[Luc]

Has there been any further mentions of Boris Johnson's start date? You'd have thought an election would be the ideal time

[newsjunkie]

Has there been any further mentions of Boris Johnson's start date? You'd have thought an election would be the ideal time

The Times reported yesterday that he will not be part of their election night programme.

www.thetimes.co.uk 

Boris Johnson skips GB News election coverage to write overdue books
Former prime minister had been announced as a key presenter for the channel but …
  Source: www.thetimes.com

There are rumours in the industry that his deal may not be as secure as was first reported. Even suggestions he could end up on other channels. I suppose we will know before too long.

[Luc]

thanks for that. A bit like their John Cleese signing. A load of publicity for not much in return and i wonder if it'll happen at all bearing in mind their cost-cutting drive

[JMT1985]

thanks for that. A bit like their John Cleese signing. A load of publicity for not much in return and i wonder if it'll happen at all bearing in mind their cost-cutting drive

At least with John Cleese they got a few shows out of him, Johnson has given them nothing. Poor John Cleese, he really had no idea what type of channel he was signing up for. He regretted joining them very quickly.

[Jon]

thanks for that. A bit like their John Cleese signing. A load of publicity for not much in return and i wonder if it'll happen at all bearing in mind their cost-cutting drive

Not sure I get this. Cleese signed to do a one off series on GB News and he did a one off series on GB News. It took a while to happen but it happened and many would argue it’s the best programme they’ve done. Production wise it was clearly more than an afterthought or just him doing an hour of a normal GBN show.

I do wonder if it’s been a mistake for GB News not to have invested more heavily in podcasts. I know they have that Christopher Hope one and had a few half hearted attempts in the past including uploading every programme as a podcast.

With increased investment and presumbly success the likes of Global and Goal Hanger have had with podcasts and long form content, it makes you wonder if GBN have missed the boat. They might have been less advertiser friendly right leaning content, but there’s obviously an audience for it and would helped supplement its linear offering.

[Matrix]

Not sure I get this. Cleese signed to do a one off series on GB News and he did a one off series on GB News. It took a while to happen but it happened and many would argue it’s the best programme they’ve done. Production wise it was clearly more than an afterthought or just him doing an hour of a normal GBN show.

I do wonder if it’s been a mistake for GB News not to have invested more heavily in podcasts. I know they have that Christopher Hope one and had a few half hearted attempts in the past including uploading every programme as a podcast.

With increased investment and presumbly success the likes of Global and Goal Hanger have had with podcasts and long form content, it makes you wonder if GBN have missed the boat. They might have been less advertiser friendly right leaning content, but there’s obviously an audience for it and would helped supplement its linear offering.

I think one of the challenges, for their target demographic (broadly defined) is that they don’t tend to listen to podcasts. I appreciate there is a wide range but they have a demographic who are more readily accessing GB News through traditional forms.

[Luc]

Not sure I get this. Cleese signed to do a one off series on GB News and he did a one off series on GB News. It took a while to happen but it happened and many would argue it’s the best programme they’ve done. Production wise it was clearly more than an afterthought or just him doing an hour of a normal GBN show.

yes - but what was the return in terms of ratings, revenue and/or kudos and influence? Did any social media clips cut through or make any headlines? Was there medium to long-term uplift in the audience performance for his slot? If you can show otherwise then great, but that's my point.

Agreed on podcasts - albeit GBN has an older, lower socio-economic audience than i would have thought generally go for that medium. But this is ultimately a political project and they probably decided having a linear channel would be the best outlet for that. Maybe that's the next step though.