Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Mr Clark’s spot on. I dip into Times Radio, I’m not their target demographic but it wasn’t founded on hostility for half the population as its USP. And even the print journos who’ve only just moved to broadcasting aren’t conducting themselves as amateurs.

Bring it on, as he seemed to be saying before.

GB News is everything its detractors predicted and worse. Neil’s tone told you what it would be like. Will it last longer than the News on Sunday? A left wing version of this amateur hour.

Youngian wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:59 pm GB News is everything its detractors predicted and worse. Neil’s tone told you what it would be like. Will it last longer than the News on Sunday? A left wing version of this amateur hour.

Of course it will. Remember wingnut welfare has deep pockets.

zuriblue wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:25 am

Youngian wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:59 pm GB News is everything its detractors predicted and worse. Neil’s tone told you what it would be like. Will it last longer than the News on Sunday? A left wing version of this amateur hour.

Of course it will. Remember wingnut welfare has deep pockets.

They'll never run out of donors' money.
And some donors see a massive payoff if they can convert Britain into a deregulated corporate wonderland like the USA.
Or worse.

If Rupert Murdoch can keep the Sun as a loss-leader for all these years, a TV station that gives you a seat at the table is peanuts.

The big difference between 'The Sun' and GB News is that 'The Sun' has still got relatively high readership figures but the figures for GB News are very low and the cost of running a TV channel are more expensive than producing a newspaper.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:46 pm Bring it on, as he seemed to be saying before.

Or - a more truthful explanation.

We inherited a job lot of advertisers through a shared bundle deal.
Most of them don't like our product and are exercising their free market rights.
In a way that we don't like; so we'll scream and scream.

Well, indeed.

I think the advertisers overdo the "values" stuff, mind. That's a gift to GB News people. Just say "We're weighing up where we want to advertise. Don't you like freedom then?"

The Irish Times seems to have the measure of them...

GB News, week 1: It takes until Tuesday to go full wingnut

There’s a moment during the first Monday night of GB News’s programming when its chairman, the former BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil, finds himself staring into the abyss. The Abyss’s name is Dan Wootton, and the Abyss is very pleased with himself. He’s cheerfully telling Neil about his fact-free lockdown scepticism, and Neil, who is still wedded to logic, looks worried that his career is in a burning clown car.

The grinning Abyss has a three-hour programme every night (straight after Neil’s), featuring other nihilistic information vacuums like Nigel Farage and Rod Liddle. I believe it’s called Stare into the Abyss for Three Hours, and it does what it says on the tin...


...It doesn’t take long for Wootton to go full wingnut. On Tuesday he highlights a baseless conspiracy theory about how lockdowns might ultimately be a government plot to curb carbon emissions. Does he have facts to back this up? No. But he’s the type of journalist who doesn’t need facts. He prefers to ask questions. You know, like your four-year-old: What is a dog? Why is the moon? Are spiders happy? Is Isis funding the BBC?

There are some dissenting voices on Wootton’s panel, but most of his guests are a who’s-who of trollkind. They include Allison Pearson, Rod Liddle, Claire Fox, Megyn Kelly, Laurence Fox, Lady Colin Campbell, Lord Voldemort, Scrooge McDuck, the millionaire from the cover of the Monopoly Box, Cruella DeVil, Megatron, Gargamel from the Smurfs and Nigel Farage. (Only the worst seven actually appear.)...

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/gb-n ... -1.4596133

Looking forward to their discussion between Stavros Blofeld and Darth Vader on best methods to eliminate forrins form the NHS.

We seem to be hearing less about viewing figures than last week...

Good point well-made.

Sounds a bit needy...

Can't post links from here but Victoria Derbyshire has tweeted some not very good audience figures. Keep this up and Ian's News on Sunday comparison might be apt.

Before News on Sunday’s editor John Pilger left to complete a documentary in Oz, he left a list of able Fleet St reporters the paper should approach. Instead they hired activist gobshites from left and trade union publications. Although the ones on GB News with experienced journalistic rigour show what a team effort TV is. That ex BBC bloke looks shell shocked.

So she has. Or GB News may regroup and change the tone like breakfast TV. I’d watch the Andrew Neil and Roland Rat Show

On this form, they'd be better off going upmarket. Who's the modern equivalent of Robert Kee, up for a 10 minute interview on underlying inflation at 6am?

If Roland Rat and Greg Dyke are unavailable, maybe they could call in Bob Geldof and The Big Breakfast team. What's Gaby Roslin doing these days?

Looks like Tory MPs are desperate to watch the new channel.

Tory MPs complain GB News is not available on parliamentary estate TV service despite 'propaganda' like Russia-backed RT being on offer

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... state.html