Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV fears it will be hit by an advertising boycott as the stubborn news network prepares to challenge the BBC.
The rebel news channel, which launched on Monday night at 7pm, fears a similar reaction from rival TV operator GB News when some of the world’s biggest brands stopped campaigning after pressure from Stop Funding Hate. the social media campaign group on the left.
TalkTV held two events with advertisers – including one with host Pierce Morgan – to explain the editorial tone of its programs to help defend against a potential attack by critics of the channel.
The move comes when the new chairman of GB News, Alan McCormick, launched a broadcast against TalkTV, claiming it was just one in a series of TV operators who copied the channel after being live last year.
Joining as chairman of the owner of GB News All Perspectives Limited, Mr. McCormick takes on the role left by veteran television operator Andrew Neill after his furious departure last year.
Mr McCormick, co-founder of Legatum, the investment firm that supports GB News, wrote in a note to staff: “GB News aims to be a destroyer of a stable market. As with most startups, industry starters did not particularly welcome a challenger to their status quo.
“If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, however, we must feel sincerely flattered. Almost every day I see examples of established TV operators, following the example of GB News in their style, tone and programming.
“Indeed, a whole new channel has emerged because of us.”
News UK, owner of TalkTV, along with the Sun and Times, held two video conferences with advertisers to announce the channel’s approach before launch.
They include one with presenters Pierce Morgan and Sharon Osborne and another with Scott Taunton, CEO of News UK, TalkTV’s political editor Kate McCann and the channel’s production team.
Mr Morgan told advertisers that he had been drawn back to Mr Murdoch’s media empire because “it is an organization that understands what freedom of speech really means”.
But while he said the channel’s goal was to “maintain the great pillar of democracy”, he acknowledged that there would be some restrictions on what he could say.
“Of course there are limitations and we know where those lines are,” he said. “I would assure this particular audience that you will not be able to put us in any right or left bracket.
“We are not a guerrilla network. We have very different people with very different views. Sharon [Osbourne] and I can certainly never be called conservative, nor would I want to be categorized as a left wing. I see myself as the voice of common sense. ”
The move comes after GB News had a difficult start when it launched last June, when advertisers, including cider makers Kopparberg, Grolsch, Ikea and Nivea, suspended their advertising ties in response to Stop Funding Hate, which gained notoriety by organizing boycotts of some national newspapers promoting center-right views.
Some companies that stopped advertising eventually returned to the channel.
TalkTV’s advertising sales are managed by Sky Media, the advertising division of Sky, which negotiates on behalf of its own channels, as well as by third parties such as GB News.
In a report, Tom Standen-Jewel of Enders Analysis, an independent media research firm, said some advertisers may not be willing to take the risk with TalkTV and said it would take some time for the broadcaster to make a profit.
He said: “Increasing competition in stubborn news and discussion formats, as well as the harsh economic reality of television news production, means that TalkTV is unlikely to be profitable in the medium term.
The “outspoken” style, “uncensored” of some TalkTV presenters, necessarily requires the expression of opinions that are unpleasant for some and more risk-averse advertisers may want to avoid associating them with controversial opinions expressed on the channel (despite that on the contrary, some will actively seek it). “
TalkTV airs live at 7pm on Sky Channel 526, Freeview 237 with The News Desk, hosted by former Sun political editor Tom Newton Dunn. Piers Morgan Uncensored debuted an hour later, followed by The Talk with Sharon Osbourne at 9 p.m.
Add Comment