Scripted


Jeffrey Katzenberg blames Quibi’s slow uptake on Covid-19

Jeffrey Katzenberg has admitted that the performance of his shortform streamer Quibi has been “not close to what we wanted” since its launch in April, but blamed the lack of uptake on Covid-19. Quibi said it has been downloaded 3.5 million times to date, with 1.3 million active users, far short of its target to […]

Private equity firm KKR buys into Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1

Private equity outfit KKR has revealed that it has acquired a 5.2% stake in German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, causing the media giant’s shares to rise on the Frankfurt stock exchange. KKR told Reuters that it had decided to invest in the broadcaster because it believes that the market is undervaluing the company. It said that […]

Endemol Shine strikes Plex deal, expands AVOD play with ‘Gracepoint’ & ‘MasterChef’

Endemol Shine Group’s push into the direct-to-consumer market is being further accelerated by a multi-territory deal struck with Plex that will see shows ranging from Gracepoint and Peaky Blinders to MasterChef becoming available on the media player around the world. The agreement will see dramas such as McLeod’s Daughters and Our Girl becoming accessible via […]

Fox leads 2020 fall slate with Spectrum Original series ‘LA’s Finest’

Fox in the US is attempting to avoid Covid-19’s impact on production by leading its fall slate with an acquired series and shows already produced. LA’s Finest was the first original for cable company Charter Communications’ new on demand platform Spectrum, on which it debuted last year. It has now been picked up from Sony […]

Netflix forges Fandango pact for Elena Ferrante novel, orders Swedish drama

Netflix has linked up with My Brilliant Friend producer Fandango to adapt another novel from author Elena Ferrante, while also ordering a drama about Swedish criminal Clark Olofsson. The streamer is working with Fandango to turn Ferrante’s novel The Lying Life Of Adults into a small screen series, following the book’s publication in Italy in […]

ViacomCBS plans to launch ‘broad SVOD’ service within 12 months

ViacomCBS plans to launch an international pay TV streaming product in multiple markets within the next year as part of an expansion of its streaming efforts, including boosting its US domestic premium offering CBS All Access with a number of initiatives. Speaking to analysts after the US studio posted its quarterly results at the end […]

Beta Film hires ‘Fauda’ exec Koby Gal-Raday from Israel’s Yes

Atlantic Crossing and Babylon Berlin producer Beta Film has appointed the chief content officer at Fauda broadcaster Yes to oversee its programming. Koby Gal-Raday will take up the newly created role of chief content officer at Germany’s Beta Film from July, with a remit across the company’s international production strategy and activities. He will be […]

TBI Tech & Analysis: Breaking down the numbers for 2019/20

2019 might seem like a different world to the Covid-19 dominated landscape we live in today, but the flurry of annual results revealed by US and European majors over recent weeks have provided an illuminating set of insights into how the content business is changing. Tim Westcott and Kia Ling Teoh, analysts at TBI sibling […]

Global SVOD subs to rocket by 80% by 2025, fuelled by Covid-19

Global SVOD subscriptions will grow by 519 million between 2019 and 2025 to 1,161 million – an increase of 81% – according to forecasts released by Digital TV Research. According to the research outfit, the total number of SVOD subscriptions will climb by 170 million in 2020 alone as numbers jump thanks to Coronavirus-related lockdowns […]

News round-up: Viaplay greenlights Covid-19 drama; Discovery UK’s lifestyle orders; NHK’s Coronavirus cruise doc

Viaplay orders social distancing drama Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group has ordered a drama produced under social distancing rules for its streaming service Viaplay. Orca, described as an “experimental Swedish drama”, has been created, written and directed by Josephine Bornebusch (Love Me) and will premiere exclusively across the Nordic region on Viaplay from the autumn. Characters […]