In what has been described as the “worlds-first collaboration between a YouTube current affairs show and a legacy broadcaster,” Piers Morgan’s Uncensored show has found a linear home on Channel 5 (now 5).
Piers Morgan Uncensored will be shown as a 90-minute highlights show on the Paramount-owned network each week, 5 has just revealed, with the first airing next Friday at 11 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. PT)
The show was previously the flagship for Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct linear network TalkTV, and Morgan took it YouTube only last year, claiming that he could get far more viewers on that platform. Today’s surprise move marks a return to linear for the man who used to host a morning show on ITV.
The show features Morgan’s take on the week’s news along with high-profile interviews with the likes of Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo and the ‘real-life Martha’ from Baby Reindeer.
Morgan said: “Piers Morgan Uncensored has become one of the world’s fastest growing and most popular YouTube news channels, racking up over a billion views in just three years. I’m really excited our show will be crashing onto British TV screens in a game-changing partnership with 5, bringing viewers the most explosive debates, jaw-dropping interviews, and headline-grabbing moments every single week.”
5 commissioner Federico Ruiz added: “Being thrilled to have Piers Morgan on 5 doesn’t scratch the surface. Uncensored will be an excellent fit: our viewers love straight talk, big opinions, and unapologetic personalities — and Piers delivers all three and then some. A linear, terrestrial broadcaster partnering with a current affairs YouTube channel is the sort of exciting cross-cultural handshake that marks where the industry is heading. The fuse is lit. We’re braced for impact … Piers is coming to 5.”
Commissioned by Federico Ruiz, Commissioning Editor 5 and Paramount +, Piers Morgan Uncensored is a Wake Up Production. Executive editor is Alex Campbell.
