Ofcom has today found Sky News in breach of broadcasting rules after it aired an interview with Douglas Ross MSP on 10th June. The watchdog ruled that the interview was in breach of Rule 6.11, which stipulates:
“Where a candidate is taking part in a programme on any matter, after the election has been called, s/he must not be given an opportunity to make constituency points, or electoral area points about the constituency or electoral area in which s/he is standing, when no other candidates will be given a similar opportunity.”
Curiously, Ofcom has not publicised the ruling, with no sanctimonious tweets or press releases about the decision. Guido notes that whenever they find GB News in breach of conduct, they are always quick to tout it to the media. Two-tier Ofcom strikes again…
Last week Guido reported that GB News beat Sky News on a Sunday for the first ever time with 63,600 to Sky’s 61,200. GB’s soaring viewership isn’t showing any sign of stopping…
For the first time ever, GB News has edged out Sky News across an entire month. The latest BARB figures reveal GB pulled in an average of 70,430 monthly live viewers from 6 am to 2 am in November, leaving Sky trailing with 67,670. BBC better watch out…
As Editorial Director Mick Booker put it: “GB News isn’t just a broadcaster, it’s a community that is getting bigger every day.” With GB now trouncing the old guard of broadcasters, Ofcom might finally be forced to ditch its double standards toward the three-year-old disruptor…
In a busy week for TV news, the latest BARB viewing figures reveal that GB News has outpaced BBC News and Sky News for three days running. More happy reading for the People’s Channel…
On Monday, GB News pulled in a solid 78,500 viewers, edging out the BBC with 75,000 and Sky News with 69,000. The farmers’ protest coverage on Tuesday saw an even bigger spike, with GB News soaring to 88,500 viewers – a 17% lead over Sky and 12% over the BBC. By Wednesday, GB raked in 81,000, comfortably ahead of Sky’s 69,000. Their upwards trajectory shows no sign of stopping…
As Nigel Farage put it, “It’s no wonder Ofcom gives us such a hard time.” Though with GB News now making its mark as a growing force in the media market, the days of targeting what was once a small broadcaster may be numbered. Britain’s news channel knocking it out the park…
Salon Employers Association founder and salon owner Toby Dicker spoke to Kay Burley just now about the budget. He says the initial reaction is shellshock: “It is much, much, much, worse than we ever thought it could be.”
Dicker says his business has been hit to the tune of £127,000, in particular by the 1.2% hike in Employer NICs which affect hairdressing and beauty five times more than traditional retail. Thanks to the higher proportion of wage costs…
The business owner broke down before going in on bureaucrats in government:
“They kicked me out of meetings for asking polite questions about these things. I asked very very polite questions and I was thanked for my help and told to go away. And I’m the only person in those meetings who runs a business. All we’re asking for now is let this administration please sit down with us for half a day. Let us explain what it is you’ve lost. A billion pounds already from 45,000 people leaving employment in the last five years.”
He spelt out that the tax hikes mean “our industry is totally done, they have no choice now. They’re just going to say ‘We have to go into this gig economy, we have to get rid of all our apprentices, we can’t afford it.’” Incidentally Labour is targeting the gig economy for decimation too…
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy confirmed on Sky News that all disposable vapes will be banned from 1st June 2025. Thank Sunak for that idea…
Nandy said that the ban was being pursued to prevent the take-up of vaping in children. It’s already illegal for kids to buy vapes, the same goes for cigarettes…
She then went on about how they weren’t “pleasant“:
“Single use vapes in particular are causing a lot of problems for the environment. You know I walk through my local park and the council is very good job of dealing with it but you see them discarded all over the place and, um, it’s not pleasant at all for people to have to deal with. So for those reasons we’ve taken the decision to ban single use vapes from next year.”
Guido didn’t realise pleasantness was the metric by which the government decides if something should be outlawed or not. Even the British public isn’t behind Starmer on some of his extreme nannying policies…
Rumours about the future of Sky News are swirling, and they aren’t pretty. With viewership dwindling and financial woes mounting, the channel has slashed its freelance budget, along with Sky announcing plans to lay off 1,000 staff members in January. Staff have complained of a steep drop in available shifts, and discontent among employees is bubbling over as they prepare to unionise, fed up with meagre pay and poor working conditions…
The numbers tell a grim story. August saw Mark Austin’s The News Hour limp to a mere 76,000 viewers—less than half the 165,000 who tuned in to BBC News channel at 6pm. Meanwhile, Ofcom’s latest figures reveal a troubling trend: the percentage of people who say they watch Sky News has dropped from 21% last year to just 19% in 2024…
Comcast, which acquired Sky News in 2018, has only committed to keep the channel afloat until 2028. With an annual budget exceeding £100 million, though racks up losses in the tens of millions, Sky News is far from a money maker. Notably, the contract has yet to be renewed, leaving the future of the channel in question. News of trouble brewing at Sky Towers will be music to the ears of its rivals…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
