Emma Sparks


UKTV restructures acquisitions & channels teams

British channels group UKTV has created five channel director posts in a restructure that looks to have knock-on effects for some key executives. Emma Ayech, Luke Hales, Gerald Casey, Adam Collings and Vicky Walker all get promotions in the rejig, effective immediately, and UKTV say the changes are reflective of a major increase in investment […]

UKTV to coproduce series with US producer

British multichannel operator UKTV has acquired and will coproduce a twelve-part paranormal-themed series from New York-based producer MY Entertainment. Help! My House is Haunted comes from Zak Bagans, who is creator and host of long-running Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures. UK-based Back2Back Productions is a coproducer. Bagans and David Notman-Watt are executive producer for Back2Back […]

UKTV launches Espresso space docs

UK multichannel operator UKTV has bought a trio of space-themed factual programmes from compatriot distributor Espresso Media International. The BBC Worldwide- and Scripps Networks International-owned UKTV has taken The Sky is Not the Limit: The Chris Hadfield Story, a 1x45mins doc; another commercial hour, Is Anybody Out There?; and 2x52mins NASA’s 10 Greatest Achievements. The […]

UKTV’s Drama calls on Pinkertons

UKTV-owned channel Drama has acquired Zodiak Rights-sold drama The Pinkertons as its first exclusive US acquisition. The 22x60mins action-adventure crime drama will air in the UK later this year following the agreement. Set in the American ‘Wild West’ in the 1860s, it follows real cases of Allan Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency. Canadian prodcos Rosetta Media […]

Yesterday looks back to CNN’s Sixties

UKTV has acquired The Sixties, the documentary series looking at the events of the landmark decade and exec-produced by Tom Hanks. The series was produced by CNN as the news and current affairs channel moves more heavily into factual programming. FremantleMedia has international rights and struck the UKTV deal. Digital channel operator UKTV will launch […]

Really serves up Turner’s Cold Justice

Thematic UK pay TV channel Really has acquired two seasons of the Dick Wolf-produced Cold Justice as it moves further into the real crime genre. The UKTV-owned channel took the 8x60mins season one and 10x60mins season two from distributor Endemol Worldwide Distribution. The show, originally produced for Turner network TNT by Wolf Films and Magical […]

UKTV buys Weather that Changed the World

UK digital channel operator UKTV has acquired Weather that Changed the World for its factual net Yesterday. The nine-part half-hour series is made by UK indie producer Pioneer and distributed by Passion. It uses extreme weather footage, reconstructions and expert testimony to reveal how the history of the world has been defined by the elements. […]

Watch gets acquainted with Boston’s Finest

UK pay TV channel Watch has acquired Boston’s Finest, a reality series focusing on the East Coast city’s law enforcement officers. UKTV-owned Watch will launch the 8x60mins series, which debuted on Time Warner-owned TNT and Endemol Worldwide Distribution shops on the international market, in mid-August. The series is billed as a “dramatic journey into the […]

UKTV history channel buys Sky Vision, Electric Sky docs

UKTV factual channel Yesterday has acquired two docs for a strand about macabre and fascinating stories from our past, Alexander’s Lost World and Mummy Mysteries. The broadcaster picked up 6x60mins Alexander’s Lost World from BSkyB’s distribution arm Sky Vision. A copro between Sky Vision and David Adams Films, the series follows filmmaker David Adams as […]