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EXCLUSIVE: Piers Morgan is holding talks with News Corp amid uncertainty over whether his eight-figure exclusive deal will be renewed.
Morgan inked a three-year contract with Rupert Murdoch‘s media empire in 2021 and, as the deal’s expiration draws closer, two sources said conversations are underway about the presenter’s future.
One well-placed industry insider said it was unlikely Morgan’s reported £50M ($65M) agreement would be renewed in its current form and there are questions over whether it will be re-upped at all.
It is possible that Morgan could continue with some of his duties for News Corp, but drop others. Talks are ongoing and nothing has been finalized.
Morgan and News Corp declined to comment.
Morgan’s multifaceted output has already changed over the past three years. He joined primarily as the face of TalkTV, Murdoch’s bid to launch a conservative-leaning news network in the UK.
TalkTV was unsuccessful and Morgan announced he would move his show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, solely to YouTube before the network went dark on UK television over the summer.
Morgan’s show failed to score significant ratings on television and he described the medium as a “straightjacket,” but Uncensored has performed strongly on YouTube, amassing 3M subscribers.
Morgan’s interviews with the likes of Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Andrew Tate have gone viral and been amplified across News Corp’s network of newspapers and TV/radio stations.
His interview with Fiona Harvey, the woman who claims to be the real-life Martha in Baby Reindeer, was streamed 14M times on YouTube and helped propel her $170M lawsuit against Netflix.
Morgan’s bosses hailed the 3M milestone in July, with Derek Brown, News UK’s director of digital for news broadcasting, describing the presenter and his team as a “traffic machine.”
As well as the YouTube channel, Morgan pens a column for newspapers The New York Post and The Sun under his News Corp deal. The agreement extended to him publishing a follow-up to his 2021 book, Wake Up, under the banner of HarperCollins UK, though details have yet to be announced.
Morgan also regularly appears on Fox News and last year fronted Fox Nation’s eight-part documentary series, The Killer Interview With Piers Morgan.
TalkTV stopped broadcasting as a linear channel in May, but continues to stream online and broadcast on radio. It lost at least £88M and was eclipsed by GB News, a rival free speech network backed by Paul Marshall, a hedge fund tycoon. TalkTV’s average reach was 2.22M viewers in first quarter of 2024, whereas GB News managed 3.24M.
Morgan joined News Corp after quitting ITV’s Good Morning Britain in 2021 amid controversy over remarks he made about Meghan Markle’s mental health. His show also broadcast on Sky News Australia and Fox Nation.
