Murdoch suffers £160m loss from TalkTV and Sun

Rupert Murdoch's news channel TalkTV reported a loss of £34m in its first year on the air. Photo: Mike Segar/REUTERS

Rupert Murdoch's TalkTV broadcaster and the Sun newspaper empire suffered a combined loss of more than £160m last year on start-up costs for a new radio station and a phone hacking scandal.

The Sun and The Sun's losses rose on Sunday to £127m, largely due to claims related to the News of the World hacking scandal.

However, The Times and Sunday Times profits more doubled to £73m, which executives attributed to growth in digital subscriptions, as well as a rebound in print advertising from the pandemic.

Mr Murdoch's British radio empire, which includes TalkRadio, TalkSport , Times Radio and Virgin, increased its revenue from £50m to £78m and reported a pre-tax profit of £11m.

These numbers highlight the difficulties facing TalkTV, which launched last year to challenge the mainstream broadcasters as Murdoch attempts to cash in on the success of overconfident US channels like Fox.

This convinced Piers Morgan to host a flagship show, while others among high profile speakers are Jeremy Kyle and former Culture Minister Nadine Dorris.

But the station has so far failed to draw audiences away from its main competitors. Monthly views in February were just 2.3 million, according to the latest figures from ratings maker BARB.

That's down from overconfident rival GB News, which had 2.8 million viewers, while Sky News has 9 million and the BBC. The news boasted 11m.

TalkTV gained attention for a number of interviews with famous people on Piers Morgan Uncovered, including Donald Trump and Cristiano Ronaldo. The outspoken host also secured a meeting with Stormy Daniels, the porn star Trump is accused of paying silence money, which was due to air on Thursday night.

Mr. 14,000 to 19,000 people. Last year, host Tom Newton Dunn occasionally had no viewers on his evening newscast, which was later moved from prime time to 10:00 pm.

Piers Morgan did high-profile interviews with the likes of Donald Trump on his prime-time show TalkTV, but he failed to get high ratings. loss before tax for the year to July 2022. The company recorded £1.1 million in revenue from advertising and licensing clips for other broadcasters.

TalkTV launched at the end of April last year, meaning the numbers only cover two months of broadcast time and largely reflect start-up costs. News UK Broadcasting is also using a £20 million loan guaranteed by parent company News Corp. the traditional newspaper business is struggling.

The group is building new TV studios at its headquarters on London Bridge, moving from its current location in Ealing, west London.

In its reports, News UK's parent company said: «While News UK continues to work in writing — in print newspapers and online — the board emphasizes that audiences also want to hear and watch News UK's reporting through audio and video. , live and on demand.»

Meanwhile, Mr. Murdoch's empire is still feeling the impact of the News of the World's ongoing phone hacking claims.

News Group Newspapers ( NGN ) last year saw a surge in claims ahead of the September cut-off date as campaigners including actor Hugh Grant, who settled against News of the World in 2012, filed new lawsuits against Sun.

Excluding the impact of the lawsuits, The Sun and Sun's profits increased to £15m on Sunday.

An NGN spokesperson said: «A number of contentious lawsuits are still pending in civil courts, including some seeking to attract the Sun. . The Sun takes no responsibility and makes no admissions regarding the allegations.»

In its results released last August, parent company News Corp said the UK business boosted the group's total earnings by 54 million. dollars.