With Russia Today taken off-air in the UK, a slot has opened up for a new channel to take its place on Parliament’s internal TV system. Putting aside the eyebrow-raising decision to allow Russian state media to be broadcast in the corridors of Westminster, Guido hears authorities have now held discussions over what should replace it. One leading candidate was, of course, TalkTV. Given GB News is also available on the annunciators, it seemed inevitable that TalkTV would join the mix…
After some deliberation, however, TalkTV was deemed so “rubbish” that it wasn’t worthy of a slot. BBC Four, a channel which only airs between 7pm and 4am, will take RT’s place instead. For the rest of the day, MPs and staffers who bother to tune in will be greeted with this screen:
This is apparently deemed preferable to watching a live broadcast of TalkTV. A real shame – all 650 MPs tuning in to Tom Newton Dunn’s show would have boosted his viewership by about 15%…
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…
A year ago today GB News launched, promising to shake up the broadcasting media establishment, ask the questions other broadcasters don’t, and fix a few technical errors. The launch months were shaky, although the channel has now established a solid and loyal viewership; often beating Sky News during primetime, the BBC during big set-piece interviews and TalkTV relentlessly. Among highlights over the past year, we’ve seen:
- Their set held up thanks to the Suez canal blockage
- An advertising campaign set up outside the BBC
- Presenters told to smarten up
- The return of a national broadcaster playing the national anthem every day
- A presenter dox Sajid Javid’s mobile number
- A guest accuse her husband of an affair live on-air, nearly giving their legal team a heart attack
- Their rivals at TalkTV begin borrowing their green room for interviews
Guido hears celebrations at the channel were held prematurely yesterday, with a channel family BBQ at a London sports ground for staff, families and pets. Videos of bouncy castle antics and karaoking are doing the rounds…
The channel’s doing so well it’s becoming a springboard for some careers. While Simon McCoy doesn’t seem to be up to much now, Andrew Neil has a Channel 4 show, former director of programming John McAndrew is its producer, and presenter Guto Harri is running government comms. Not bad…
UPDATE: “The PM wishes GB news happy birthday. A year in – hired great talent, presented new perspectives and served new audiences”
It was a big politics night last night, all happening in the evening primetime hours. It’s been a while since Guido last checked in on TalkTV’s ratings, and given yesterday’s packed news flow, he thought it was time to take another look. Despite broadcasting a blockbuster two-hour special last night, Unwatched clocked in with 46,700 viewers, half Farage’s 99,400 and just over a third of Dan Wootton’s audience of 115,000 viewers. Tom Newton Dunn also aired for two hours, to the delight of his 4,000 or so viewers…
Any keen-eyed viewers watching TalkTV yesterday – unlikely – will have spotted a familiar face lurking behind guest Simon Calder during Mike Graham’s broadcast: TalkRADIO presenter-turned GB News host, Patrick Christys. It turns out Calder was Zooming in for his live TalkTV appearance from… the GB News green room.
Throughout his appearance on the show, several members of the GB News team took the opportunity to wander behind Calder and guest star on the rival channel. Unfortunately for TalkTV, borrowing their more popular competitor’s studio for a few minutes didn’t convince many viewers to stick around. Last night TalkTV averaged 18,400 viewers during prime time, with GB News getting 71,700 and Sky News dropping back to third place with 69,000…
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…
