Universal Studios Group (USG) chairman Pearlena Igbokwe has admitted scripted budget inflation is a “great concern” for the industry but added “cost-efficient” shows can still be as successful. Igbokwe told delegates at a keynote session here at the BANFF World Media Festival admitted that there is increasing pressure on commissioners that could impact the amount shows […]
AMC Networks’ streamer Acorn TV has ordered a second season of UK crime drama Whitstable Pearl, while the first run has been picked up by broadcasters in Italy, Japan and across Africa. The show, from Cineflix-backed UK producer Buccaneer Media, is based on Julie Wassmer’s novels The Whitstable Pearl Mysteries and will again explore the […]
WarnerMedia’s soon-to-launch US streamer HBO Max has made a straight-to-series order for a cookery show featuring Selena Gomez and a scripted series that has The Good Place creator Michael Schur attached. The as-yet untitled 10-episode cooking project will star and be executive produced by Gomez for her July Moon Productions banner and see the the […]
Amazon Studios is broadening its comedy offering by ordering a 10-part female-focused series from Tracy Oliver (pictured), with Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions also attached. The untitled show is a single-camera comedy that follows four black women who were friends from college as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams. It is being produced […]
NBCUniversal International Networks has acquired crime procedural The Murders for Europe and Africa. The business picked up the Canadian drama from About Premium Content for the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Poland and Africa from mid-2019. Created by Damon Vignale (Motive, Blackstone) and produced by Muse Entertainment in association with Rogers Media-owned CityTV, the 8 x 60-minute drama follows rookie […]
Muse, Back Alley and Cineflix co-pro drama Coroner has become the highest-rated drama series launch on Canada’s pubcaster CBC in four years. Data by Canadian audience measurement organisation Numeris shows that Coroner reached 2m Canadians and delivered an average minute audience of more than one million viewers for each episode on CBC. In the UK, […]
Roswell creator Jason Katims is to depart Universal TV for a multi-year overall deal with Apple. Katims’ current deal with Universal TV expires this summer when he will make the move to Apple, along with his True Jack productions banner. He is the creator of a string of hit titles including Parenthood, Roswell, About a […]
US broadcaster NBC is to remake German crime procedural Einstein. Red Arrow Studios International sold the format into NBC, which will be produced by Universal TV in association with Carol Mendelsohn Productions and Intrigue Entertainment. The original series (32 x 45 minutes) follows Albert Einstein’s great grandson who is forced to work with the police […]
Universal TV has added to its slate of comic book properties with a deal to adapt AfterShock Comics’ popular Lost City Explorers for TV audiences. The series is based on Zack Kaplan’s comic featuring a group of teens who become underground urban explorers after a mysterious expedition leads to the disappearance of one of their fathers. Kaplan […]
NBCUniversal exec JoAnn Alfano, former producer of 30 Rock, is joining NBC’s Universal Television as executive vice president of current series and new business development. Alfano will report to Universal TV president Pearlana Igbokwe. In her new position, Alfano will oversee and manage all aspects of Universal TV’s current series department and will also help […]
