News UK Studios Staff Face Layoffs After Piers Morgan’s Exit From Murdoch Media Empire

EXCLUSIVE: Rupert Murdoch‘s News UK has placed an unknown number of employees into a consultation process as part of plans to reorganize its studios division after Piers Morgan‘s departure.

Deadline understands that staff have been told that jobs are at risk amid a “rightsizing” initiative at News Studios, the unit that houses YouTube channel Piers Morgan Uncensored and makes video content for brands including The Sun and The Times newspapers.

Morgan’s contract runs until March, at which point he will take control of his YouTube channel. The former CNN presenter may decide to continue producing Uncensored from News Studios’ facilities at News UK’s London headquarters, but an agreement is not yet in place.

News Studios insiders have expressed concerns about the entire unit being closed, though this was denied by a News UK source. Instead, the company is planning to refocus employees on the video ambitions of titles like The Sun, which is behind online politics show Never Mind The Ballots.

“News Studios remains an important production facility for all News UK’s brands, but we are proposing rightsizing the News Studios team to better meet the needs of the wider business,” said the News UK source.

News Studios is overseen by Richard Wallace, who had a decade-long spell as Simon Cowell’s right-hand man at Syco. Wallace moved into the News Studios role after News UK closed TalkTV as a television channel last year.

News UK invested heavily in two state-of-the-art television studios at its London Bridge building, one of which is home to Piers Morgan Uncensored. News UK Broadcasting, the subsidiary that housed TalkTV, posted a loss of £53.7M ($65.6M) in its most recent financial statement.

A source familiar with the News Studios restructure said: “The job losses are the latest sorry saga in the expensive and failed experiment that started with TalkTV. No wonder newspaper colleagues are furious at the money that has been wasted, from thousands of pounds for guests to appear on shows, to millions of pounds on studios.”

Morgan’s departure was announced last week. He has agreed to take control of Uncensored through his Wake Up Productions production outfit and has signed a four-year revenue-sharing deal with News Corp.

“I have had a great time working back at News and am delighted that we will continue to be partners,” Morgan said. “Owning the brand allows my team and I the freedom to focus exclusively on building Uncensored into a standalone business, editorially and commercially, and in time, widening it from just me and my content.”