The dozens of eagle-eyed viewers who tuned in to Piers Morgan Unwatched last night will have noticed an important cosmetic change: Piers has been booted out of his fancy, bespoke studio in Ealing and relegated to the Baby Shard. He finally debuted in the “slightly jazzier little set-up” – “little” being the operative word – in a cost-cutting move enforced by the News UK higher-ups. It is significantly smaller, despite Piers’ unconvincing sales pitch…

Head of TV at News UK Broadcasting Richard Wallace announced the move in December. Now it’s finally happened, almost a year exactly since TalkTV hit the airwaves…

“Moving into the News Building is also more cost efficient as after fit-out costs, ongoing operating costs are far lower than in an external studio. We are always cost conscious but never more so than in the current economic environment with cost inflation and economic uncertainty.”

Since launch, News UK Broadcasting have lost £34 million on TalkTV, so it’s no surprise Piers is now broadcasting from a more modest setup. With Jacob Rees-Mogg regularly besting him in the head-to-head ratings battle, the new studio is – like his audience – much smaller. So much so that they’ve had to scrap in-person audiences for some of their shows, there just isn’t enough space. Has so much ever before been spent on so few?