My friend, a commissioner at a prestigious terrestrial channel, was mystified. Why weren’t the top indies bringing her their best ideas or best talent these days? “It’s simple,” I said. “You’re not worth it any more – economically or creatively.” It used to be a no-brainer. A high prestige public service broadcaster offers US$500,000 (or […]
With the 100th anniversary of the most terrible conflict in world history coming in 2014, Jesse Whittock identifies the projects and producers that will shape World War I in the minds of a new generation of TV viewers. War programming has the unique power to shock, appall and intrigue in equal measures, hence its enduring […]
Discovery Communications’ US cable channel Military Channel has ordered a 10-part series that will delve into pivotal moments in American secret service history. CIA Declassified “takes viewers behind-the-scenes of America’s most top-secret, covert operations of national security- from assassinations to the overthrowing of dangerous regimes,” according to Discovery. Among the 10 hour-long episodes, the series […]
The last decade saw the big factual channels move from documentary led schedules to grids full of factual entertainment and observational docs. History, by commissioning mega-hit miniseries Hatfields and McCoys, has started the next evolution of factual channels and drama is a new battleground among the big networks, reports Stewart Clarke It’s unlikely that the […]
Discovery’s US network The Military Channel in the US has picked up crime series The Mafia’s Greatest Hits. The 10x60mins show tracks the rise and fall of the Mafia and profiles the major mobsters that shaped the crime organisation. The producers gained access to FBI recordings of mob bosses and also interviewed a range of […]
