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With Piers being shunted over to YouTube imminently, it very much feels like TalkTV is about to have the plug pulled by Murdoch
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(08-02-2024, 08:29 PM)TVViewer256 Wrote: Piers Morgan Uncensored moving to digital only and by the sounds of it, this is happening imminently. Big move.
www.semafor.com
Looks like its near the end for Talk TV: "Creating professional quality, TV-like video that does well digitally – via streaming services and social media – will be the focus of future investment for all our brands, including Talk,” News UK broadcasting chief Scott Taunton said in a statement."
How sustainable will be paying for TV production of what essentially would be linear radio shows without 'investment' ie costs is debatable
Perhaps retooling the linear channel to be a News Grouo showcase of cross platform content is a sensible halfway point, with Evans and the music sessions from Virgin, talk sport shows, Times Radio shows, best of online assets like Uncensored and talk tv as the sustaining feed
Who'd have bet GBN would outlive TalkTV [potentially]
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(08-02-2024, 09:49 PM)UTVLifer Wrote: With Piers being shunted over to YouTube imminently, it very much feels like TalkTV is about to have the plug pulled by Murdoch
There are vibes that it seems like Talk TV could be on its way out. Piers has been on the record before now saying that his show rated better online than it did on the main Talk TV channel. It just seemed to have come out of the blue, even for Piers’ standards.
Other than his debut show and the Ronaldo interview I’m not sure that the show or channel has ever rated highly or even above GBN.
It’s always felt a bit half hearted given it was a 3 hour TV channel with a 21 hour radio vision simulcast. Yes GBN launched quite badly, but they’ve learned from their mistakes and they’ve capitalised on a niche, Talk as a TV channel has never really gained momentum.
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From what this article suggests his move to YouTube will be on his personal 'channel' there rather than one connected with News UK/Talk TV.
Wonder if it's entirely his choice. I'm sure he would be keener on linear TV if he'd actually achieved a decent audience on it
www.theguardian.com
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It’s an interesting development. Presumably last minute decision too, as Piers is still in the schedule for next week.
Makes you think TalkTV is on the way out, but from this evening’s PopBitch email:
“Rebekah Brooks and Angelos Frangopoulos (head honchos at TalkTV and GB News) have apparently tabled a pact not to attack each's others stations in the run-up to the next election.”
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What is replacing Piers Morgan Uncensored next week - if tonight's show was the last live one? Andre Walker? James Whale? Jeremy Kyle?
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Hmm I’m a bit skeptical of this PR Spin. The show was already flexible and changed format for the big interviews. They were already airing on YouTube & TV simultaneously, with bigger ratings on YouTube yes but still getting 2 for the price of 1 with nightly TV show airing too so I don’t seem to see the issue.
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(08-02-2024, 10:53 PM)nwtv2003 Wrote: There are vibes that it seems like Talk TV could be on its way out. Piers has been on the record before now saying that his show rated better online than it did on the main Talk TV channel. It just seemed to have come out of the blue, even for Piers’ standards.
Other than his debut show and the Ronaldo interview I’m not sure that the show or channel has ever rated highly or even above GBN.
It’s always felt a bit half hearted given it was a 3 hour TV channel with a 21 hour radio vision simulcast. Yes GBN launched quite badly, but they’ve learned from their mistakes and they’ve capitalised on a niche, Talk as a TV channel has never really gained momentum.
It’s definitely the final days or weeks of Talk TV. Be interesting to see what happens on the radio side.
On the point of GBN ‘learning from its mistakes’, let’s not get carried away with ourselves! We’re in danger of swallowing the spin from Paddington HQ. The fact remains - GBNews is still not getting enough audience to make a healthy profit. Sky News has always lost money and the Beeb is publicly owned. For GBN to have a legit long term future, it needed to hit rating in the upper 100ks and 200ks consistently. It has moments up there, but generally isn’t achieving big numbers.
Piers is correct - linear TV isn’t dying. It’s dead. We’re just all artificially holding it up, pretending it’s still a thing. Some weird repurposing of News UK content on radio and online might be its saving grace and then, technically, it will outlive GBN, which I can guarantee will be something we talk about in the past tense sooner than you think.
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Talk TV was created for Piers Morgan wasn't it? The face of the channel. It certainly will be a shame if it is near the end. I hope not. I always thought the scheduling of the show at 8pm was tricky especially around prime time shows & soaps. I would have moved it earlier myself or around 10pm but what do I know? There are other presenters that could fill the role.
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Wouldn’t say I’m surprised that it was Piers himself making the announcement rather than News UK itself.
Presumably they’ll want to keep the radio station going while perhaps retaining some video element (maybe even reverting back to how it was run before the channel launched?)
On a somewhat lesser note, it would also leave the ex-Made local TV stations looking for another simulcast partner to piggyback on.