British journalist Andrew Neil, a BBC figure, announced on Friday that he was leaving the public group to take the helm of a 24-hour news channel which aims to compete with BBC News and Sky News from the 'next year.
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The dreaded political interviewer, the 71-year-old journalist will take the helm of "GB News", which will break between the two news heavyweights on British television.
He will host a flagship prime time show.
"
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am leaving the BBC"
, tweeted Andrew Neil, who spent 25 years in the public group and also worked among others for the
Sunday Times,
explaining that he accepted to take the lead of the future newcomer.
“GB News is the most exciting thing that has happened to British news television in 20 years,”
he said.
According to
The Spectator
magazine
, published by a holding company headed by Andrew Neil, the channel is currently raising between 55 and 65 million dollars, with the American group Discovery as its main investor.
"Without animosity"
For its part, the BBC paid tribute to the journalist, regretting that the US election in November is his last appearance in the near future on its antenna, adding that he would "always be welcome".
Claiming to leave the BBC
"without animosity"
, Andrew Neil said that the proposals of the new director general of the BBC had not been enough to repair the
"damage"
made by the suppression of its emissions at the beginning of the summer.
The journalist's name was recently cited to chair the BBC, but Andrew Neil had tweeted that he was
"not interested"
.
During the campaign for the last elections in December 2019, he had crushed the Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had refused to come and answer his questions, unlike the leaders of other political parties.
