UKTV’s Alibi snags trio of US dramas from ViacomCBS

Why Women Kill

Britain’s UKTV has acquired three new US drama series – Why Women Kill, Tommy and Evil – from ViacomCBS Global Distribution, for broadcast on its Alibi channel from the end of the year.

The deal was brokered by UKTV’s head of acquisitions Emma Sparks and Matt Downer at ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, which is distributing all the series internationally.

Sparks commented: “It is a very exciting time for acquisitions at UKTV, and to be able to work with ViacomCBS on this great collection of content is just the beginning. Evil, Why Women Kill and Tommy are brilliant additions to the slate of shows we have acquired for Alibi this year.”

The 10 x 60-minute dark comedy series Why Women Kill, from Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, was produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios, and follows three women (Ginnfer Goodwin, Lucy Liu and Kirby Howell-Baptiste) living in different decades – the 1960s, 1980s and 2010s – who each seek revenge when they discover their partners have cheated on them.

Evil is a 13 x 60-minute psychological mystery from CBS Television Studios, in association with King Size Productions, following a sceptical psychologist a priest-in-training and a contractor as they investigate the church’s backlog of unexplained mysteries, including supposed miracles, demonic possessions and hauntings. Their job is to assess if there is a logical explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.

CBS Television Studios, in association with Atelier Paul Attanasio and Amblin Partners, created the 12 x 60-minute drama series Tommy, which stars Edie Falco as a former NYPD officer who becomes the first female chief of police for Los Angeles.

Emma Ayech, Alibi’s channel director added: “These series continue to build the quality and breadth of drama that audiences can find on Alibi, perfectly complementing the British and US dramas, and UKTV Originals we’ve had on Alibi this year.”

Earlier this month, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish admitted his company would look to retain more rights to its programming as it prepares to roll out a new ‘house of brands’ streaming service in 2021.