‘’They’’ said it couldn’t be done. ‘’They’’ said it wasn’t wanted. ‘’They’’ said there was no audience for that kind of news.
Well ‘’they’’, those lefties who inhabit the BBC, most of the trade union movement and anybody who has ever been a teacher, should have been in Washington DC last night for an uproarious party to celebrate GB News launching a bureau in America and new audience research showing the station is defeating both Sky News and BBC News.
It’s been four tough years to arrive at this pinnacle. It started with a belief that there was a huge swathe of the British public who never saw their views of life reflected on television.
That there was a significant group who weren’t in favour of open borders allowing people from any nation in the world to wash up on our shores with their alien culture.
Not in favour of diversity and inclusion policies which meant talent and ability comes second to your skin colour.
Not in favour of net zero which drives our bills and taxes ever higher.
And yet none of these views were ever carried out on our nightly news. All that changed with the arrival of GB News. It wasn’t easy. There were bumps in the road.
The early chairman, Andrew Neil, quit, surprised that he was heading a station coming from the right.
The evening was hosted by GB News presenter Bev Turner, who will anchor the channel's new show The Late Show Live | GB NEWSThen the media regulator Ofcom decided the station wasn’t balanced.
Such a laugh when you think how both rivals of GB News have been pouring out left-wing bilge for decades, often with a round of applause from civil servant types.
Anyway, Ofcom was defeated in the court and have slunk off although I suspect they will be back. They have to do something for their money.
But now the sunlit mountains beckon. Profitability, correctly the holy grail of capitalism, is only a year away.
'The people of Britain have spoken, and the message is clear: the bold and fearless journalism of GB News has connected with communities everywhere,' CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said | GB NEWSAdvertising is at a record. Some raise an eyebrow at the ads. I don’t share their cynicism.
To my mind they are authentic. These are small business owners creating their own TV ads to reach an audience they understand - it’s them.
And the final piece in the jigsaw is the size of the audience. Many nights GB News is literally 50 per cent larger than Sky News and yet Sky has been around for 33 years.
You’ll be pleased to learn that because Sky News is funded by a 10-year dowry left by Murdoch when he sold out, that time is almost up and it will have folded before the next General Election. A sad moment.
What wasn’t a sad moment was the party at The Ned to celebrate the US bureau where Beverley Turner will be doing a two-hour show every night with Ben Leo reporting across the nation.
What I found incredible is the turnout of the good and great of American politics. There were eight Secretaries of State from various departments, including the vital tariff area.
The reality is that that number - plus literally hundreds of other Trump supporting politicians - would not even turn out in that strength for Starmer. And this was simply a TV station.
There was one rock star at the event. You may have heard of him. Nigel Farage. The entire US political establishment wanted a piece of him during the day.
He started off with a three-hour Congress hearing in which he attacked the lack of free speech in the UK.
Then it was off to a boardroom lunch with the Washington Post and finally being the star turn at the GB News party.
He made two predictions. One that he would be Prime Minister and the second that he would be accused by a hostile media of being a drinker, a smoker and womaniser.
All of which, he said, was true, so he couldn’t be damaged.
Under Trump, Washington is the global home of politics. Just for one great night The Donald was pushed aside for GB News.