2024 saw a pronounced uptick in legacy media journalists striking out on their own, starting with MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan and culminating with CNN’s Chris Wallace. Now, Piers Morgan kicks off what will likely be a wave of similar announcements in 2025.
On Wednesday, the host of Piers Morgan Uncensored revealed to Sky News that he would be taking ownership of the YouTube-based newscast from Rupert Murdoch‘s News UK, which also owns such across the pond outlets as The Sun and Times Radio. Morgan’s production company Wake Up Productions will be the new steward of the Uncensored brand, while News UK will receive a piece of its advertising earnings via a four-year revenue sharing deal.
“I have had a great time working back at News and am delighted that we will continue to be partners,” Morgan told Sky News in a statement.
“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,” he added. Uncensored currently has a reported 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube.
Morgan’s show launched in 2022 on News UK’s FAST service TalkTV where it aired weeknights until 2024 when it made the shift to YouTube. (TalkTV went dark on linear platforms last summer.) “It’s clear there’s a huge global demand for the content we’re making, but the commitment to a daily show at a fixed schedule, with all the editing and time sensitivities that involves, has been an increasingly unnecessary straitjacket,” the host said at the time.
According to Sky News, Morgan is expected to contribute occasional articles to News Corporation’s newspapers and complete a book project through Harper Collins, which is also owned by Murdoch. He also struck an agreement with the U.S.-based agency Red Seat Ventures to explore stateside commercial opportunities for the Uncensored brand.
Morgan is taking the solo route as anchors and journalists on both sides of the political spectrum are parting ways with traditional media outlets in favor of digital platforms. That’s a move that may accelerate as President-elect Donald Trump re-enters the Oval Office. The Republican candidate famously eschewed broadcast and cable networks on the campaign trail in favor of independent creators like Joe Rogan and Theo Von. And incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has suggested that preference might continue in the second Trump administration.