Rupert Murdoch launches a TV betting on Donald Trump
A tough interview with the former US president will mark the launch of a new television channel in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch (right) saluting Donald Trump.
AFP
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is launching a new UK television channel, ‘TalkTV’, on Monday, banking on a star presenter and a tough interview with Donald Trump to attract crowds in an already overloaded British media world.
“TalkTV” will be broadcast from 7:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. in Switzerland) on Monday with a news program followed by an interview with the former American president conducted by presenter Piers Morgan, known for his virulent outbursts aimed at supposed political correctness.
In a statement, the former chairman said Mr Morgan had tried ‘unlawfully and deceptively to cut off his long and tedious interview’. “Everything will be there,” replied the journalist.
“It will all be there”
The interview marks the great return of Piers Morgan since he left in March 2021, live, the morning of the ITV channel. He had accused Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, of lying, who had mentioned in an interview her suicidal thoughts and the lack of support from the royal family.
According to extracts revealed by the British newspaper The Sun, Donald Trump – already critical of Meghan Markle in the past – thinks like Piers Morgan that the prince is controlled by his wife and that the couple will eventually separate.
TalkTV will air on UK television, streaming platforms and Youtube and will be hosted by journalists from The Times and The Sun, two newspapers Mr Murdoch owns.
Fertile ground with Boris Johnson
The Talk TV channel was designed to compete with the conservative GB News, launched last summer. Already in June 2020, Mr Murdoch’s group, News Corp, had launched Times Radio, supposed to compete with BBC Radio 4, the public news channel.
While the Australian tycoon has long been angered by UK laws that ban the kind of pro-Trump content he can broadcast on his Fox News channel in the US, he has found fertile ground for his empire in the UK in the controversies and the “anti-woke” agenda of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
And he has the advantage of having a good relationship with the Conservative government, which recently targeted the BBC and Channel 4, another public broadcaster. According to Piers Morgan, Rupert Murdoch is “a constant and fearless hero of free speech”.
Posted today at 3:10 p.m.
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