Whoever owns a show chooses its guests, its topics and the channel it airs on, and investors are now interested in such shows. British presenter Piers Morgan left Murdoch’s News UK in January 2025. His production company then bought the Uncensored brand from it, including the YouTube channel. Until then the show belonged to his employer. In June 2026 the company brought in investors, and the round was co-led by Raine Ventures from the New York bank Raine.
Morgan explained right away why he wanted the brand. According to his statement, ownership gives him the freedom to build Uncensored as a separate company, both editorially and commercially, and eventually to expand it beyond himself and his own content. The brand has meanwhile outgrown a single show. By June 2026, alongside Piers Morgan Uncensored, it also ran The Royals Uncensored and World Cup Uncensored.
What a show that does not belong to its presenter looks like was experienced in the Czech Republic by Václav Moravec. Otázky Václava Moravce carried his name from January 2004 and for years was the most-watched political discussion in the Czech Republic, but it belonged to Česká televize. The chairman of the SPD, Tomio Okamura, had not been invited for nine years, and according to Médiář, Moravec long refused to host him, citing editorial independence. In January 2026 the management of ČT sent the head of news to the planning meetings to ensure “oversight and control”, and a new programme editor then invited Okamura despite Moravec’s disagreement. At the end of the episode on 8 March 2026, Moravec announced that he was leaving ČT.
The broadcaster rejects his claim that editorial independence is not guaranteed there. It cancelled the programme but kept the Sunday slot. Lukáš Dolanský moderated the debate on 15 March. Since May, Moravec has run the Moravec.cz platform through a company of which he is the sole owner, and every Sunday he moderates Poledne s Moravcem on it, at the same time as ČT’s debate. The programme now belongs to the presenter’s company, just as Uncensored does. According to Moravec, its editorial line is free, and it does not have to count mechanically how many guests came from which side, as it does at ČT.
Raine and Antenna invested in Morgan’s company
The Raine bank tracks how faces from established TV channels move to independently owned digital companies. Erik Hodge, who leads its entertainment and content team, cited Morgan’s company as an example at the TheGrill conference on 30 September 2026. “For us, it’s always about IP,” he said. According to him, the bank always looks for ways to acquire rights to content, and that route has changed a great deal. Raine invested in the company that owns the Uncensored brand, the channel and the shows under it.
On screen, however, almost nothing has changed. According to Hodge, Morgan’s show on YouTube is almost indistinguishable from the one he used to have on Fox or CNN. The owner has changed, and with it who negotiates with whom about broadcasting. In June, UK broadcaster Channel 5 aired Piers Morgan Uncensored and other shows from the brand on terrestrial TV, under a partnership with Morgan’s company.
From the EU came Greece’s largest media group, Antenna, which also co-led the round and has a licensing partnership with the company, under which the brand’s shows are to expand into further international markets. However, the company that owns the shows is now co-owned by investors alongside Morgan, following this year’s round.
Moravec did not take his show from ČT
The difference between the two stories is who took the show with them when they left. Morgan bought his from his employer, and the investors came only afterwards. Moravec had to start a new show at a new address. A presenter, podcaster or YouTuber who today makes a show for television, radio or a publisher may therefore want to ask before the next contract who will own the show, when they leave or when an investor arrives.
The answer matters for who then chooses the guests. Moravec found his answer in his own company, which has decided on the guests of his Sunday debate since May. Aktuálně.cz asked him when he would invite Chamber of Deputies chairman Tomio Okamura. “Whenever we want to. Nobody can dictate that to us any more.”
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