In what has been described as the “worlds-first collaboration between a YouTube current affairs show and a legacy broadcaster,” Piers Morgan’s Uncensored show has found a fresh linear home on Channel 5 (today 5).
Piers Morgan Uncensored will be shown as a 90-minute highlights show on the Paramount UK network each week, 5 has just revealed, with the first airing next Friday at 11 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. PT).
Uncensored features Morgan’s take on the week’s news along with high-profile interviews with the likes of Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo and the ‘real-life Martha’ from Baby Reindeer. The show was previously the flagship for Rupert Murdoch’s today-defunct linear network TalkTV, but Morgan took it YouTube-only last year, claiming that he could get far more viewers on that platform. He says that it has picked up more than one billion views in the past three years. Today’s surprise move marks a return to linear for the ex-CNN host who also used to present a morning show on ITV.
Traditional TV gatekeepers leveraging YouTube was one of the big topics at last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival. However, Morgan’s move certainly marks the first time a show has left linear to YouTube, only to return to a different linear platform.
Morgan said: “I’m really excited our show will be crashing onto British TV screens in a game-changing partnership with 5, bringing viewers the most explosive debates, jaw-dropping interviews, and headline-grabbing moments every single week.”
5 commissioner Federico Ruiz added: “Being thrilled to have Piers Morgan on 5 doesn’t scratch the surface. Uncensored will be an excellent fit: our viewers love straight talk, big opinions, and unapologetic personalities—and Piers delivers all three and then some. A linear, terrestrial broadcaster partnering with a current affairs YouTube channel is the sort of exciting cross-cultural handshake that marks where the industry is heading. The fuse is lit. We’re braced for impact … Piers is coming to 5.”
With rumors around its future in the Paramount-Skydance era swirling, 5 has had a good week, having struck a new discount for NFL rights last week. Commissioned by Ruiz, Commissioning Editor 5 and Paramount +, Piers Morgan Uncensored is a Wake Up Production. Executive editor is Alex Campbell.
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