Ofcom has levied a £100,000 penalty on GB News for breaking due impartiality rules with People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, which was broadcast in February.
It is the first time Ofcom has imposed a fine on the free-to-air channel.
The programme featured then prime minister Rishi Sunak in an hour-long question-and-answer-style discussion with a studio audience.
In a statement, Ofcom attributed the size of the fine to “the seriousness and repeated nature of the breach of [due impartiality] rules”.
The broadcast regulator has also directed GB News to broadcast a statement of its findings in this case, “on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom”.
Ofcom received 547 complaints about the show after it aired on 12 February.
In May, the regulator found the programme failed to maintain due impartiality. It considered the case “serious”, given the timing of the programme ahead of the general election in July, and “repeated”, given GB News’ prior breaches of impartiality rules.
In a statement at the time, Ofcom said it found Sunak had “a mostly uncontested platform to promote policies and performance of his government in a period preceding a UK general election” and that GB News’ approach to compliance was “wholly insufficient”.
GB News called the decision “an alarming development” and a “watershed moment that should terrify anyone who believes, as we do, that the media’s role is to give a voice to the people of the United Kingdom, especially those who all too often feel unheard or ignored by their politicians”.
The channel is currently challenging the earlier breach decision and Ofcom said it would not enforce the sanction until those proceedings are concluded.
GB News has been reached for comment.
The broadcaster celebrated its third anniversary in June. In its first two years, it reported losses of £30.7m and £42.4m respectively.
It is backed by hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall, among others. Marshall purchased The Spectator in September for £100m.
Ofcom has previously found five programmes on GB News had broken impartiality rules.
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