Report: Brits Prefer Fox News Over BBC

A senior UK government minister has warned that “much of the British public would rather have Fox News on BBC One than BBC News,” claiming the corporation is now so unpopular that without urgent reform it could be replaced by American-style partisan broadcasting.

Ian Murray, the new Minister of State for Culture, Media and Sport, issued the stark warning on 19 November 2025, telling an audience that “there are lots of people out there who want to see [the BBC] go.” 

He said public and political support must be mobilized immediately to “save the BBC” from collapse.

The Labour minister’s intervention follows weeks of crisis at the corporation triggered by the “Trump Panorama editing scandal,” in which the BBC was accused of manipulating footage in a documentary about Donald Trump. The scandal has intensified long-standing conservative criticism of left-leaning bias and fuelled calls, including from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, to scrap the £169.50 license fee.

Murray’s remarks underscore a growing threat from right-leaning rivals: GB News, often described as “Britain’s Fox News,” overtook BBC News and Sky News in viewership earlier this year and has become the second-most watched news source among Conservative Party members.

The minister’s provocative comparison to Fox News – which itself withdrew from the UK market in 2017 after repeated impartiality breaches – is intended as a wake-up call to defenders of public-service broadcasting ahead of negotiations over the BBC’s future funding and royal charter, due by 2027.