Thats exactly what I figured it was going to be. I also expect since its going to be basically televised talk radio and a series of interview and talking head programmes, likely with hourly news updates. I expect there to be heavy reliance on wire service copy and the like with the odd hour of news heavy on politics and culturally right leaning stories. And then one daily "newscast" of record. Lower your expectations right now or you will be sorely disappointed. If it generates the anger and vitriol and Piers Morgan was able to garner at GMB, expect it to attract that audience in droves. Measuring the size of that audience will be the interesting part.
I reached Mr. Neil at his home in the French Riviera, where he has been weathering the pandemic and preparing the start of a new 24-hour cable channel network, GB News, this spring. When I called, he was watching “MSNBC Live with Craig Melvin.” “I think there are things to learn from it in terms of programming, and the visuals are very strong,” he said of the left-leaning American channel. “In terms of formatting and style, I think MSNBC and Fox are the two templates we’re following.”
Quote:
He said he planned to hire some 100 journalists, a fraction of the more than 2,000 at the BBC, but aimed to capture the resentment of the London-centric media
by having many of them broadcast from their hometowns in the north
.
Reading between the lines.....So you can expect there wont be some huge newsroom as Mr Neil says many of the reporters will report from their hometowns. Expect the WFH broadcasting to continue and or they will likely deliver live reports on scene rather than a regional bureau. Because since it will follow the talking head model, and they wont be covering breaking news in the traditional sense.
Quote:
The channel will rely on other news services for its breaking news, he said, and focus its resources on producing American-style, personality-driven news shows.
But he said he wouldn’t follow the American right into outlandish conspiracy theories, and he has denounced Donald Trump’s claim that he won the U.S. election.
“I don’t think there’s an appetite in Britain for ridiculous conflict,” Mr. Neil said. Still, he plans to carry a segment on his own prime-time show called “woke watch” in which he can mock what he sees as progressive excesses. He cited as an example a recent report that British nurses were told they could use the word “chestfeeding” rather than “breastfeeding” to be inclusive of transgender people.
GB News will need a huge audience to succeed, because in Britain, unlike the United States, cable channels depend entirely on advertising, rather than regular payments from cable companies. Mr. Morgan, an old friend of Mr. Neil, would be “a huge asset for the channel,” Mr. Neil said. And, indeed, Mr. Morgan seems an ideal fit for a network determined to showcase personality and passion without violating British rules against partisanship.
By the way, in the uncut
Media Show
interview, Amol Rajan later pushed him on where exactly in Paddington the HQ would be: Neil said he couldn't say yet because they hadn't signed the lease.
Is there a Paddington in the north of England? I ask because I’m sure Andrew Neil told us that GB News wouldn’t succumb to London bias and would serve the non Metropolitan people better than others.
It'd certainly have a lot more credibility with their target audience if they decided to operate the channel from Leeds or Manchester than London for going for the non-London bias they claim other channels have.
I’m not sure the people they are targeting would be that bothered. It certainly has never done tabloid newspapers any harm being based in London or Fox News being based in metropolitan New York for that matter.
And let’s face it most the talent they want to utilise are going to be London based.
Reading between the lines.....So you can expect there wont be some huge newsroom as Mr Neil says many of the reporters will report from their hometowns. Expect the WFH broadcasting to continue and or they will likely deliver live reports on scene rather than a regional bureau. Because since it will follow the talking head model, and they wont be covering breaking news in the traditional sense.
If 120 of the 140 positions are journalists, then that leaves at most 20 technical staff. I don't work in the industry so I could be wrong but it seems like a very small team and the consequence will probably be that they won't be able to react as fast as Sky or the BBC when breaking news happens.