In dramatic fashion, Piers Morgan exited his role as presenter for Good Morning Britain after a heated disagreement with Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle. He stated that he ‘didn’t believe a word’ Markle had said during her interview with Oprah. This sparked a wave of controversy as Ofcom received 58000 complaints which it later rejected.
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Though this was a dramatic exit from ITV,Piers Morgan has always been known to bounce back. Throughout his impressive and lasting career, the journalist and presenter has managed to gather an impressive net worth. We tell you all about it.
Piers Morgan and freedom of speech
Morgan’s time on ITV came to an end and brought ITV’s share price down 5%. The market reflected that Morgan adds an astounding value to any network he would have chosen. After this revelation, the host chose to put himself in a position that plays to his strength as a journalist and interviewer away from the constrictions of 'cancel and PC culture'.
Morgan has built his career on polarising opinions and a new beginning allowing him to leverage his unapologetic personality and beliefs would prove quite fruitful. He partnered with Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to start a new TV channel to rival incumbent GB News. Talk TV aims to be a counterpart to the spreading reach of ‘cancel culture’ and wants to provide a platform that champions freedom of expression. While speaking to the BBC, Morgan stated:
I thought the whole thing was a farce, and I'm delighted that actually as a result of the farce, we've ended up with a whole network which is now dedicated to preventing that kind of farce from recurring.
He added:
You shouldn't be shamed or vilified or canceled for having an opinion, unless you genuinely are spewing hateful, bigoted stuff.
Piece Morgan Uncensored ended up reaching 64 million online views in its first week not counting viewers of live broadcasts in the UK, Australia or the US which has cemented Morgan as a powerful voice that has now acquired the freedom to speak his mind and invite guests from across the ideological spectrum for conversations that would otherwise not be feasible on other channels.
Piers Morgan leaves Talk TV
In the evening of 8 February, Morgan announced that he would be leaving Talk TV and would take his show Uncensored to Youtube. Though the show started off with a bang thanks to a Donald Trump interview, after a few years, the ratings remained lacklustre.
His choice to put his show on Youtube is a very logical one. In the week of 4 February, Piers Morgan made headlines with his Rishi Sunak interview. In it, the presenter got the British Prime Minister to bet on the success of the Rwanda Scheme. However, as viral as this was, it barely gathered 50,000 viewers on TV when it got 335,000 viewers on Youtube. That doesn't even include the views on X.
On Semafor website, Morgan developed:
I’ve just decided that I no longer want to create my show for linear television. I just want to go full digital globally,
There’s something quite anachronistic about ... still trying to create old-fashioned TV for a pre-scheduled time slot each night for a relatively small audience, when we’re getting such gigantic audiences digitally
In The Times, Morgan expanded even more,
People are watching the content on YouTube rather than conventional television and I have no problem with that.
The price of Piers Morgan's freedom of speech
Morgan was paid quite handsomely to join the Murdoch conglomerate. PressGazette reported that his deal hovers around £50 million for three years. This included a column in The Sun and New York Post, Piers Morgan Uncensored, hosting true crime documentaries and publishing his next book under Harper Collins a Murdoch-owned publishing house. This salary has put him at the top of the list of highest-paid journalists in the UK, but it is not his first large paycheck.
It is understood, that him leaving TalkTV doesn't impact the other aspects of his deal with Murdoch.
According to Mirror, Morgan earned around £1.1 million a year from hosting Good Morning Britain and approximately £1.44 million a year for Piers Morgan Tonight. The PressGazette estimated his net worth to be £14.4 million in 2017 which will have grown in the past 5 years. Piers tweeted he had once taken home £22 million in one year.
Read more:
⋙ While Piers Morgan denies phone hacking verdict a former colleague unveils new details
⋙ Piers Morgan: The presenter urges King Charles to reveal his full cancer diagnosis
Sources:
BBC: Piers Morgan says exit from ITV's Good Morning Britain was 'a farce'
News UK: PIERS MORGAN UNCENSORED DELIVERS 64 MILLION GLOBAL VIEWS TO DATE
The Guardian: Piers Morgan hired to launch Rupert Murdoch TV station talkTV
Telegraph: Piers Morgan leaves TalkTV, calling his low-rating daily show a ‘straitjacket’
