Companies reject GB News advertising
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The new GB News platform has stirred up plenty of criticism in its early days. While much of this criticism was contained to public opinion of the show, recent events have led to companies distancing themselves from the show.
As the current situation surrounding advertising on the platform continues to develop, it’s useful to understand what triggered this.
What is GB News?
GB News is a new current affairs channel in the UK that aims to provide a different viewpoint from traditional broadcasters.
Talking about the channel, host and founder Andrew Neil stated: “It’s news-based programming, not rolling news and in America, they’ve discovered that really does get good ratings and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Through this, it would appear that the channel is trying to emulate an Americanised format for its programming.
What happened?
In recent days, numerous brands have opted to pull their advertising from GB News’ channel. It would appear that the catalyst for this decision was the result of a tweet thanking companies whose adverts supported the show.
Kopparberg UK responded to this tweet stating: “Kopparberg is a drink for everyone and we have immediately suspended our ads from this channel pending further review of its content”.
This response from the drinks company has created a chain reaction, leading numerous other firms to pull their advertising from the platform too. The list of companies who have done this includes Grolsch, Nivea and Ikea among others.
What is the public response?
Public response surrounding the pulling of adverts has been mixed. One side of the public is continuing to pressure other companies to pull their advertising from the platform while the other side of the public are claiming this decision goes against freedom of speech.
With GB News already being such a divisive platform in terms of public opinion, it is hardly surprising that there is such a mixed response to the ongoing advertising situation.
The situation has also drawn attention from public figures including Piers Morgan, who has claimed he will boycott Ikea following their decision to pull advertising from the show.
What happens next for GB News?
It will certainly be interesting to see how the situation continues to develop, especially with public figures throwing their opinion into the mix.
Additionally, with the continued pressure from online groups to boycott the channel, whether more companies decide to join the growing list of others who have opted to remove their advertising will be something to keep an eye on. Will GB News slowly dissolve and leave the public eye?