Amazon Prime Video UK has secured exclusive rights to ABC’s rebooted American Idol. The UK is one of 150 territories that the format has been sold to via FremantleMedia International. Other territories include Canada, Australia, Latin America, Africa and more. The series recently returned to US screens on ABC after Fox dropped it in 2016. […]
US broadcaster Fox has confirmed its local remake of Israeli singing competition show The Final Four, and is considering a reboot of animated comedy King of the Hill. Both announcements came during the network’s Television Critics Association event in LA. The singing series will be known as The Four and will compete with its former […]
Craig Cegielski is leaving FremantleMedia North America, where he has been co-CEO for three years. His co-CEO Jennifer Mullin, will take over as the company’s sole chief executive. Commenting on his departure, FM CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz said FMNA was “in brilliant shape”. “Our unscripted output continues to enjoy outstanding success, strengthened further by the return next season […]
The presence of American Idol on Fox in the US in the first quarter last year cast an unflattering light on RTL Group’s comparative performance for the first three months of 2017, with revenue down 1.9% and EBITDA down 8.3%. Excluding the American Idol effect, RTL’s Q1 revenue was up 4%, in line with guidance, […]
Turnover and profit decreased at FremantleMedia through the first nine months of the year, with parent group RTL blaming exchange rate issues, the timing of new shows coming through and lower revenues from North America as American Idol finishes. The company said the declines were offset by growth in Europe, driven by the consolidation of […]
American Idol owner Core Media Group has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which was part of the joint venture created to house Endemol and Shine when they merged but was run a separate entity, confirmed the bankruptcy filing. In a statement it said it ‘remains firmly committed to our mission as a global content and […]
Profit was down across the first nine months of the year at FremantleMedia, with the company blaming reduced returns from American Idol and an increased spend on content. The RTL-owned producer and distributor, which did register an uptick in revenues for the first three quarters, saw EBITDA profit decline 19% to €64.8 million (US$70 million) and EBITA […]
Moody’s analysts have downgraded Core Media Group, citing the end of American Idol and slower than expected development of new shows. American Idol has been cancelled by Fox (after the 2016 season), leaving the prodco reliant on So You Think You Can Dance and international revenue from the Idol format, Moody’s said . The credit ratings […]
In an increasingly fragmented TV landscape, should broadcasters and producers focus more on niche formats than on trying to recreate the entertainment and reality juggernauts of the noughties, says Viacom International Media Networks senior VP, international programme sales Caroline Beaton. We’re told we are living through a ‘golden age’ of television, with intensifying competition for […]
Long-running US singing format American Idol is headed for the scrapheap after broadcaster Fox cancelled the show. The show’s fifteenth and final season next January, with the finale bringing to a close what was once the US’s largest programme. Ratings have been slipping, and are currently down below nine million per episode. The move is […]
