Entertainment One (eOne) has acquired a majority stake in UK non-scripted television production company Whizz Kid Entertainment, led by company founder Malcolm Gerrie and Lisa Chapman. The deal is eOne’s first UK-based television production company acquisition. However the acquisition further bolsters a robust eOne UK business that includes the company’s Family & Brands business and […]
Formats are taking centre stage at BBC Worldwide Showcase this year. Tracy Forsyth and Sumi Connock talk about this year’s line-up. “This is our year,” says Tracy Forsyth, director of factual entertainment and entertainment at BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. “We have a smorgasboard of Saturday night shows, and there’s always demand […]
Viacom network MTV is to debut a reality series titled Just Tattoo of Us on 62 international territories and digital platforms next year. The series, from Gobstopper Television, has been given the greenlight out of the UK, and will aim to tap into the zeitgeist around skin inking. “The popularity of tattoos right now is […]
French channel NRJ12 has ordered a local version of Viacom dating format Ex on the Beach. This marks the third format deal Viacom International Media Networks has closed for the show, which began life in the UK on MTV and is now in its fifth season. 909 Productions will recreate Whizz Kid Entertainment-originated Ex on […]
UK commercial broadcaster Channel 5 has ordered a local version of Lip Sync Battle, the celebrity entertainment show that is on Spike in the US. Spike and Channel 5 are both owned by Viacom and the US version of Lip Sync plays on the recently-launched Spike channel in the UK. A full UK version of […]
London-based Precious Media has completed a management buy-out. The deal hands managing director Peter Christiansen the 75% stake Malcolm Gerrie’s Whizz Kid Entertainment previously owned. The company bills itself as an independent advertiser-funded content strategist and distributor. It works with the likes of Shine North, All3Media and Done & Dusted, and produces content for brands […]
Discovery Networks Sweden has inked a format deal with Viacom International Media Networks and will air a local version of its reality competition show Ex on the Beach. The local Ex on the Beach will go out on the Kanal 11 channel in Sweden. Stockholm-based prodco Meter, part of Endemol Shine, will make the local […]
UK digital channel MTV has commissioned a reality series in which singletons are surprised by their ex partners. Ex on the Beach will send eight single men and women to a European beach location in the belief they’re heading for holiday romances. However, ex-boyfriends and girlfriends will be flown in, each with a different motive […]
Ingenious Media Active Capital has invested £951,600 (US$1.4 million) in its UK factual producer Whizz Kid Entertainment. IMAC’s subsidiary division Ingenious Ventures has poured the cash into Whizz Kid Productions, a new 100%-owned subsidiary of Whizz Kid Entertainment, in which IMAC has a 47.25% stake and £2.75 million in loan notes. IMAC said the money […]
