TalkTV to be taken off air after two years to focus on streaming – as GB News reports heavy losses | Ents & Arts News

Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV is to be taken off air in a move to online-only, two years on from its launch.

An announcement was made to staff on Tuesday, with president of broadcasting Scott Taunton saying it would happen “from early summer”.

It comes a few weeks after presenter Piers Morgan announced his departure to focus on his YouTube channel.

His show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, had been shown at 8pm on the channel, but ratings had been lacklustre.

The presenter said that daily, fixed TV schedules had been “an increasingly unnecessary straitjacket”.

In a briefing sent to staff on the TalkTV move, seen by Sky News, Mr Taunton said: “It is obvious to all of us that, for the majority of people, news consumption is shifting online…

“Two years ago, we would not have been brave enough to launch a channel without a linear presence, but audiences of all ages have moved fast and smartphones are now the primary device where news is consumed. We need to adapt to this as a priority.”

He added: “We are therefore intending that Talk comes off linear television from early summer and our focus will be on streaming.

“Linear channel slots cost us millions a year and the advertising revenues are never going to materially exceed the cost of being in these distribution slots.”

TalkTV will continue broadcasting “as a live streaming news and opinion channel, distributing through streaming platforms to include YouTube, Amazon Fire, Samsung, LG and others”, Mr Staunton said.

The channel, which is a venture from News UK, the publisher of The Times and The Sun, currently has 812,000 YouTube subscribers.

Launched in April 2022, its first-day schedule started with The News Desk hosted by The Sun’s former political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, followed by Morgan’s Uncensored show.

Like GB News, which launched in 2021, it has faced questions over its employment of politicians as presenters, with former culture secretary Nadine Dorries hosting a programme before she quit as an MP.

However, in November, the chairman of Ofcom said it was not the regulator’s job to tell broadcasters who to employ, including politicians.

It comes as GB News said its losses had risen by nearly 40% last year as its owners continued to pour millions of pounds into the broadcaster.

According to Companies House, which has just published GB News’s full accounts, revenue in 2023 was £6.7m, up from £3.6m in 2022. The company made a loss after tax of £43m in 2023, compared to £31m in 2022.