the year.”
Sky News says focus is on building digital newsroom
GB News remains smaller on most digital metrics than the other broadcasters. The BBC’s website (including non-news content) had a total audience of 40.9 million people in November , followed by Sky News on 19.2 million and GB News on 5.4 million, according to Ipsos iris.
Between January and November, Sky News had an average monthly app audience of 3.4 million, with GB News on 125,000.
On social media the main BBC News accounts have a total following of 133.1 million people across Youtube, X, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat, Whatsapp Channels and Telegram while Sky News is on 41.5 million and GB News is on 9.3 million.
Sky News is one year into its plan to shift focus away from live, breaking TV news towards premium digital video.
A Sky News spokesperson told Press Gazette: “As part of our Sky News 2030 strategy, our focus is on building a premium, video-first newsroom built for the digital future.
“While some competitors have highlighted improvements in individual TV metrics this year, Sky News continues to have a very strong overall audience reach, alongside a significant digital footprint across web, app and off-platform.
“Taken together, this scale shows our journalism is cutting through, delivering real impact and reaching audiences in the ways they increasingly choose to consume news.”
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