Rupert Murdoch’s News UK is set to launch a new current affairs TV channel in Britain, with Piers Morgan signing on in a new global deal.
The station, named talkTV, will offer a mix of “hourly news bulletins, sports and entertainment shows as well as current affairs, debate, opinion and documentaries”, the group said in a statement.
The channel will launch in early 2022, with Piers Morgan’s new weeknight show being its main draw.
It will be available live and on-demand, on a television or any other personal device.
Former Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has also signed a wide-ranging deal to join News Corp and FOX News Media, it was announced on Thursday.
Alongside helping to launch the new channel, Piers Morgan will publish two weekly columns online for the New York Post and The Sun.
Piers Morgan said he was “thrilled to be returning to News Corp, which is where I began my media career more than 30 years ago.”
News UK already owns a number of media outlets in the UK, including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, talkRADIO, talkSPORT, Virgin Radio and Times Radio.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK, said: “We are committed to providing choice for television and streaming viewers and bringing the best of our journalism to the screen. Taking advantage of modern technology, we can produce high quality shows at low cost.”
Scott Taunton, CEO of News UK broadcasting promised that “talkTV will provide a rich mix of entertaining and informative shows that no other service provides.”
The announcement comes after it was reported earlier this year that Rebekah Brooks had got cold feet over the costs of getting a new television channel on air.
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She told staff in April that “while there is consumer demand for alternative news provision, the costs of running a rolling news channel are considerable, and it is our assessment that the payback for our shareholders wouldn’t be sufficient.”
However it now seems News UK has had a change of heart with the arrival of talkTV.
Rival TV channel GB News has been beset by troubles this week after veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil stepped down as chair and presenter.
The departure followed reports that Mr Neil had clashed with the station’s chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos.
His departure has raised questions about the future of the station and its other presenters.
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