Piers Morgan transitions his TalkTV show Uncensored to YouTube

Piers Morgan has decided to shift his daily show, Uncensored, from TalkTV to focus on its YouTube channel. Morgan believes that television schedules have become restrictive and moving online will allow him to conduct longer and more in-depth interviews. Additionally, he expects to attract a wider global audience through the online platform. Currently, Uncensored's YouTube channel has 2.35 million subscribers, significantly more than its estimated daily TV viewership. This announcement comes less than two years after Morgan was brought on as the star presenter for the launch of TalkTV by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp owned by the Murdoch family. TalkTV was created as an alternative news outlet to established broadcasters. However, Morgan's departure raises questions about the future of the channel and the relevance of traditional TV. Morgan's interviews have consistently garnered hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of views on YouTube. In contrast, his TalkTV show's ratings are in the tens of thousands per episode. Morgan explained that he cannot dictate how audiences consume content and recognizes the global demand for the content his team produces. He mentioned an example where an interview with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was published on YouTube in the afternoon, allowing it to make headlines before being overshadowed by breaking news on TalkTV later in the evening. Morgan's last TalkTV show aired on Thursday, and Piers Morgan Uncensored will resume on YouTube on February 19. He co-owns Uncensored with News Corp and has ambitions to expand the brand globally. Scott Taunton, executive vice-president of broadcasting for News UK, believes that transforming Morgan into a "digital-first" broadcaster will help expand his global viewership. While some of Morgan's interviews will still be shown on TalkTV, Piers Morgan Uncensored also airs on Sky News Australia and Fox Nation in the US. YouTube has become a popular platform for news and interview shows, with individual hosts or groups of presenters building large audiences. Channels like Ben Shapiro's conservative political punditry show and the left-leaning Young Turks news channel have millions of subscribers. YouTube also provides more freedom from media regulations, unlike TV news channels that are subject to rules imposed by media watchdogs. In 2021, Morgan's controversial comments about the Duchess of Sussex on ITV's Good Morning Britain attracted a record 58,000 complaints to Ofcom. Although he was ultimately cleared by the regulator, the backlash led to his departure from the breakfast show and his subsequent move to TalkTV. Other hosts on TalkTV include Vanessa Feltz, Julia Hartley-Brewer, and Kevin O'Sullivan.