TalkTV could go online-only with Sun TV rebrand after Piers Morgan moves to YouTube
TalkTV could follow Piers Morgan’s move to YouTube with online-only programmes rebranded as The Sun TV to replace the struggling news channel.
It comes after i revealed last week that insiders fear the Murdoch-owned TalkTV will close following the departure of its biggest star.
Morgan is moving his Uncensored show to YouTube, where it has 2.3m subscribers, vastly outnumbering his nightly TV audience, which regularly played to fewer than 30,000 people.
With TalkTV shows sometimes registering zero viewers, according to Barb ratings, News UK, owner of The Sun and the Times, is understood to be looking to cut its losses and pare back the channel.
Options under discussion include rebranding Talk as The Sun TV, in a bid to tap into the sister paper’s wider tabloid audience.
Rolling programming would cease but a daily Sun TV programming block could run on YouTube, featuring exclusive interviews and debates about the latest stories.
i understands that reporters across the Sun newsroom are already regularly being asked to film pieces to camera and discussion segments about their stories. TalkTV presenter Jeremy Kyle was spotted filming trial “Sun TV” links at the station’s London Bridge HQ last year.
Insiders said TalkTV could be gradually wound down with the channel simulcasting more programmes from the News UK-owned TalkRADIO station.
Closing TalkTV as a linear channel would allow News UK to save money by ending the annual fees it pays for broadcast slots on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media. Online-only programmes would also not be subject to Ofcom regulation on impartiality, a freedom Morgan’s Uncensored will now enjoy.
News UK declined to comment on TalkTV’s future. But Scott Taunton, executive vice-president of broadcasting for News UK, said:”Creating professional quality, TV-like video that does well digitally – via streaming services and social media – will be the focus of future investment for all our brands, including Talk.”
The Guido Fawkes website reported that Rupert Murdoch took the decision to end Morgan’s show on TalkTV because the ratings failed to justify the cost.
The company said Morgan had explained the motivation for his digital move. He said the YouTube audience for Uncensored has “generated increasingly strong revenue, making the business case for this digital-first pivot not just compelling but imperative.”
Morgan signed a £50m three-year deal to work across News Corporation’s global brands.
His contract is soon up for renewal, with Morgan now eyeing the financial rewards that opinionated presenters with huge personal followings can amass through advertising and sponsorship deals, outside of traditional media companies.
Uncensored returns on YouTube on Monday February 19. However the programme may not air every day on YouTube and will no longer be tied to the hour-long format, with advertising breaks, of a regular TV broadcast. Morgan is still expected to “pop up” on TalkTV and segments from Uncensored are look set to air on the channel.
News UK has approached the owners of GB News with offers to buy its right-wing rival, i understands. GB News sources say at least two such offers have been rebuffed. News UK insiders suggest a “conversation” took place but there was no formal approach to buy.
The heads of the two loss-making channels, News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks and GB News’ Angelos Frangopoulos, have agreed not to attack each other in public, sources added.