An Ofcom investigation has ruled against Mark Steyn’s former show on GB News for the second time. Following Steyn’s first breach in March, the broadcasting watchdog said today that Steyn had allowed guest Dr. Naomi Wolf “to promote a serious conspiracy theory [about vaccines] without challenge or context”. The report added there was “no scrutiny of the evidence she claimed to hold to support her claims“. GB News has now been asked to “attend a meeting with Ofcom” to discuss compliance…
“We found that the comments made by Naomi Wolf had the potential to impact viewers’ decisions about their health and were therefore potentially harmful. Given that GB News did not take adequate steps to protect viewers from this potentially harmful content, we have found the channel in breach of Rule 2.1 of the Broadcasting Code.
This is the second significant breach of the Code recorded against GB News. In light of this, we are requesting that GB News attends a meeting with Ofcom to discuss its approach to compliance.”
Steyn has already parted ways with the channel, leaving in February in protest at executives’ efforts make him liable for potential Ofcom fines. Looks like they had good reason to do that…
Ofcom has today found the Mark Steyn show, on GB News, to have been in breach of broadcasting rules. Ofcom’s investigation found Steyn’s show on April 21, 2022 was “potentially harmful and materially misleading”:
“Not because it exercised its editorial freedom to challenge mainstream narratives around Covid-19 vaccination – but because, in doing so, it presented a materially misleading interpretation of official data without sufficient challenge or counterweight, risking harm to viewers.”
Steyn is no longer at GB News, after he quit in protest at executives’ efforts make him liable for potential Ofcom fines.
This marks the first offence for GB News since it launched, as Ofcom adds “the vast majority of complaints made against GB News have not been pursued”. Another Ofcom investigation into Mark Steyn is ongoing…
UPDATE: GB News have released a statement. Read it in full below…
Mark Steyn has quit GB News on fairly bad terms after a protracted leave of absence owing to his health. A few weeks ago Guido picked up that the channel had been trying to formalise Steyn’s contract, having operated on a fairly ad hoc basis since starting his show. Part of trying to get him on board as a properly contracted presenter was also an attempt to rein in his output, given that in a rather short space of time he’d managed to spark two separate Ofcom investigations into claims made on his show.
GBN offered him a new contract to sign, otherwise he’d face termination. It now looks like Steyn is declining to sign the new contract, so he’s out.
In a video put out on his website today, Mark doesn’t hold back on his opinion of the channel’s CEO Angelos Frangopoulos, ranting about the terms of the new contract that would have made him financially liable for any fines imposed on GB News by Ofcom because of his show’s output. He also calls Frangopoulos an “habitual liar”. Shame – Steyn managed to consistently beat Piers’s view count…
Given Piers is boasting about getting “DOUBLE” the ratings of Sky News last night – it appears he now once again believes conventional ratings matter – Guido did his due diligence and checked the BARB figures. In fairness to Piers, Uncensored got 55,600 viewers last night across the hour, with Sky managing 29,500 from 7-7:30 pm, before dropping to 26,600 in the second half of the slot. Well done Piers.
What Piers forgot to mention is he was beaten by GB News, again. Mark Steyn got 64,500 viewers in the same slot, with Farage storming to the front of the pack again with 105,700 an hour earlier. Farage also topped the BBC, which managed 84,900 in his slot…
Patrick Christys, covering for Dan Wootton, got 49,000, virtually neck-and-neck with Beth Rigby’s new show at 50,800. Tom Newton Dunn, meanwhile, entertained his loyal fan club of 4,600…
Another rough start to the week for TalkTV. The latest BARB figures show GB News thrashed them in every prime time slot last night, with Farage miles ahead at 99,000 viewers. Piers Morgan Unwatched came in fifth with 42,500. Maybe his upcoming six-week break in the summer will be a chance to recharge the batteries…
Piers was beaten last night by Bev Turner (standing in for Dewbs), Mark Steyn, Dan Wootton, and of course, Nigel. The last 15 minutes of Piers Morgan Unwatched recorded a zero percentage audience share. Turner, as a stand-in presenter, even scored higher than her colleagues broadcasting in the later, usually more popular slots. She got 53,500, while Steyn got 47,900 and Wootton got 44,100.
Meanwhile over in the baby-Shard, Tom Newton Dunn’s Lazarus-like resurgence back into five figure viewership is, sadly, over. Last night only 4,600 people tuned in. At least he did better than Sharon Osborne, who was watched by just 2,200 viewers. Still early days…
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article referenced Michelle Dewberry as the presenter in second place. Bev Turner actually stood in for Dewberry last night. She tweeted “I’m sure Piers Morgan is delighted for me. I couldn’t know because I’m blocked.” Mea culpa…
The slow motion collapse in ratings of Talk TV is astounding. Until now, Piers Morgan has always held his lead in his slot against Mark Steyn on GB News. Last night Steyn beat Morgan for the first time…
In every primetime slot last night Talk TV got walloped by the rival start-up. Unsurprisingly, Piers is now switching his metric of choice from actual television viewers and telling people the future is all about online platforms, something Guido agrees with. Yet he’s not doing so well on YouTube or the streaming Fox Nation either – hardly surprising that the latter platform, targeted at Trump-loving gun nuts, isn’t terribly keen on the gun ban nut who has publicly fallen out with the Donald. According to a report from Popbitch, his Sky News Australia syndicated show is also bombing in the slot and the station is as a consequence doing worse than it did with the much cheaper previous presenter. Piers counting zillions of supposed impressions on Twitter or TikTok doesn’t make sense or revenue. All this despite the millions being spent on marketing…
