BBC Studios’ Comedy Director, Scripted Head Talk Showcase Offerings, Diversity and ‘Cancel Culture’

Naman Ramachandran U.K. media personality Piers Morgan is returning to prime time TV with a show titled “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Rupert Murdoch’s TV station TalkTV.Morgan revealed the news on Wednesday via a brief clip shared on Twitter.

ScreenSkills Invests £10M In UK High-End TV

Netflix APAC Commissions

Naman Ramachandran Premium documentary titles featuring iconic musicians including John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Tupac Shakur and Amy Winehouse have sold widely for BBC Studios.Rogan productions’ feature-length documentary for BBC Two, “Freddie Mercury: The Final Act,” charts the final chapter of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s life story. International sales include the U.S.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios has inked its first major factual multi-year content deal in Italy with Mediaset, the country’s top private generalist TV network. The BBC’s long-term agreement with Mediaset covers first-window exclusive pre-sales in Italy of its natural history shows including its upcoming “Frozen Planet II,” “Dynasties II” and “Planet Earth III.” The Mediaset package deal also comprises providing an additional annual 25 hours of content for Mediaset’s Focus Channel, for an unspecified number of years.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, has set a content deal with MX Player, India’s largest AVOD service, which also has a strong reach across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan. The partnership kicks off with Simon Allen‘s “The Watch,” a series inspired by the characters in Terry Pratchett’s bestselling “Discworld” novels, which follows an unlikely group of misfits, The City Watch, who are forced to find the guts to save the world, surprising even themselves in the process; and “Line of Duty” creator Jed Mercurio‘s “Critical,” set in a major trauma center that only deals with the most serious cases, following an emergency medical team that battles through the vital first hour of care to save lives that hang in balance.

Fremantle International Bolsters Scripted

Major European distributors BBC Studios, All3Media and ITV Studios have put trade with Russia on pause in light of the escalating situation in Ukraine.

BBC Studios And Sky Deutschland Strike Factual Content Deal

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios and Sky Deutschland have agreed an output deal for factual content in Germany.The long-term partnership agreement will see Sky Deutschland as the pay TV home for BBC Studios premium factual content in Germany, which will include 150 hours of factual titles from the BBC Studios catalogue. The factual output from BBC Studios can be seen on Sky Deutschland’s Sky Nature and Sky Documentaries channels.BBC Studios titles acquired under the deal include “Greta Thunberg A Year to Change the World,” “Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic,” “David Attenborough: The Sound of Nature” and “Primates.” In 2019, BBC Studios signed a partnership with Germany’s ZDF to produce factual shows, which includes the upcoming “Green Planet” presented by David Attenborough, alongside co-developing scripted TV series.

Piers Morgan will be targeting the woke in his new talk show.

Piers Morgan vows to “cancel cancel culture” with his new TV talkshow and “take those ultra woke lunatics head on.”

K.J. Yossman The Walt Disney Company, EMEA, BBC Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment have joined digital trade body the Digital Entertainment Group International (DEGI).DEGI is the sister body of U.S. trade group Digital Entertainment Group (DEG).The group’s mission is “to drive global digital growth” and engagement, which it does via market research, reporting and technological innovation as well as local collaboration and networking.Google, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.

Naman Ramachandran Lorraine Burgess has been confirmed as chief financial officer at BBC Studios after serving as interim CFO since July 2021. Burgess will report into chief executive Tom Fussell.Producer-distributor BBC Studios is U.K. broadcaster BBC’s largest commercial subsidiary, which contributed sales of £1.25 billion ($1.7 billion) in the 2020/2021 financial year.

BBC Studios has appointed Lorraine Burgess, the former MD of Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures, as Chief Financial Officer.

Manori Ravindran International EditorEntertainment One has hired Left Bank executive producer Sharon Hughff to serve as creative director of scripted television out of the U.K.In her new role, she will oversee the scripted team and pipeline from the U.K., while spearheading efforts to expand the slate into buyers in the U.K. as well as Europe and Asia.

BBC Studios has promoted Rebecca Glashow to the newly created position of CEO of global distribution.