Who Cares About Your Opinion? Why the Foxification of British News Isn’t Working (Column)

variety.com:

Scott Bryan A strange trend is taking place on British television: Opinionated American-style television channels have appeared for the very first time.Both generally right-leaning in agenda, if you watch GB News on any given night, you’ll see regular features about so-called “cancel culture” and “wokeism,” as well as a show hosted by the former populist UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Watch “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on TalkTV on any given night and you’ll see rather surreal opening titles consisting of a brain farting out the words “snowflake society,” followed by Fox News-style swooping sound effects and a monologue where Morgan tries to “cancel the cancel culture.”So why is it all so strange?

Well, despite heavy publicity, these shows and channels don’t appear to be resonating with U.K. audiences. “Piers Morgan Uncensored” has consistently shed viewers, from 317,000 overnight viewers on launch day, to less than 60,000 just over two weeks later.

Wednesday’s episode received an average of 44,000 viewers, according to ratings body BARB. In comparison, a repeat of digital channel Quest’s “Salvage Hunters,” where people discover rusty old objects, received on average three times more viewers.