Downton Abbey


Downton, Mr Selfridge enter Mongolia

ITV’s British period dramas Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge are headed into Mongolia following deals secured by a local broadcaster. Mongol TV has bought Downton (pictured) from NBCUniversal International Television Distribution and Mr Selfridge from ITV Studios Global Entertainment. The channel, which has been a consistent buyer of Western scripted content after overhauling its programming […]

PBS prepares Great British Bake Off

US pubcaster PBS has acquired The Great British Bake Off as it cements its place as a key home for UK content in the States. The high-rating BBC Two reality competition show will run on PBS from Sunday, December 28 as The Great British Baking Show. The series will sit alongside UK shows such as […]

British drama features on expanded Masterpiece

PBS will launch several new scripted series from the UK in its winter/spring schedules. The US public service channel, which has enjoyed great success with UK drama Downton Abbey as well as the likes of Call the Midwife, is coproducing some of the drama for its expanded Masterpiece strand and has acquired several other titles. […]

Carnival King

Gareth Neame’s Carnival Films was bought by  NBCUniversal in 2008 for about £30 million (US$49 million). Since then the prodco has had a global hit on its hands in the form of Downton Abbey. As the period drama’s fifth season unfolds, Neame talks Downton and drama. “Most agree it is a Golden Age of drama,” […]

Amazon Prime Instant Video launches on Android phones

Amazon has launched its Prime Instant Video OTT service on Android phones in the UK, Germany and US for the first time. The retail giant said that Amazon Prime members will be able to access its Prime Instant Video catalogue of “tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes” via an update for the Amazon […]

NBCU’s Carnival staffs up

Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films has hired two content execs as another leaves the NBCUniversal-owned company. Danielle Dajani has been brought in as head of production at Carnival, and joins the London-based prodco from its LA counterpart Raleigh Studios and prior to that, Walt Disney Pictures. She has also been general manager of Sydney-based Village […]

Content crunch – the fight for rights

As the pace of consolidation quickens, competition for rights is fiercer than ever. Stewart Clarke talks to distributors about the changing face of the business and how, in the hyper competitive world of TV, they are gaining access to content. First-look deals, overall deals, development deals, output deals, umbrella deals and pod deals: all are […]

News brief: Ex-Carnival Films exec sets up indie

Producer Sally Woodward Gentle has set up a new independent production company called Sid Gentle Films. Woodward Gentle is the former creative director of Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films. The new production company said it is working on a new drama adaptation for BBC One from The World Is Not Enough and Skyfall screenwriting team […]

Seven wins Aussie ratings war

Seven Network has won the annual ratings battle fought by Australia’s commercial channels, beating fierce rival Nine into second and Ten into third. Seven won a 40.2%overall share in the 2013 ratings year, comfortably ahead of Nine with 37.4%. Third-ranked Ten had a 22.4% share through the ratings year. Nine did win the most viewers […]

Netflix buys NBCU scripted shows for the Netherlands

Netflix’s Dutch service has acquired dramas including Suits, Downton Abbey and Bates Motel (pictured) as part of a package deal with NBCUniversal International. The streaming service has today made two seasons of legal drama Suits and three of period title Downton Abbey available to its local Dutch subscribers. Following later this year will be crime fantasy Grimm […]