The news opinion channel has started charging viewers for access to extra GB News content.
- It’s part of a plan, revealed before the channel launched in 2021, to raise extra revenue for the channel.
- Subscriptions come in three tiers, with the most expensive coming in at £216, if paid annually or £20 monthly.
GB News has begun promotion of its new subscription membership service that will give members access to paywalled video and newsletters.
The three tier service starts at £5 per month (£54 on an annual basis). For the fee, viewers can unlock extra analysis and opinion from its presenters on the website. Members get access to a crossword and other puzzles, plus a quiz.
The GB News membership mid-tier is available for £10 per month (£108 if paid annually). The mid-tier adds “supporters email” and priority access to live events.
The most expensive tier costs £20 a month (£216 if paid annually) giving members all of the above, plus access to exclusive events. The top tier also unlocks a “VIP” email newsletter.
Plans to get loyal viewers to pay for the channel’s content were first revealed in the run up to the channel’s launch back in 2021.
Back then, RXTV reported that GB News was building a community of users that will be approached for contributions towards the running of the channel. The strategy was seen in a pitch document to investors and seen by the Financial Times.
At the time, it was hoping to earn a fifth of its income from viewers. Since then, it has actively grown its community, which it now hopes will convert into paying members. Following the playbook of similar operators globally, GB News is appealing to prospective members to support the channel because free speech is “under threat”.
Despite the launch of the membership service, the core live TV service remains free-to-air.
GB News has been loss making since the beginning, but financially supported by the deep pockets of its Dubai-based backers. CNN-owner WBD sold its share in the channel last year.