GB News: Launch

[JK1985]

The absence of Andrew Neil from the channel I feel is very important - with all that has happened, I feel Andrew needs to get on air very quickly.

If he is in his French residence, then a simple link up to GB News should be established (however judging their connection quality at the moment, even that is in doubt).

Andrew should at least be back for a weekly show - possibly on a Sunday since Alastair Stewart is off now - Andrew could be back for a short weekly appearance.

His presence is needed. He is the man who steered this vessel. And sadly, he is the captain of the ship, who was one of the first people to get into a lifeboat once RMS GB News ship hit the iceberg.

[James Martin]

The absence of Andrew Neil from the channel I feel is very important - with all that has happened, I feel Andrew needs to get on air very quickly.

If he is in his French residence, then a simple link up to GB News should be established (however judging their connection quality at the moment, even that is in doubt).

Andrew should at least be back for a weekly show - possibly on a Sunday since Alastair Stewart is off now - Andrew could be back for a short weekly appearance.

His presence is needed. He is the man who steered this vessel. And sadly, he is the captain of the ship, who was one of the first people to get into a lifeboat once RMS GB News ship hit the iceberg.

How hard would it be to set up an IP video link and then bring him in as an OS with panelists in the studio or otherwise on Zoom?

[JK1985]

This is GB News remember? "How hard would it be ..." - I think the last month of GB News has answered that

[AllWillBeWell]

Simon basically burned his bridges with the BBC with the pre-launch interviews he gave, chances are he won't be back there any time soon.

Probably too damaged for Sky or ITN at this point too.

Perhaps, just perhaps, a job as the main anchor on a BBC or ITV regional news programme, but even that thought is on the fringes of realism.

More likely a PR spokeman for a company or organisation

I don't see why he can't go to Sky, after all Sky has recently taken on Trevor Philips albeit temporarily. Simon is nowhere near as outspoken and may be just what Sky are looking for. Or Good Morning Britain on an odd day or two a week.

[James Martin]

GMB is a great shout. Madeley is a bit too This Time with Partridge.

[James Martin]

Says it all IMO
https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/141...83265?s=20

IMO Andrew Neil is worth a thousand James Obriens.

James O' Brien makes Dan Wootton look like Mother Theresa.

[thecorrector]

Neil breaks his silence:

https://twitter.com/afneil/status/141608...40389?s=21

[Jon]

Neil breaks his silence:

https://twitter.com/afneil/status/141608...40389?s=21

Doesn’t sounds like he’s very confident of returning.

[thecorrector]

And Brazier in what now appears to be some co-ordinated “show of unity”:

https://twitter.com/colinbraziergbn/stat...23499?s=21

[James Martin]

Good news. Keep the faith!

[mightynine]

Neil breaks his silence:

https://twitter.com/afneil/status/141608...40389?s=21

Feels like this was delivered with all the excitement of a contractual obligation.

ETA:

Latest gaffe a few minutes ago...
About to interview wrong guest.

https://twitter.com/winstongld/status/14...57760?s=19

Is their quarterly bonus determined by the amount of times they say "woke" in a guest introduction or something?

[nwtv2003]

Andrew Neil has been the face of the channel long before its inception, as the channel’s champion he should be steering the ship and not fleeing off it. The fact he still remains absent and was only on air for a fortnight before going on holiday really doesn’t bode well for its image.

I don’t subscribe to the politics of Neil and Wootton, but I want this channel to succeed as it’s important to have choice and for views to be aired, I like listening to LBC and Times Radio and I don’t see why that style can’t be replicated on TV.

When I have tuned into the regional bits on GBN it’s quite a good watch and is offering a different choice to the BBC and Sky.

Any other broadcaster (or organisation) public or private would not tolerate a major person such as Neil to disappear after a short space of time. His absence and one tweet really speaks volumes of the situation.

I’d like to see them recover from this, but is the damage already done?

[London Lite]

Another contributor trolls GB News.

https://twitter.com/AA_McNally_/status/1...8749768704

[James Martin]

Another contributor trolls GB News.

https://twitter.com/AA_McNally_/status/1...8749768704

Well clearly they are as it got spotted and if he believes that why go on the channel? What a moron!

[Inspector Sands]

This bit is very interesting:

Sources suggested he had come under pressure to dial down the focus on local reporting and free debate in favour of full-blooded culture war topics, so chose to resign.

Already backtracking on one of their key launch promises about supposed under-reported areas receiving more airtime. I wonder if we could see them starting to drop some of their local reporters all together.

Yes, I imagine those who were hired and announced as regional reporters in the endless stream of pre-launch publicity are a little worried about their jobs tonight.

I wonder if all of them have even received their cameras yet

It's interesting to see the ad breaks have a lot of cremation, no win no fee type ads and less of the big brands they had at launch which presumably means the income they're getting from ads has decreased.

I suppose their ad slots for the first few weeks were sold or allocated according to the audience that the channel was aiming to get. There was nothing else to go on. But once they got on air they're based on their actual performance