Neil will lead the channel as chairman and also host a flagship evening programme in primetime.
Political broadcaster Andrew Neil has quit the BBC to head a round-the-clock news channel called GB News which aims to start broadcasting early next year.
The channel, which aims to rival the BBC and Sky, is aimed at those who feel “underserved and unheard by the media”.
Neil will lead the channel as chairman and also host a flagship evening programme in primetime.
GB News plans to feature more than 6,500 hours of content a year, made exclusively for the channel, which has secured broadcasting licences from Ofcom. It has been founded by media executives Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider.
Neil, who has been with the BBC for more than 25 years, Neil, is best known for The Andrew Neil Show, as well as This Week and Daily Politics.
Announcing his departure on Twitter, Neil said: “With heavy heart, I announce I will be leaving the BBC. Despite sterling efforts by new DG to come up with other programming opportunities, it could not quite repair the damage done when Andrew Neil Show cancelled early summer.”
