GB News has overtaken Sky News to become Britain’s number one commercial news channel, according to official data.
Sky News has dominated the commercial 24-hour news sector, since its launch in 1989.
But latest BARB data shows how, in 2025, that dominance ended, with GB News recording monthly average viewing figures of 80,000 across the year. This is more than nine per cent higher than Sky News’ 74,000.
GB News is now also on track to become Britain’s number one news channel for six months in a row as it continues to soar ahead of both the BBC News Channel and Sky News. Latest BARB data for December indicates GB News will be number one like it was in July, August, September, October, and November.
Since January 1 this year GB News has outperformed Sky News on 223 of 350 days (64 per cent of the year to date).
GB News has also spent 48 days as the UK’s number one non-public service broadcasting (PSB) channel in 2025. This puts GB News 200 per cent up on Sky News’ 16 days.
Average time viewed (ATV) is also higher for GB News, The People’s Channel recorded 94 hours in 2025, compared with Sky News’ 86 hours, a difference of 12 per cent.
GB News’ growth doesn’t stop there.
On linear television, the channel now reaches approximately 1.02 million people per day, which is a 19 per cent year-on-year increase.
Digitally, its growth is even higher.
The channel generated around 2.6 billion video views and streams in 2025, up from approximately 0.8 billion in 2024, an increase of 230 per cent. This staggering growth has been driven primarily by rapid expansion across TikTok, YouTube and connected TV (CTV) platforms.
The channel has been the UK’s number one non-PSB channel for 45 days so far in 2025, and is now ranked as a top six non-PSB channel in the UK.
Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO of GB News, said: “GB News has proven that journalism which puts the people first deeply connects with communities across the nation.“The people of Britain trust us to provide journalism which is fearless and bold – and we will continue to deliver it.”
The performance follows a year of high-profile coverage and exclusives for the channel. In November, GB News secured a world exclusive interview with Donald Trump, which became the most-watched interview in the channel’s history and generated international media attention.
GB News has also broadcast a series of exclusive investigations into grooming gangs and immigration, as well as championing stories ignored by other news channels.
Mr Frangopoulos added: “Across all our platforms GB News is setting new records for growth, and engagement at a time when the editorial standards of others are being brought into question.
“2025 has also seen a significant international expansion of GB News, something which will be accelerated in 2026 to see GB News become an international voice of the UK.”
How GB News ended Sky’s dominance to become Number 1
GB News’ linear TV reach, defined as the total number of unique individuals watching the channel, has increased year on year. In 2024, the channel reached an average of 860,000 individuals per day. In 2025, that figure rose to 1.02 million individuals per day, an increase of 19.2 per cent.
Digital consumption has increased at a faster pace. In 2024, total viewing events across TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and CTV stood at 0.8 billion video views and plays. In 2025, this increased to approximately 2.6 billion, representing growth of 230 per cent year on year.
TikTok remains the channel’s largest growth platform. Views rose from 656 million in 2024 to 1.82 billion in 2025, an increase of approximately 180 per cent. Facebook video views increased from 32 million to 98 million over the same period, more than tripling year on year and rising by around 200 per cent.
GB News’ YouTube channel also recorded year-on-year growth of 6.4 per cent, with monthly views increasing from 55 million in 2024 to 58 million in 2025.
Viewing via CTV platforms increased as well. Plays rose from 1.85 million per month between November and December 2024 to 1.86 million over the same period in 2025.