New Alternative News Channel "GB News" chaired by Andrew Neil launching - read OP before posting

The people who want "light entertainment news" are already happy and we'll catered for by the likes of Sky which for the most part doesn't require a deep interest in politics to enjoy it's programming.

Even among people who support it's politics I don't think there is an audience for the extremely dumbed down red faced shouting arena that is Fox

I think the trouble with things like "Wokewatch" is that it's aimed at people who hate all the "Woke" stuff, yet that probably puts some of those people off watching because it's talking all about that where some people probably prefer to ignore it as much as possible.

I think you underestimate the people in the UK (and probably Ireland) if you think hey wouldn't watch entertainment news. There hasn't been an English Tucker Carlson for the English to watch so they cant have watched it in the past. But I think they would watch it as much as any of the other entertainment you listed above, then i think that's where you underestimate them.

I think they would lap up a right wing entertainment news channel in the same way that they keep the Daily Express going and Twitter and Facebook are full of emotionally based guff.

The Daily express has headlines on their front page including Pensions getting screwed, anti climate change protesters, EU bloc on the ropes, "Brexit Gamechanger! Truss demands UK firms get ready for major new trade boost", Nicola Sturgeon should resign and I sh! t you not there's a headline about the Argentinean President and the Falklands. The target market for this sot of stuff and Facebook and Twitter guff, would love a news channel that caters to their prejudice. They have neither the intelligence or the resources to discuss politics in reality so they can only discuss it in the way people discuss their favourite football team. James O Brien calls it "the footballification of politics" and i think he captures the mood nicely.

But I must be honest and say i don't know how much power Ofcom has or if it can stop GB News from becoming Fox News GB.

Ah yeah but it's new and evolving so it's hardly fair to judge whether it will gather a following in the future yet. The format changes from week to week it seems.

I see Neil Oliver as an interesting case. I see him as a serious person so I wonder if he will stick around when it goes full-on entertainment.

Agreed. Even if it hasn't gone as far as Fox News, it's closer to that than anything else on TV, and it's still not attracting viewers (and in fact, losing viewers at a fairly substantial rate).

If it was appealing to enough viewers, those viewers would be trying to support it. As someone else said on Twitter last night; "Bots don't watch TV". They might get a bunch of tweets and video views etc, and I'm sure many prefer watching quick highlights or main points from some of their shows. But the majority of the output of the channel isn't getting anywhere near enough traction that they need. They've gone as close to Fox News style as they can while staying within Ofcom rules and will likely keep trying to push further towards that, but what Fox News has now was something changed and fostered over decades. They got to a level of huge national news channel, then became what they are now in terms of the more entertainment/discussion side of things. GB News can't push towards that starting at square one.

Well, yes but you could say the same of FF and FG and the UK Tory party and the readers of the Express. They all relay on older people. You could say that in 20 years half their target market will be dead and you'd be correct, but old people are always being created too. And they can adapt to suit the demographics as they evolve.

Just because old people die doesn't mean there's no future in appealing to old people. There have never been as many old people as there are now and people live longer and longer.

But the poster above pointed out that News channels don't make money in the UK so it's more about willingness to continue funding it rather than anything else

I think it could still evolve into a bigger enterprise and could be an insidious threat. I don't think it's definitely going to do so.

If it has backers who are willing to keep throwing money at it then it doesn't need enough viewers to be financially. It just needs enough viewers to have an impact.

I have to agree, and it's why Andrew Neil leaving is a big moment even though he hasn't been on the channel in months. He lended the channel a credibility and recognition it needed, and could possibly have attracted some of the BBC News audience. His name also could have attracted a decent level of guests. But with the channel's launch going so poorly, Neil going off-air, Farage coming on board (which attracts some viewers, but will likely put others off), and now Neil leaving completely, it's hard to see what any further relaunches will change, or who they could attract to join the channel that might turn things around.

The biggest question facing GB News right now is; what can they now offer to bring in new viewers that they haven't already tried? Relaunches at this stage is rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. The pool of new presenters they can likely attract will most likely only come from the same pool as their existing presenters and offer the same thing. They can't try to appeal to more centrist viewers as, with the Guto Harri situation, they face losing some of their existing viewers for trying to appeal to the "woke" side. And there's only so far more to the right they can go without coming in for heavy criticism and losing whatever advertisers they have left (as well as those involved with the channel who may decide it'll be too damaging to their career to stay).

Looking at it as objectively and unbiased as possible, I genuinely don't see what they can do to turn things around in any kind of substantial way.

Did this thread just circle right back to where is started despite the numbers the drop out of staff and presenters and zero evidence of growth.

Absolute bizarre. I stand by my statement it won't see the year out. Plug will be pulled. No one's throwing more bad money after good. Depsite the absolute polar opposite expectations of reality from individual posters who are continually railing against 'the establishment man'. Ironically or not... Can't decide.

OK. Do you really think the left is in charge of the Tory party at the moment?

Then poster above characterised the left as Golliath, which I presume necessary the rest of society the David. If you look at the Tory party and think they're the Golliath left, then it sums up perfectly what I said in the last post.

"If you don't like how things are beibg run by the right, then you need to turn harder to the right".

Doesn't affect me at all because I've never once posted about immigration in Sweden or the UK.