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GB News hit the small screen last Sunday, but just hours in, left-wing Twitter users began questioning why some household name advertisers were using the channel. The new outlet — which has promised to tackle cancel culture and “wokery” — soon found major brands such as furniture giant Ikea, cider firm Kopparberg, Specsavers and Octopus Energy, pulling their ads from the channel. Piers Morgan, renowned TV presenter said to be considering a move to GB News, was one of many to show his support for the channel amid the ongoing backlash and “woke” wars.
Targeting the furniture store, he tweeted: “Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps. I’m boycotting Ikea.”
However, the unravelling from the channel’s financial supporters has prompted concerns that Andrew Neil’s new platform could be heading for disaster, especially after it accumulated a jaw-dropping £60million in start-up costs.
Financial worries were also behind the collapse of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s proposed TV station before it tried to launch earlier this year.
As News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks pointed out: “We determined early on in that review [of a new station] that it was not commercially viable to launch a traditional news channel on linear TV.
“While there is consumer demand for alternative news provision, the costs of running a rolling news channel are considerable, and it is our assessment that the payback for our shareholders wouldn’t be sufficient.
“We need to launch the right products for the digital age.”
They would supposedly pay a £5 monthly fee, providing funds which GB News could come to rely on in light of the recent advertising backlash.
The i claimed: “Viewers will be invited to continue the conversation through a subscription-funded streaming spin-off which will provide a forum for debates, live events and direct interaction with presenters.”
The outlet also hinted that GB News could partner up with Discovery, which is planning to launch its own on-demand streaming service to rival industry giants such as Netflix.
This supposed plan echoes Fox Nation, the spin-off subscription service linked to the right-leaning US cable channel, Fox News, which GB News has already drawn parallels to.
Similarly, Fox News “superfans” pay $5.99 (£4.28) a month for extra opinion shows and documentaries.
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According to the i, GB News wants to create their own community by voicing the unfiltered views of those in Red Wall towns in the North of England and in the Midlands, rather than catering to the so-called metropolitan elite.
This alternative could become the key to keeping the new free-to-air, 24-hour news venture afloat.
Indeed, speaking before GB News even launched, chief strategy officer at media agency Wavemaker UK, Verra Budimlija, warned that it was dangerous to rely on advertisers for such an extensive project.
She told Campaign magazine: “When rolling-news channels have experienced huge growth in viewing, advertisers remain cautious around appearing in content that could damage their brands.
“Advertisers will stay vigilant around the tone of the new station, wary of negative brand association.”
Others have indicated that more unconventional TV advertisers could plug the gap as well, rather than just the major household names.
Agency storyteller Rob Keery from Anything Is Possible told Press Gazette that the channel will appeal to “brands who wouldn’t normally think of themselves as TV advertisers”.
He claimed it will be able to reel in different companies, especially as the cost of TV adverts has fallen in recent years and TV ad placements are now at their lowest price in two decades due to the pandemic.
Mr Keery also pointed out that the Covid crisis saw TV reach record viewing figures during the lockdown as the public hunted for trusted news about the virus.
He continued: “Compared to all other [mediums] the trust that people have in a TV advert is outstanding and there’s still a halo effect from appearing on a TV channel.
“The perception of brand strength on a TV advert is much greater than social media, print or any other.
“If you are on TV, people think you are doing well and that has a hugely beneficial effect on brands.”
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