GB News is forcing the BBC to change its output as its audience continues to grow, a major investor in the channel has claimed.
Mark Stoleson, the CEO of Legatum, an investment firm which has backed GB News, told The Telegraph that The People’s Channel is having a significant impact on Britain's media landscape.
He admits that his company’s initial move to back GBN 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 provided data 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 is proven by data which suggests Britain's News Channel is “changing the broader national conversation”, he added.
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“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
PA“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.
But a defiant Stoleson said GB News 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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