Piers Morgan has bought the rights to his Youtube show Piers Morgan Uncensored from News UK.
It comes almost a year after Morgan moved his show away from TalkTV, the programme’s original home, to focus on producing content for Youtube without a fixed daily schedule. TalkTV closed as a linear channel a few months later.
Morgan’s production company Wake Up Productions Ltd is acquiring the Piers Morgan Uncensored business and is planning to expand the brand initially in the “lucrative US market” and then elsewhere globally.
The company has contracted US-based sales and marketing company Red Seat Ventures to sell and grow Uncensored’s sponsorship and other revenues. Its other clients include former Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s current show.
News UK will continue to be involved in Piers Morgan Uncensored until 2029 with a continuing commercial partnership, reported by Sky News to mean Rupert Murdoch’s company will take a share of advertising revenue for the next four years.
Press Gazette previously reported that Morgan signed a three-year deal worth £50m with News UK in January 2022.
Morgan said: “I have had a great time working back at News and am delighted that we will continue to be partners. Owning the brand allows my team and I the freedom to focus exclusively on building Uncensored into a standalone business, editorially and commercially, and in time, widening it from just me and my content.
“It’s clear from the recent US election that Youtube is an increasingly powerful and influential media platform, and Uncensored is one of the fastest-growing shows on it in the world. I’m very excited about the potential for Uncensored.”
News Broadcasting’s EVP, president Scott Taunton said: “This is a new business model which gives Piers flexibility to grow his own business by leveraging his position as a true global opinion former.
“The changing media landscape means we have to be innovative about how we partner with superstar journalists and connect them to global audiences via our established brands.”
The Piers Morgan Uncensored Youtube channel currently has 3.63 million subscribers and recent guests have included right-wing commentators Jordan Peterson and Candace Owens. He has also had major interviews with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, Benjamin Netanyahu, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Spacey.
As well as taking 55% of the advertising revenue made by its videos (with Youtube keeping the other 45%) the channel has introduced paid memberships for £4.99 per month, with perks including early access to new videos, loyalty badges and custom emojis in the comment sections and photo and status updates.
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