The TalkTV shows of Piers Morgan and Jeremy Kyle are to be relocated from Ealing to News UK’s headquarters in London Bridge, Press Gazette has learned.
Rupert Murdoch’s company created a purpose-built studio for Piers Morgan Uncensored in Ealing, West London, ahead of TalkTV’s launch in April.
Jeremy Kyle Live, which is on-air from 7-8pm on weeknights before Piers Morgan Uncensored (8-9pm), is also broadcast from Ealing. Kyle currently occupies an area within Morgan’s spacious studio.
TalkTV plans to develop a permanent studio space in the News Building so that Morgan and Kyle’s shows and their staff can relocate to its HQ in spring 2023.
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In an email to TalkTV staff, Richard Wallace, the former Daily Mirror editor who is now head of TV at News UK Broadcasting, said: “Having the whole of TalkTV in one place was always the long term plan as it means we can reap all the creative benefits that come from having our teams together.”
The News Building is home to News Corp’s other UK brands, including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and Talksport.
“Moving into the News Building is also more cost efficient as after fit-out costs, ongoing operating costs are far lower than in an external studio,” said Wallace. “We are always cost conscious but never more so than in the current economic environment with cost inflation and economic uncertainty.”
Aside from Piers Morgan Uncensored and Jeremy Kyle Live, all other TalkTV shows are already broadcast from the News Building.
Press Gazette first reported in April that News UK was investing in a purpose-built studio for Morgan’s show. At the time, Winnie Dunbar Nelson, the show’s executive editor, said the News Building could not “accommodate him moving around and being crazy”.
Bosses agreed to find Morgan a larger space that could accommodate a physical studio rather than a green screen space. It is understood that TalkTV is now making room for a physical studio for the shows in the News Building.
In a recent New Statesman interview, Morgan confronted the challenges that his show has endured so far on linear television, saying: “I’m a very competitive, healthy-ego individual who’s never going to be happy seeing crap numbers. And some nights, they were crap. For no reason. And it used to eat away at my soul like a flesh-eating bug.”
But he said his recent interview with footballer Cristiano Ronaldo had been a “game-changer” and had helped his show reach nearly 50 million views across online platforms in one week. And he said the Murdoch family is committed to the future of TalkTV. “They’re not piling pressure on us,” he said. “They just want us to keep getting it right.”
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