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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Rebecca Cook

Alan Partridge makes dig at Piers Morgan’s plummeting TalkTV ratings in BAFTAs speech

Alan Partridge took aim at Piers Morgan during his BAFTAs speech, as he presented an award during a pre-recorded clip played to the gathering stars on Sunday.

Alan held a coveted BAFTA as he spoke to camera and took aim at plans to privatise Channel 4 as well as the former Good Morning Britain host, who has hit screens with his new show Uncensored on Rupert Murdoch-backed broadcaster TalkTV.

Appearing in the pre-recorded clip as his bumbling presenter Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan said: “Sadly, I can’t be with you because I’m on a nationwide tour, performing to an audience bigger than Piers Morgan gets on the actual telly. But the good thing with Piers is that it doesn’t bother him.”

This comes after Piers suffered a setback as the ratings for his new TalkTV programme plummeted after just one week.

The former Good Morning Britain host has anchored his divisive new show - Piers Morgan: Uncensored - since TalkTV launched on April 25 this year.

Alan presented an award during a pre-recorded clip played to the gathering stars on Sunday. (BBC)

Launch night started with a bang for the channel's flagship programme as Morgan interviewed former US president Donald Trump, which was broadcast over the opening two nights.

The first episode saw 316,800 viewers tune in for the explosive pre-recorded conversation but that figure slipped to an average of 61,700 seven days later (Monday May 2).

Despite the 80 per cent slide in viewers, Piers Morgan: Uncensored still beat GB News and Sky News during the one-hour period.

Alan held a coveted BAFTA as he spoke to camera (BBC)

And Morgan remained confident about the ratings when he tweeted to his 7.9 million followers on Wednesday: "Great to see Uncensored got higher ratings than BBC News, Sky News & GB News again in our 8-9pm slot last night.

"Amazing achievement for a brand new show on a brand new network. Lots of work to to, but very encouraging. Tune in tonight at 8pm!"

One user replied to his tweet, saying: "However entertaining this is, very few people want to watch a news show at 8-9, particularly when it clashes with big football games.

Piers suffered a setback as the ratings for his new TalkTV programme plummeted after just one week. (Talk TV)

"A tiny percentage of total views will be people watching the show at that time."

Another added: "I wish we could watch Piers but we only have Freeview and can't get channel 237 for some reason. Any ideas?

"We have Britbox, Amazon Prime, YouTube etc but can't find you on any of those."

A third said: "Audience averaged 76,600 viewers last night with 4,700 streaming on YouTube. The only reason you beat the other news channels is because nobody watches them either."

The former Good Morning Britain host has anchored his divisive new show - Piers Morgan: Uncensored (Piers Morgan Uncensored/ Talk TV)

Piers has tried to stem the flow of leaving viewers with interesting guests including world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury in his first interview since successfully defending his belt against Dillian Whyte.

Other stars such as Caitlyn Jenner, Sharon Osbourne, Jeremy Kyle and Boris Becker's estranged wife Lilly have also appeared on the show but the channel has still struggled to rein the viewers back in.

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