The Daily Mail has struck a deal with hit US talkshow host Dr Phil McGraw to make a daily news and entertainment TV programme that will launch next year, according to a source.

The deal has been struck between the Daily Mail and TV production company Stage 29, which is owned by Dr Phil and run by his son Jay McGraw.

Dr Phil, who got his break after Oprah Winfrey had him appear as a regular on her talk show, is one of the most-watched TV personalities in the US.

The new programme, which aims to make “DailyMail.com the star”, will use the tabloid site’s reporters as well as other presenters to front coverage.

A deal has been struck with CBS which will syndicate the show, which is scheduled for launch in autumn next year.

Martin Clarke, editor-in-chief of Mail Online, said the new show
would be a mixture of “news, entertainment and current affairs with
showbiz too” and denied that DailyMailtv would be anything like TMZ.
He said Mailonline got more traffic for its “news” than its
showbusiness reporting.

Asked whether the TV plans involved the sites US editor-at-large Piers
Morgan, who was in Cannes all week, Clarke said: “I’d be very
surprised if Piers wasn’t involved in some way.” The former US chatshow host is unlikely to appear on screen however.

Clarke said Morgan was a “brand ambassador” who had been a “fantastic
acquisition”. The former Daily Mirror editor has attended the Mail’s three late-night parties at Cannes, held in a yacht and whose guests have included several Kardashians.

The television deal involves an investment of “double digit millions” split
between the Mail and McGraw’s production company.

Clarke also revealed that the deal announced earlier this week with Snapchat
and WPP “didn’t cost anything at all” but was a way of getting Mail
content to new platforms.