GB News is forcing the BBC to change its output as its audience continues to grow, a major investor into the channel has stated.
Mark Stoleson, the CEO of Legatum, an investment firm with interests in GB News, told The Telegraph that The People’s Channel is having a significant impact on the British media landscape.
He admits that his company’s initial move to back GB News was a “bold” and “risky” one, but data suggesting “tens of millions” of Britons were feeling disenfranchised with media staples like the BBC made such a prospect too enticing to ignore.
The BBC has now been forced to adapt according to Stoleson, who claims his company’s data driven approach has the facts to back up the assertion.
Mark Stoleson spoke to The Telegraph about GB News’s growth
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“GB News’s audience is growing”, he told The Telegraph’s Off Script podcast.
“It’s Britain’s fastest growing news media property.
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“It has had over one billion YouTube views. That’s not bad for something that’s less than three years old.”
GB News’s impact on the media sphere is not estimated by a guessing game, instead data accrued by a full-time team is constantly providing significant evidence to suggest that the People’s Channel is “changing the broader national conversation”, he added.
“The way that [the media] landscape is measured by some is this thing called the Overton Window”, he said.
“We don’t just try to guess, we actually have people that are looking at that full time using computers to analyse every spoken word on the BBC, on Sky, on ITV, just to try to assess, is the GB News conversation changing the broader national conversation?
GB News viewers are frequently getting in touch to voice their appreciation for the channel
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The BBC is being forced to change as a result of GB News’s impact, according to Stoleson
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“We’ve got the data to support that, yes.”
GB News’s growth has not been without controversy, with calls for the channel to be shut down coming from MPs and campaigners after several Ofcom complaints and claims it pedals conspiracy theories.
But in defiant fashion, Stoleson said The People’s Channel is “here to stay” as he brushed off the criticism.
“It has the funding that it needs, it has the mission that it needs, and it has the audience”, he added.
“Whenever we have a down day or we feel like we’re being attacked from all sides, something I find fun and encouraging is reading the letters that come in from viewers.
“We have people that are sending in £5 notes, or a cheque for £10. Some are writing ‘you’ve changed my viewing habits, please never leave’, and they love the presenters.
“When you feel like you’re connecting with the audience in a way that is making a difference in their lives, we’re fulfilling the original mission of GB News and that’s encouraging.
“In contrast with other channels that are getting subsidised by the state, GB News has its audience trying to subsidise us. That tells us we have a significant draw and a big population to serve.”
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