Piers Morgan is poised to secure a major financial injection of approximately $30 million to transform his YouTube channel, Uncensored, into a fully-fledged international media operation. The deal, which values the business at around $130 million, signals a bold move away from traditional media structures.
Major Investors Back Ambitious Expansion
The new funding round, first reported by Sky News, features a roster of high-profile backers. The Raine Group, a prominent US merchant bank, is among the key investors. Its co-founder, Joe Ravitch, who advised on the attempted sales of both Manchester United and Chelsea, is set to join the Uncensored board.
Further investment comes from Greek media magnate Theo Kyriakou, whose Antenna Group holds a stake in The News Movement. A cluster of international family offices are also participating. Veteran media executive Michael Kassan is advising on commercial strategy and may make a personal investment.
This capital boost arrives less than a year after Morgan finalised his exit from Rupert Murdoch's News UK, gaining full ownership of the Uncensored channel. Under that agreement, News UK continues to receive a share of YouTube ad revenue until 2029, but Morgan is now free to build the brand independently.
Building a Digital-First Media Group
Morgan's team is drafting aggressive plans to expand the Uncensored brand far beyond its core YouTube presence. New verticals in sport, history, and technology are under active consideration, with talks already underway with prominent on-air talent to lead these segments. The company is expected to appoint a chief executive to oversee this significant growth phase.
The confidence for this expansion is rooted in Uncensored's substantial digital audience. The channel now boasts 4.3 million subscribers, with roughly half based in the United States. It also commands significant reach across the Middle East, South Africa, and Asia. High-profile interviews, such as those with Cristiano Ronaldo and Novak Djokovic, have generated hundreds of millions of views after being shared by the athletes themselves.
A Sign of Industry-Wide Shifts
Morgan's venture highlights a broader trend of individual journalists and personalities building their own digital networks, bypassing legacy media institutions. He argues there is substantial room for a global, personality-led challenger brand with lower overheads than traditional broadcasters.
"Owning the brand allows my team and me the freedom to focus exclusively on building Uncensored into a standalone business," Morgan said earlier this year. Commenting on the new investment, he added: "Some of the most experienced players in global media share my ambitious vision. This is the future of modern media."
The move comes during a period of remarkable flux in the media sector, marked by mega-deals like Netflix's $83bn bid for Warner Bros. In the UK, Sky is in talks to buy ITV's broadcasting business, and the Telegraph newspaper could soon sit alongside the Daily Mail. Notably, Reach plc, owner of the Daily Mirror where Morgan once worked, now carries a market valuation of just £176m—barely double the implied worth of Uncensored.
Morgan has already started bridging digital and traditional formats. Channel 5 will broadcast a weekly 90-minute show compiled from the YouTube channel's best interviews and debates. Commissioning editor Federico Ruiz described the deal as "a cross-cultural handshake that marks where the industry is heading."
Having left the now-wound-down TalkTV, Morgan is betting heavily on what he terms "the disintermediation of modern media." With tens of millions in new funding and major US financial names on board, the broadcaster is now preparing to test that thesis on a global stage.
