TalkTV moving to online only

TalkTV will be moving to online only in the spring – giving up on broadcast linear TV.

In an email obtained by Guido, Scott Taunton, President of Broadcasting at News UK told staff: “The channel will stream on platforms including YouTube, Amazon Fire, Samsung, LG and others.”

He added: “While linear TV has been a good marketing and awareness window for Talk, 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. It makes economic sense too. Linear channel slots cost us millions a year and the advertising revenues are never going to materially exceed the cost of being in these distribution slots, while data-led digital advertising and CTV is in growth.”

“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.

TalkRadio on DAB will continue unchanged.

TalkTV first launched on 25 April 2022. It featured video simulcasts of TalkRadio programming in off-peak hours, and launched with three original programmes, The News Desk, Piers Morgan Uncensored, and The Talk.

In February 2024, it was announced that Piers Morgan’s show would leave TalkTV but continue on YouTube.

Uncensored had television viewer figures in the tens of thousands in comparison to YouTube videos with hundreds of thousands or millions of views.