Why does Xcode show warning 'Will never be executed' on my 'if' clause?

I want to show a note/label on my tableview background when/if there is no data to load, or data is being fetched etc.

I can't see what am I doing wrong here. Xcode is showing a warning "Will never be executed" on this line of code: if mostUpTodateNewsItemsFromRealm?.count < 1 {

Here is the method.

    override func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> Int {

    // create a lable ready to display
    let statusLabel: UILabel = UILabel(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, self.tableView.bounds.size.width, self.tableView.bounds.size.height))
    statusLabel.textColor = globalTintColor
    statusLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
    self.tableView.backgroundView = statusLabel
    self.tableView.backgroundView?.backgroundColor = colourOfAllPickerBackgrounds

    // 1) Check if we have tried to fetch news
    if NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults().valueForKey("haveTriedToFetchNewsForThisChurch") as! Bool == false {
        statusLabel.text = "Busy loading news..."

    } else {
        // If have tried to fetch news items = true
        // 2) check church has channels
        let numberOfChannelsSubscribedToIs = 0
        if let upToDateSubsInfo = upToDateChannelAndSubsInfo {
            let numberOfChannelsSubscribedToIs = 0
            for subInfo in upToDateSubsInfo {
                if subInfo.subscribed == true {
                    numberOfChannelsSubscribedToIs + 1
                }
            }
        }
        if numberOfChannelsSubscribedToIs < 1 {
            // if no channels
            // show messsage saying you aren't subscribed to any channels.
            statusLabel.text = "Your church hasn't setup any news channels yet."

        } else {

            // 3) if we have tried to fetch news AND the church DOES have channels
            // check if we have any news items to show
            if mostUpTodateNewsItemsFromRealm?.count < 1 {

                // If no news items
                statusLabel.text = "Your church hasn't broadcast and news yet."
            } else {
                // if have tried to fetch AND church has channels AND there ARE news items
                // remove the background image so doesn't show when items load.
                self.tableView.backgroundView = nil
            }
        }
    }
    // in all circumstances there will be one section
    return 1
}