Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV Shutters Its Linear Operation and Goes Fully Digital
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch launched TalkTV in 2022 as the UK’s answer to Fox News. (Press Association via AP Images)
TalkTV will go online-only and shutter its broadcasting television channel after months of grappling with dwindling viewership, it was announced Tuesday.
The right-leaning news channel was launched by billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 2022 and styled as a UK answer to Fox News, seeking to capitalise on a supposed British appetite for opinion-led broadcasting. Top executives, however, announced the change on Tuesday via an email to staff.
Scott Taunton, TalkTV’s president of broadcasting, told employees: “We now need to focus our investment on where the eyeballs are and where the revenues are in growth. In order to be successful, we need to prioritise being where the audiences are, rather than asking them to come to find us down the channel guide.”
He continued: “Audiences of all ages have moved fast and smartphones are now the primary device where news is consumed.”
The decision comes hot on the heels of the departure of the network’s most prominent host, veteran journalist Piers Morgan. Morgan transitioned his show Piers Morgan Uncensored to “digital-first” in February, saying that he’d be ditching the “unnecessary straitjacket” of traditional broadcasting for YouTube.
Since its inception, TalkTV has struggled to gain traction in the fiercely competitive media landscape, consistently lagging behind its rival, right-leaning Tory-rostered start-up GB News — which faces its own severe headwinds.
Initially plagued by dismal viewership figures, including “zero viewers” during primetime broadcasts, and regulatory scrutiny over impartiality breaches, TalkTV’s uphill battle against giants like Sky News and BBC News has been challenging. News UK made a loss of £34 million in the first year after TalkTV was launched.
For the Murdoch empire, the decision to pull TalkTV from traditional television represents a disappointing strategic departure from the bold vision to dominate and outplay established titans of mainstream British broadcasting.
