TalkTV off-air from summer
March 5, 2024
News Corp’s TalkTV will be taken off air in the summer and move online only. The move comes shortly after Piers Morgan left his daily show on the channel to focus on his Uncensored YouTube channel, saying that daily, fixed TV schedules had been “an increasingly unnecessary straitjacket”.
Scott Taunton, TalkTV’s president of broadcasting, told staff: “Two years ago, we would not have been brave enough to launch a channel without a linear presence, but audiences of all ages have moved fast and smartphones are now the primary device where news is consumed. We need to adapt to this as a priority […] We are therefore intending that Talk comes off linear television from early summer and our focus will be on streaming.”
“Talk will continue broadcasting as a livestreaming news and opinion channel, distributing through streaming platforms to include YouTube, Amazon Fire, Samsung, LG and others. A large proportion of our live viewing is already through streaming on televisions and we intend to continue to grow this. Clips will continue to be shared through social media. There is no doubt over Talk’s future as an audio and video channel, it just won’t be distributed on linear. Radio on DAB continues unchanged too,” he added.
TalkTV currently has 812,000 YouTube subscribers.