News UK, a division of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has entered a four-year partnership with Piers Morgan in support of his YouTube news channel Uncensored.
Under the terms of the deal, Wake Up Productions, Piers Morgan’s production company, will acquire the Piers Morgan Uncensored business, with a view to growing and diversifying the brand, initially in the US market. News UK will maintain a commercial interest in Piers Morgan Uncensored until 2029.
As part of the new set up, Wake Up Productions has contracted US-based sales and marketing company Red Seat Ventures to sell and grow sponsorship and other associated revenues for the Uncensored marque.
Morgan, who has spent the last three years working at News Corp, said: “I have had a great time at News and am delighted we will continue to be partners. Owning the brand allows my team and I the freedom to focus exclusively on building Uncensored into a stand-alone business, editorially and commercially, and in time, widening it from just me and my content. It’s clear from the recent US election that YouTube is an increasingly powerful and influential media platform, and Uncensored is one of the fastest-growing shows on it in the world.”
Scott Taunton, EVP, president, News Broadcasting added: “This is a new business model which gives Piers flexibility to grow his own business by leveraging his position as a true global opinion former. The changing media landscape means we have to be innovative about how we partner with superstar journalists and connect them to global audiences via our established brands.”
Piers Morgan Uncensored has around 3.6m international YouTube subscribers. It describes itself as “the home of fierce debate; as well as breaking world news and Hollywood exclusives with a cast list of world-leaders and A-listers from Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Benjamin Netanyahu to Ronaldo and Kevin Spacey.”
