My thoughts on the new GB News channel

 As we have a new news channel, set up by the likes of ex BBC presenter and Murdoch ally Andrew Neil and twitter has been afire with views, I thought I'd share mine.

Q. Does it bother me?

A. No, I think that so long as it tries to do it's job professionally it isn't a problem. I don't expect it to present 'alternative truth' etc. It may just have an editorial spin that is to the right of my taste. 

Q. Will I watch it?

A. Probably not. This is nothing to do with it's editorial line. It is because it won't have the resources of Sky News, BBC News, CNN or Al Jazeera, which I tend to watch as they have people on the ground so can give the best perspective. I'm not overly interested in punditry, which is what I suspect we'll get a lot of.

Q. Do I thik companies like Koppaberg are right to boycott the station?

A. They are commercial organisations and clearly believe the station is not right for their band. My studios have used radio advertising on XFM over the years. This is because it fits our demographic. A company like LBC would do so less, so we wouldn't advertise with them. I think the decisions are taken for sound commercial reasons and are sensible.

Q. Do I dislike Andrew Neill?

A. No, I used to enjoy him on This Week with Michael Portillo and Dianne Abbott. He's not a bad presenter, but I doubt that what he's curating will have the content that would tempt me away from my preferred channels. I may well have a gander at some point, if I am bored. If I am wrong and find it fascinating I will say so.

Q. Do I hope it fails?

A. I really don't care either way. The question is like asking me if  I'd like a pea canning plant in Herefordshire to fail. I wouldn't want to see people lose their job, but it would not be something I'd lose sleep over and if it does, I would assume it was because homework wasn't done by investors. If they make a shedload of money, good for them taking the chance.