Committee publication · Correspondence · 13 July 2026
Letter from Angelos Frangopoulos, Chief Executive, GB News, regarding BBC Royal Charter Review oral evidence, 8 July 2026
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: BBC Royal Charter Review
Summary
CEO of GB News Angelos Frangopoulos writes to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee chair, objecting to Stewart Purvis CBE's unchallenged critical testimony about GB News during BBC Royal Charter Review oral evidence on 30 June 2026. Frangopoulos asserts Purvis is biased and anti-GB News, and requests the Committee note GB News's own detailed Royal Charter Review submission, which argues the BBC has overreached its remit, distorts commercial markets, and that GB News and other commercial public service broadcasters deserve equal regulatory protections.
Key findings
- Frangopoulos claims Stewart Purvis CBE provided critical but unchallenged evidence about GB News without the channel being afforded opportunity to respond, and asserts Purvis is a biased commentator with 'personal obsession' for criticising GB News.
- GB News submission argues BBC has proliferated 'far beyond its conventional Charter and public service remit' into commercial areas, posing 'existential threat' to smaller commercial broadcasters producing public service content.
- Ofcom research cited shows 63% of GB News viewers regard it as impartial (vs. 60% for BBC) and 69% of regular GB News viewers consider it trustworthy (vs. 71% for BBC).
- GB News submission advocates narrower BBC remit focused on genuinely underserved genres (education, children's, minority language), removal of anti-competitive market distortions (prominence regime, spectrum benefits, must-carry provisions), and reform of licence fee to apply only to households choosing to access BBC.
- Submission proposes contestable funding model for public service media across all broadcasters, extension of PSB regulatory protections to commercial public service broadcasters (CPSBs), and Ofcom oversight of BBC's editorial complaints (abolishing BBC First Complaints system).
Tone
AdversarialTopics
Key actors
Angelos Frangopoulos, GB News, Stewart Purvis CBE, Dame Caroline Dinenage, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, BBC, Ofcom, Muslim Council of Britain, Centre for Media Monitoring
Notable line
“GB News appears to have become something of a personal obsession for him and his activities in this regard include being a leading voice in various anti-GB News campaigning initiatives and lending his support …”
Key Quotes
“GB News was not afforded the opportunity to respond to Mr Purvis' comments. Whilst Mr Purvis is entitled to hold personal opinions that are critical of GB News, the Committee should also be aware of the fact that Mr Purvis is a far from objective commentator, certainly as regards GB News.”
“… although the BBC has delivered an important contribution to public service broadcasting over the past century, its scope has proliferated far beyond its conventional Charter and public service remit, such that its current operations, supported by substantial public funding, have overreached into commercial areas with the effect of suppressing innovation in the private sector.”
“As a result, the BBC's operations now pose an existential threat to the financial viability of other smaller commercial broadcasters producing public service media content.”
“Ofcom's own research in relation to audience perceptions of trust, accuracy and impartiality found that 63% of GB News viewers regarded GB News as impartial (compared with 60% for the BBC) and that 69% of regular GB News viewers consider GB News to be trustworthy (compared with 71% of regular BBC TV viewers) 2 .”
“It is our position that GB News, and other commercial Public Service Broadcasters, should be provided with the same legislative and structural protections as traditional PSBs, such as the BBC.”
“… the BBC should operate only where the market cannot already deliver.”
“The BBC must therefore return to its core objectives: namely fulfilling a public service that supports genuinely underprovided or underserved genres. This might include educational, culturally significant or children's programming.”
“The issue of BBC funding should also be wholly revisited: the current funding model is fundamentally flawed and unfair given viewers who watch or stream live television but choose not to access BBC services are still required to pay a compulsory levy, purely to fund BBC content.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗